lobelia?

flowers = dime-sized? clear sky-blue color? might be evolvulus. this annual is not always easy to find in a local nursery here in New England, so last winter I took a chance and potted 3 of them into a large (18") pot and overwintered them indoors in my dining room, under lights. the pot is enormous now, happily blooming on the deck. I think I will drag it inside again this fall and see if I can keep it going! (might have to re-pot with new soil, tho) lovely plant for that oh-so-rare true-blue color...

sorry, it is neither of these.

Post a photo...if you have it.

Now that you see the picture, I am sure you will be able to name it!

Streptocarpella

It is actually a perennial and makes a good houseplant. So there's no need to buy them repeatedly.

It is an annual here in Ohio. We are zone 5.
I was just 2 weeks in London and Paris! Wonderful trip and great people in England.

Thank you for naming my plant!

lucyw - this plant is botanically speaking not an annual, no matter where it is growing. It is a perennial which is killed by frost. True annuals are plants which grow from seed, flower, set seed and die within one year. Streptocarpella is a perennial by nature and if brought into an environment for the winter where it doesn't freeze it will live for years, even in Ohio ;-)

It is almost exclusively known a house plant here.

Yes, streptocarpella. Grown as an annual or houseplant up here. I have mine growing in pots, this year I have it in a whiskey barrel with Persian shield as the centerpiece, it makes a nice little edger spilling out of the pot. Lovely color blooms which really complement the Persian shield. Have grown it on it's own in small pots, too. Does well in shade or part shade up here.

Yes, they can survive in a basement in OH under fluorescent shop lights. This plant did that in the winter of 02/03. I'm amazed you find it every year. When I lived in OH, I would visit garden centers because of my job and didn't see them every year. (Some of the other plants didn't survive, ignore the background.)