This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Vision of Violets Passion Sparks Hobby and History
Joyce Stenger, a Germantown enthusiast, keeps nearly 300 African violets and presides over the Sugarloaf Mountain Violet Society. The piece traces the plant’s 19th century origins in Tanzania and Germany, its US arrival in 1894, commercial spread by 1926, and the 1946 founding of the African Violet Society. It notes regional popularity in the 1960s and 70s, current slow sales, and care tips including warmth, light, humidity, and propagation methods.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Joyce Stenger
Ms. Stenger
Germantown
Texas
Sugarloaf Mountain Violet Society
African Violet Society of America
John Nabers
John
Baron von Saint Paul
Tanganyika
Tanzania
East Africa
Germany
Royal Botanical Garden
Saintpaulia
United States
Europe
African Violet Society
Bob Sharpe
Sharpe’s Florist
Frederick
Sharpe
Mr. Sharpe
Brandt