Registration and Patents

If you plan to carry on extensive hybridizing, hoping eventually to sell stock of your own origination, you will certainly want to name some of the varieties. Choose plants sufficiently superior or unusual to differ markedly from others on the market. Then register through: Mrs. Constance Hansen, Registrar, The African Violet Society of America, Inc., Box 302, Lafayette, California.

In the early days of African violet hybridization a few breeders secured patents on their plants. A patent costs several hundred dollars and, in the case of African violets, it is likely to be of scant value. The hybrid you think so very special may have been duplicated in various sections of the country. If, however, you have succeeded in obtaining some especially good seedlings meaning good enough to have some large commercial firm introduce them you may be justified in seriously considering a patent. For further information write to the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C.

Many of the old varieties are still popular, and hybridizers (some of them “professional amateurs” like us) are constantly bringing out new varieties. Their great number makes a listing impractical. And besides, you can do a better job of selecting varieties that will sell well for you by checking specialists’ catalogs and local sales counters.

Catering to Collectors

If you cater to collectors, you will need up-to-date stock as well as a good supply of species. Interesting among the species are the climber Saintpaulia grotei, with its rounded light green leaves and small pale blue flowers; pointed-leaved, gray-blue flowered S. tongewensis; S. diplotricha with thin leaves and rosette growth; S. Goetzeana, heavily haired leaves and pale blue flowers; S. amaniensis, a semi-trailer with growth habit and flowers like those of S. grotei; S. magungensis, which has heavily haired leaves and blue flowers, and S. orbicularis, with rounded leaves and near-white flowers. The species responsible for most of our cultivated African violets is S. ionantha. Petioles are long, leaves slightly quilted, the flowers blue. All of these species have proved good sellers for me, as well as for friends who specialize in African violets.

Introduced only a few years ago, the double pink varieties are well on top as popular favorites-particularly with collectors.

Tags: home greenhouse

Kindly consider linking to this article by just copying and pasting the code below on your website/blog ( press Ctrl+C to copy the entire code). The text link will look on your website like this: Registration and Patents

<a href="http://www.home-greenhouse-profits.com/registration-and-patents.html">Registration and Patents</a>