History of African Violets

The history of African Violets dates back to the late 18th century. Baron Walter von St. Paul discovered these blooming beauties growing in West Africa and sent samples or seed home to Germany. By the early 1900's African violets were blooming in Europe and around the world. The development of hybrid varieties with violet, purple, and blue flower colors in the late 1920's by the Los Angeles nursery of Armacost and Roysten increased the popularity of African violets. Since the 1920's hundreds of cultivars have been developed with an immense variety of flower and leaf colors, shapes, and sizes.