Thanks everyone for the responses! Especially the ID. I don't think I will ever become a collector or showgrower, I'll be happy if I can keep these plants alive, blooming and pest free. I think I will take the advice on keeping the blooms until they die and then giving them all a tepid bath, removing the suckers and repotting in my 1:1 potting mix/perlite. I had a lot of fun doing a division for a plant I got from OSH and ended up getting 5 suckers plus the main plant. It's amazing how much better the original plant is looking after surgery. I really adore the rosebud looking ones, but for some reason, those were in the worst condition. There are small brown spots on a lot of the leaves that looks like mite damage (I've pinched off most of the damaged leaves) and today, I think I saw a bug crawling in the dirt!! Also definitely killed a small black flying bug but I couldn't identify it or tell if it's a pest infestation. Will definitely allow it to bloom and then take care of any pest problems. It's on a desk by itself so hopefully any pests will be contained. I am so terrified of getting any sort of infestation, I think I am mentally psyching myself out more than anything. I think my hypochondriac tendencies are transferring to my plants but I've read so many posts about INVS, thrips, mites, mealybugs... sounds like a nightmare! I have been looking for spilled pollen on all the blooms but haven't found anything yet. I'll have to keep a close eye on all of them but I'm almost excited for them to stop blooming so I can groom them!! One more question, any issues with keeping african violets in the bedroom? Not directly next to the bed but on a bookcase against a wall, any chance pests will harm people?

Peppi, a new Aldi's just went in about 30 miles from here, I like shopping there a lot. Elery went there yesterday and bought avocados, so far all the produce has been from the USA. I like that I can get Dubliner cheese there in small amounts and the kids like their snacks, about half the price of Meijer or our local Evil Empire. However, Mother bought something called "Winking Owl" wine. Why? Because Mother thinks owls are cute, LOL. She said the wine was possibly the worst she'd ever had. I asked her what she expected for $2.99. (grin) If I lived in Chicago and had your shopping available I probably wouldn't be that impressed with TJs either, but with no Trader Joe's, no Whole Foods, no Wegman's, few specialty stores, well, TJs is a fun stop. Annie

