I just bought one yesterday at Lowe's. They do look nice...now we will see what happens.

i keep my riegers indoors in partial sunlight, either by the eastern or western windows - for sev hours of very early or very late sun. they rebloom for me too. i slowly trim the longest 'flower stems' and pinch at the top to encourage branching - which in turn will produce more flower shoots. it needs to be slightly moist, don't allow it to dry out more then 1-2" from the top. mine are on self-watering wicks in shallow azalea pots. when it stops producing flowers, trim the top growth and start keeping it much drier (but never totally dry) for may be 3-4 weeks, until you see new growth at the bottom. then you can cut off more ratty old leaves. but not too soon. when i trimmed them down to 6" like it was recommended they did not have enough leaves to produce secondary growth and they died. so now i remove older leaves slowly 1-2 at a time, while the new ones are emerging. and it worked. it will take sev months for it to leaf out to full size and then it will bloom again in the fall. once it's growing well - you can pot up to next size pot (2" larger in diameter). i read that they don't like to be pot bound. mine got quite large in a bigger pot (it was a reg 6" starter plant like yours). i grow them in half african violet mix half perlite (and on wicks like AVs). AND i feed them continuously like AV's with 7-7-7 (i double the dosage) fertilizer in water. or you can give them time release osmocote 14-14-14. and even 15-30-15 for more blooms once they are bigger and growing strong. my 1st plant was your size in may and it did not get much larger until it got a larger pot. here's what it looked like in nov the same year, just beginning to rebloom.

I agree with Woebegonia. Your Begonia doesn't look tuberous/Riegers. Why do you think it's dying? It looks good. Healthy and in bloom. I know what you mean about the heat..Begonias dislike heat. I lost a few myself w/temps over 100F. Toni

Elizabeth— Ooooh hoyas! I had a h. linearis near the window when I lived in zone 5a and it looked like a straggly green hair monster (but it didn't mind if I forgot to water sometimes so I kept it), the ones you suggest are much cuter! I really like the leaves on carnosa compacta and am going to keep an eye out for one. Thanks again :) Petrushka- THANK YOU thank you thank you for the absolute wealth of suggestions! Rieger Begonias look especially gorgeous and I absolutely am going to look for some. I think that's a definite yes for begonias then. Funnily enough, I took your advice and headed off to the AV forum to have a poke around and the first thread I saw was people talking about buying african violets in memory of their grandmothers... you were right though, they're so nice! Oh man, those frilly pink ones are so freakin cute.