If your African violets take too much of your time, then you are giving them way too much attention. Honestly, I barely acknowledge mine and they are gorgeous year round. I think too many people want African violets to seem like they need special care. They don't. I have dropped, crushed, over-watered, under-watered, drenched in hot sunlight, left in the dark, and failed to re-pot my African violets for years at a time. They still reward me with blooms whether or not I deserve it. I have heat intolerance from multiple sclerosis, so I keep my apartment cool (most would say COLD) year round. I drop everything, including the African violets. I might take the dust off their leaves once a year. In the winter I hardly ever turn on the heat, so it's normally at 45-55 degrees; I tell people I keep it warm enough in the winter so the African violets don't freeze. In the summer the temperature cannot go higher than 70 degrees or lose my right leg, right hand and most of my cognitive abilities; at times the air conditioner has the apartment down to 60 degrees all day. I don't provide them with any special lighting. I water them when I am physically able to lift the jug. I always add food to the water, because with my short-term memory loss can never worry about a feeding schedule. I have mine in pots with holes in the bottom sitting on top of a tray of aquarium stones. If the stones look dry, I water the stones. My African violets LOVE living here! They have healthy foliage and gorgeous flowers. In the wild, no one fusses over them. They get gnawed on and stepped on. African violets acclimate very well to many different conditions. They survived before people came along to take care of them. It's a shame to get rid of plants you have cared for. Just stick them somewhere and forget about them. If they look like they are wilted, water them.

g'day alison, can you send me a list via e/mail please? do you know my hotmail account? i don't think sending e/mails through this forum works anymore. my bro' is down the coast so could pick up very easily len Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

John a couple of people contacted me ahead of you, but haven't yet followed up. Your e-mail was blocked on this post. If you would like to contact me through "My Page" I can get direct details in case the other arrangements fall through. Alison

Mariannese's comment is EXACTLY what the concept of my post (well, actually the WashPost blogger's post) is meant to imply. Not a book for someone who has never read a book, by his or her own choice. But a book that has moved you to some great extent -- whether by teaching you a lesson of compassion or love or understanding, or encouraging you to follow a dream, or simply by transporting you to a different world that you would probably never have the opportunity to experience. The kind of book that you know you always want on your bookshelf to reread over and over again -- one that you must own. And for a child, the ownership factor can mean a great deal, esp if that child comes from a poor (financially speaking) family. (The first book, for a child, that I thought of was Dr. Seuess's "Sneetches.")