It's Not a Violet!

In my research on African Violets, I have found so many wonderful other members of the Gesneriad family!  The one that really has caught my eye are the Streptocarpus . The genus is native to Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, including Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. This plant is also known as Cape Primrose.  They are much larger than African violets, and the blooms are more tubular shaped. The leaves can get quite large.

In all of the articles I've read on Streps, they say they like bright indirect light.  I have seven Streps and they refused to bloom. So, I decided to move them to an east facing window. What the heck…what have I got to lose?!!  Well  as of today, six of my seven Streps are blooming! And the seventh one has a small flower stem peeking out too!  Hooray!! 

photos by Kathy Gunther

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