I'm just gettign starting in av's but I have lots of unique plants for outdoors. I have crinums, rare white spider lilies (very similar to the even more rare Cahaba Lily, hardy lantana, oakleaf hydrangeas, redbus spalings, nandina, and the common red spider lilies. Let me know if you'd liek to trade for anything that I have. Thanks!

Vivy - you do not sound stupid at all- you sound like you have a green thumb and very soon you will have a growing collection. It is practically impossible to find the name of the plant if you didn't have it named from the very beginning - and there will always be a doubt if it is actually a Sunshine or one of several dozen lookalikes. The way to send leaves - ziplock baggies - inflated - and a box. No envelopes - they will get squashed. We all started with no-names and it is great that you have such a green touch. Eventually you will be interested in getting named varieties and creating the collection. In my personal opinion extra NOIDs should be shared with friends and neighbours, given as gifts and donated to the nursing homes. There so many gorgeous named varieties - look at avsa.org Photographs - and you will discover something you just MUST have. Look at the "Affiliates" - they have a list of clubs - if there is a one in your vicinity - you may be interested to visit their meeting or show, may be even join - and that the place where people share knowledge and cuttings. You will get lots of leaves - believe me. Good luck i.

Don't I wish.... no, it isn't a mansion, a typical two story home with a full basement. Way too much house just for DH and me, but it allows us some room to have 'stuff'. AV's for me, classical guitars for him. Anyway, you made me curious just how many were plants and how many were leaves or babies. Keep in mind I said 'varieties'. Thank God they aren't all plants yet. I have 162 plants that are set up on wick watering and live on the first floor. Shelves, a 'Costco' shelf rack, and a smaller rack all in the kitchen or ell. These are all on fluorescent lights and timers. In my dining room I have two large bakers racks set in front of east windows. In my living room I have windowsill shelf extenders that only hold a few each. These two rooms are natural light only. In the basement is the 'nursery'. There are 307 'starts' in varying stages there, all under timered lights. On the window shelves in the kitchen are 173 of the same. All my starts live in the long trays with the humidity domes. So, doing the math, if I have 245 varieties and 162 of those are plants, the remaining 83 I received as leaves. Since I have 470 'starts', 387 of those are 'extra' leaves and suckers from plants. Hopefully I can share many of those with forum members in the spring. I am really fortunate in that I can be a full time stay at home these days, and would never have pursued this hobby while working full time. Hats off to those of you that manage to fit it all in! The AV and guitar thing is a pretty symbiotic relationsip. They both need good humidity, and I love to pot and groom while my husband plays. Barbara, where every day is Saturday...

Thank you everyone for your guidance! I appreciate it and will stick with 1 fixture per shelf for the time being. These hang from chains so I can adjust them up and down a bit as needed to fine tune the lighting. Irina- I was growing Paphs (rarer types) from flask to single pot size with the goal to sell some to make the whole thing pay for itself. Worked for a while, but now there are lots of others doing it, and that flooded out the market. Besides, I just want to have fun right now. And I have always admired African Violets. Friday I expect the first box of babies and I cannot wait! I have a few grocery store rescues here right now I have been working with, but it will be fun to get some of the named varieties in here this weekend :) Take care, Tom.