Many people are mesmerized to nearly cult status by Trader Joe's and I've never understood the attraction. It's interesting to go there though so go and check it out and see if it is for you. I don't know anyone who can say they do the bulk of their shopping there. It's a store to pick up a few things. They're not cheap though at least on things I've considered buying and have bought there, but I'll say quality is generally very good from what I've seen and experienced. They don't wear the Hawaiian shirts around here nor do they do the schtick that made them so famous with some people years back. They're not a big store and accordingly have a small selection overall. They simply can't stock as much as a larger store. They're comparable in size or slightly larger than Aldi but do carry more SKUs. If you're envisioning a megastore, this isn't it. Picture a decent sized convenience store (they're often stripmall residents) and actually "convenience store" is a pretty good description. (Actually, that's how it started.) You get a few things there now and then, but that's about it, at least for me and everyone I know that goes there. That's one of the reasons I won't be going there much. I don't like shopping and don't like having to go to multiple stores to get my list filled out. But I used to go there for a couple things, plus I was just trying to figure out the attraction. FWIW, TJs sells about twice per square foot that Whole Foods sells. They do a big business (why, I don't know! LOL) but I give them credit, I've never stood in line long. They're efficient on the checkout process. But they should be. People generally more tote baskets there rather than a cart as at a bigger store. As I recall they have a thing where you'll get a credit if you bring the bag back and reuse it and possibly if you bring your own bags. For wine lovers or winos, Three-Buck Chuck (formerly Two-Buck Chuck) is carried out by the case and cartload. I wasn't impressed with what I tried but in fairness I'm not a fan of red wines so a grain of salt tossed in and again, lots of people love it. Oh, and (at least here) you don't buy the wine in the same storefront as the groceries, so essentially you're going to two different stores and have two different purchases. Yes, they change stock a lot. Do not count on a certain item being there all the time. The nature of the beast. (And people complain about Malwart discontinuing things! LOL) However, like any store, they have their staples but keep in mind, especially with a small store like this, they *can't* keep stuff that doesn't turn so if it doesn't sell, it'll be out of there, you can be sure. It's common business sense. I can buy a single banana at most any store that sells them. This is not unique to TJs. Some stores price by the banana and some price by the pound. If you want bananas cheap though, I'll bet you can't beat Aldi unless you only want one. But who knows, a pound might cost less than one! LOL There were only a few things I bought there regularly and I can get them at other stores so I don't go there anymore. My sister goes there because they have a gluten free pasta that she likes and she really likes 3bC. She even bought one of their 6 bottle carriers to carry the wine out! They had a good variety of unusual cheeses. Better than the cheap grocery stores, but I doubt it'd rival the upscale markets. They had a good variety of good quality nuts, but again, expensive. They had a nice but very limited (therefore, very expensive) meat counter, make that, cooler. A vast majority of their items are their own brand names so obviously you won't get the exact item elsewhere but not everything is unique to the store. Again, it's a dice throw whether it'll be there again. They can be outrageously busy. They're small. They do not have wide aisles. So I'd suggest checking it out when it's not busy and see what you think. You may like it or not. I don't agree with those who say it's nirvana for everyone. Good for some, not for others. One good thing about it, they don't charge you to walk in the door if you don't buy something! No Samsco/Cost Club cards to mess with. They've always been quite clean when I've been in there and there's usually a lot of people working there (relatively speaking) when I've been there, but they've never offered help. I do imagine if you needed help you could get it without too much trouble. They've been well-stocked and organized. The few times I've been in there I haven't had to fight pallets blocking aisles like some stores we know! :D I'm not a fanatic about where things are made, processed, packaged or the like but do like to have an idea. I do not like the idea of just saying packaged for TJ's USA. Even Kmart says where things are made, but that's part of the Aldi/Trader Joe's business plan is secrecy. They don't like to let people know much about it, even their vendors. Trader Joe's has an interesting history. Started as Pronto Market (a convenience store) by a guy named Joe and the name changed over time to Trader Joe's. It was bought out in the late 70s by Aldi Nord (north), part of the Albrechts conglomerate, this division owned by Theo Albrecht (who owns part of the Aldi stores but not in the US). His brother Karl owns Aldi Süd (south) (who controls the Aldi stores in the US) and the Aldi history, well that's another albeit interesting story. TJs has a very controlled growth plan. They only open a few each year and are vigorously recruited by both vendors and communities. They buy some things locally (often things like eggs) and some things are made by huge corporations (pita chips are made by Frito).

I love Trader Joe's. I don't know where you guys shop but their prices are much cheaper than other stores for what I buy. 5 pounds of flour is $2.99 at TJ's and my local store is $4+. I can get a pound of nuts for $6 and it would easily be twice that much at Albertsons. Almond milk is about $3 and it's more at the regular stores. I like some of the produce. I've had really good luck with the packaged organic romaine lettuce. Their avocados are really good if you let them ripen at home for a few days. The packaged spinach is nice, and I like the bananas. The only produce I've ever had problems with were the onions but I agree you can get fresher produce elsewhere but you're going to pay more, at least where I live. The frozen fire-roasted corn is amazing in chili or salsa. I'm a fan of the pumpkin ice cream in the fall, and I love the chocolate and strawberry coconut milk ice cream in the summer. I inhale their frozen veggie dumplings. One package is less than $4 and it's two meals for me. Their tomato basil marinara sauce is the BEST jarred sauce I have ever tasted and it's only $1.79. Their prepared salads are great. I had an amazing one for lunch earlier this week with quinoa, chickpeas, spinach, carrots, cranberries, edamame, pumpkin seeds and a carrot-ginger-miso dressing for $3. TJ's is perfect for me as a single, health-conscious person. They have a lot of vegetarian basics at good prices. They have healthy packaged food for convenience because it's often much cheaper to eat a nutritious prepackaged salad than to cook for one. And the reason TJ's has a cult following is because they offer interesting things at low prices and high quality. They don't have a whole lot of selection but what they do have is almost always good. They cater to a lot of alternative diets, like vegan, or gluten free. They have a ton of organic produce and their products don't have all the chemicals and preservatives found in grocery store snacks. And their customer service is some of the best I've ever seen. You can take back anything, half eaten even, and get a refund no questions asked.