Cercis141, Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and I think you hit the nail on the head. I think the word " ephemeral," is just what I was looking for. I've checked it out and it describes exactly the way my plants behave. I also ran the names and found photos that looked exactly the same as my plants. Although the leaves are rather limp now, because the plants are going underground, I can smell a hint of onion. Now that I have the tools, I can search for the plants. Thanks again. Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it.

Hi Jon: I find that one of the nicest things about streps is that they do not seem to mind a slight wilt and will recover nicely upon being watered again. I first experimented with unglazed clay terra cotta pots when some of my first streps--all growing in small, plastic pots--were victim to basal and root rot. After I researched the genus in a bit more detail, it dawned on me that clay pots might be the most suitable. I know that Rex Dibley, in both of his books, claims that clay should not be used for streps since the roots tend to stick to the porous clay and are therefore harder to repot. This did not seem like a valid reason to me as to why clay should/could not be used. So I experimented with a few plants at first, and was ultimately very pleased with the results. I think I can now safely say that *in my particular growing conditions*, clay pots are best for streps. And as for the roots sticking, when I repot my streps I just carefully run a knife blade around the inside perimeter of the pot, as deep as I can go, and the plant usually pulls out easily with the entire root ball intact. I have not noticed any particular shock or trauma from doing it this way, but I think that a happy, healthy plant would bounce back from mild stress like that without hardly skipping a beat anyway. I am also experimenting with growing some of the larger Saintpaulia species (like S. grandifolia and S. pendula var. kizarae) in terra cotta clay pots. These require a much more constant supply of moisture (I'm sure I will be sick of watering them before the summer is over), but they have responded with lots of growth and loads of blooms. This makes sense to me since they are found growing in the wild as lithophytes and semi-epiphytes, and thus would appreciate the extra aeration that the porous clay provides. Mo: I explained about what window exposures I used (and use now) for this plant in the very first post :-)

I placed my Streptocarpus 'Falling Stars' on a glaringly sunny southern windowsill from December until the beginning of this month (March) and it absolutely loved it. It never once lost its deep green color or stopped producing countless flower buds. I noticed that the leaves produced with this much sunshine tended to be much more compact than the shade-produced leaves. However, the plant started to look a bit pouty with the increasingly strong sun rays of spring so it is now in a very bright eastern window and is now a gigantic mass of bloom.

I don't know if the lines are a problem or not. I was more or less thinking of basal rot, hence the term "crown rot". The crown being the base of the plant where all the action is, so to speak. The rot starts just at the base where the "leaf stalks" come off of the central point. Usually the first sign is that the stems in this area turn dark maroonish and then wilt and then the leaves with their stalk just break away. Usually any leaf, even with rotted portions will turge up when soaked over night in a bowl of water. (Note: I don't actually think "turge" is a word, but we use it all the time--I'm still looking for the correct word for this). The only danger in soaking leaves is when one, ahem, leaves them for too long--like days. Eventually they again turn soft and rot in the water. Yes, I have on occasion done this. I admit it--the "too many projects" syndrome. I usually have very good luck rooting strep leaves. But, when I find a plant that has crown rot that is advanced I usually have problems with the cuttings. The other day I found a pot of dead strep leaves that had come from such a plant. The leaves that I tried to save were pretty small and not in good shape, but I gave it the ole college try and they flunked. Now, for a grower like Korina who lives in the fabulous and just darn cold Sunset Zone 17, streps should do wonderfully. I had friends, now deceased who grew the most incredible streps in and outside their cold foggy San Francisco apartment. They did best with them outside in the fog. In the middle of summer the late afternoon brings in the fog with a strong breeze. It feels like the 30's but actually is in the mid to upper 50's (I'm talking about August, for darn sakes!). The streps just loved this climate. They didn't get crown rot, they grew and flowered all season long, and they could put up clouds of flowers with just a little care. In winter they would just rest the pots on their sides to keep the rain off them, as despite the cool foggy summers, all the rainfall comes in fall, winter and spring, the seasons where streps in nature, have their dry period. Up North where Korina lives the coast may get colder in winter and streps don't like temperatures below 32 degrees F. In the coastal belt of the Bay Area they do very well outdoors if protected from excess rain and frost, but they come into flower later in the spring--more like June, rather than April or all winter even, if grown indoors. So, people who grow streps for spring shows as late as early June won't have streps if they grow them outdoors. But, for shows in August, the outdoor streps are at their peak. Jon, who likes to post a lot more info than anyone was looking for.