Oh man.. They may have been painted. Thats a real shame! The pictures she had on her phone were really pretty but not clear enough to tell. I have a cute little cactus in my windowsill my aunt gave me for my birthday, but when she bought it she didn't know the pink blooms on it were attached with hot glue. Ive had it for three years now and I still cant get all the gunk off :(

Her name is Lana (Davis?)and she was encouraged to come by a friend, who I think may be on here. We used to work together and I have a question for her. She now works at an engineering firm in Clear Lake. If you know her, please drop me an email.

I hope this is allowed, if not please let me know.I know this nice kid.He is 15 and is a great kid. He doesnt ask for alot, but he needs this expensive calculator for school. Well he is trying to win one in a contest and what it is is a voting contest for a calculator cover. He designed his cover with a picture of him running. He runs track for school and does very well with his grades. All you have to do is click the link, give your email address and a make a password, they will send you a link to your email and you just click it and you are done. I usually only post here very rarely when I have something meaningful to contribute and now how you guys are so helpful so I would really appreciate it, like I said he is a great kid and would love to see him win it,thanks you guys! http://www.84silver.com/contest_bro...p?entry_id=NDMw

So are your friends expecting to get this plant back from you? Or are you going to keep, since they are moving back to the States, but not nearby? First of all, do not feel guilt. This poor violet needed some help long before you came to have it in your care. It is overgrown with at least one sucker, has a neck that shows its been ages since its been repotted - and worst of all, it's in a self-watering pot. If you were to search this forum for that term, you'd find lots of advice about them - all against. They are the death of more African Violets...well, it was not your choice and you had no idea. Can you revive the whole plant without taking some drastic measures? I would say not. The one side of the plant is done for. The other side is quickly going the same way - and more than likely the roots are rotted. So. Now what to do? From your photos, it appears that the one side has a crown in pretty good shape and I think you should focus your attention on saving that while you can. Here is a link to a tutorial by Joyce Stork that will give you the information you need to restart that crown. Please watch it and come back with your questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE0_d_E6NMk   You'll need some supplies, like potting mix and perlite and a plastic pot...probably something no larger than 3 inches across. You can even use recycled containers (yogurt?) if you punch holes in the bottom for drainage. And as to a place in your home where it should be kept - an east window is great, but other exposures can work, too and since you say you don't get any direct sun I won't caution about putting it in a south facing window since you won't need to worry about too much sun. You don't say where in the country you are, so I don't know how cold that windowsill (or that bathroom) might be but AV's like to be warm and comfortable - just like you do. If it feels cold there to you, the plant will be cold as well. You can even put this plant under artificial light as it shows in the video; a lamp with a compact florescent bulb would work great over it, but you can't keep it where it is going to be cold or dark. Sorry if this doesn't sound like an easy answer to your problem. You can most likely save a part of this plant, but you need to do some research here and read about re-potting and basic care if you're going to be successful. What you say you know about AV's (not watering from above) is not true either, so you have a lot to learn about them. You can do this, though! Please do ask more questions - we all want your (or your friends'?) plant to survive.