Houseplant enthusiasts are looking forward to the return of the Edmonton African Violet Society to the St. Albert Botanic Park this Sunday.
Edmonton African Violet and Gesneriad Society president Carlos Beca said the event will include a demonstration of how to pot the houseplant, with an opportunity to purchase and become a society member.
"We in the society are more obsessed about these plants — I guess that's the word — and we provide help," Beca said. "We sell plants that are not sold in the usual commercial sites like Home Depot or Canadian Tire and we provide plants that are not so common. It's a nice, good event for people to come and see what's modern, what's developing, what's the new variety, new colours."
He said his grandfather passed the hobby on to him, and he has found African violets easy to take care of, which makes it more enjoyable for him.
"They are small, they don't take a lot of room," Beca said. He added they are also inexpensive and don't require growers to spend lots on electricity.
He said he hopes the event will spark increased interest in the society, which has been dwindling since COVID. He said the in-person attendance for the society's events has dropped from around 50 or 60 attendees per meeting to about 15.
"A lot of people have stopped growing as a hobby," Beca said. "There's more digital convenience these days, but it's still a very popular plant and it's very hybridized. There's lots of different varieties now."
"You can get everything online these days. And it's OK, of course, we don't have anything against it," he said. "And I personally think that it's great because some people that cannot go to the meetings or do not have access to us. But on the other hand, I think that the human part of it is missing."
Beca said the society has had to cut back on events. Where in the past they might have given out awards or had bigger events, declining membership means they simply don't have the capacity to do it anymore.
He's hoping that may start to turn around, beginning with the event in St. Albert.
"We are hopeful that maybe young people will be able to understand that we cannot just live in the digital world," he said. "I'm a little hopeful that in the near future these societies will be able to rejuvenate."
The event is free to attend and will take place from 1-4 p.m.
"It's for people to just enjoy it," Beca said. "There's no money involved in anything other than if people want to buy a plant."
An African violet plant will run you anywhere between $3 and $15. For more information about the society, you can visit their Facebook page.
