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African violets were first available in Australia in the last few years of the 19 th Century. They did not, however come into common cultivation until the 1940s and 1950s.
At that time plants and seeds were imported, either from the US or from Europe. From the 1960s, however, encouraged by the hobby following that growing African violets had acquired, a number of Australian growers began to hybridise their African violets.
Many of the resultant plants, although of high quality, did not become commercial but were widely grown by hobbyists belonging to the various African violet groups in the country.
However, one series of violets, the Colonial Series, produced by a company in South Australia – Hams – proved very popular and were widely distributed. They were produced from the early 1960s until the early 1990s, when the company’s interests changed. Many are still grown today. For those who have some of them, photographs of a number of “Colonials” can be seen in our Photo Galleries.
Please note that some of the photographs are of lesser quality than the others, but are included to make the gallery as complete as possible. There were many others, and photographs may be added at a later date.
Today the tradition continues, and there are many active Australian hybridisers, whose plants are naturally ideally suited to their conditions. New varieties from overseas are not being imported as freely as before, and it could be that the future of African violets in Australia lies with our own hybrids.
Flower Drum (above) by Margaret Taylor, and Enigma (below) are two excellent plants of Australian origin
