A little bit of promotion.

Kohleria 'Jester' - old variety - very reliable and pretty much unkillable. My first Kohleria. Lived on the bright windowsill for 3 years without repotting, bloomed all the time- I just chopped off rattiest stems - it sent new ones - when I got to repot it - there was no soil - but a mass of rhizomes. Thrives on neglect. Can be tall.

Kohleria 'Queen Victoria' - exceptional variety - compact and very very floriferous. Will share the shelf space with AVs without crowding them. Easy to grow.

Streptocarpus 'Falling Stars' - it is a mutation of Streptocarpus johannis discovered in Dibleys greenhouse. Blossoms are small perivinkle blue - but it gives loads of them. Very easy, very tough, relatively compact. Hard to find.

Alsobia dianthiflora - easy, gives funny white blossoms once a year, spreads by stolons... everywhere. I keep promising to plant it in a hanging pot... so far it is happily crawling on my shelves... from shelf to shelf...

Episcia 'Harmony's Slinky Pink' is interesting.

Not without a challenge:

Kohleria Ruby only does well under high light. normal light - it trails and rarely blooms. Under high light - can be spectacular.

Kohleria 'Peridots Potlach' - not very floriferous, blossoms are smallish. Fry me for an oyster - but there is one super exceptional Peridots Kitlope, 2-3 good ones - P . Mango Martini is one of them - the rest - just not there.

No name Streptocarpella is most possibly 'Concord Blue' - it is wide spread and often sold in greenhouses as a blooming basket. It needs good light to bloom well - otherwise will stretch and not bloom at all. Probably makes sense in winter just to grow it as a green plant, take and root tip cuttings - so comes spring - you can hang it out on the porch and enjoy it in its summer glory. If not trimmed often... will grow too tall and lean on the neighbors.

Kohleria 'Jester'

Thanks for this info! Most of these plants are new to me so it's helpful to know more about their growth and bloom habits. Interestingly, Peridots Potlatch which you said is hard to bloom is the only one I have blooming at the moment! I didn't have any luck getting the streptocarpella to bloom. put it outside this summer but it was either too much light or too little light. Harmony Slinky Pink bloomed briefly after I cut it back and put it outside for the summer. It seems to need more light than my other episcias.

Jester has not bloomed yet but is growing well. I just cut the biggest top part off and replanted it. How do you keep these plants appropriately groomed and compact and still get them to bloom? Last year I just let Queen Victoria grow as is and she got really tall And outgrew my orchid stake.. Lots of blooms but rather ridiculous height. This time I am trying to keep her pinched back but I haven't gotten any blooms yet. Ruby bloomed last winter or maybe spring, stayed small but was hanging over the edge of the pot and finally I pinched the stems back to start over but now it just sits there and hardly grows at all. Also when I start them from rhizomes they tend to be skinny and leggy but if I take cuttings they grow much bigger leaves. Haven't quite figured them out yet but I really like them.

All the plants that are listed are still available if anybody wants a piece let me know.

Thank you very much for this useful and interesting information! I think they probably need more light too. Regarding the height, if I don't want them to be to be several feet tall should I just keep cutting off the tops and replanting them over and over? I read online somewhere, maybe Violet Barn, where they gave the idea that you can and should keep pinching them and that would work just fine but maybe like you said it's not that easy.

Irina thanks for all of the information on aviolet6 offer!!!! Very considerate of you to post all of that! Rosie

Yes, I'm very appreciative! And Rosie, my episcias from you are doing great!

Since Kohleria has a range of growing habits depending on species or hybrid we are growing - pinching 2 foot Jester - won't result in a pretty plant. Yes - in my experience - when they become leggy - rerooting tips is the most productive way to produce nicely blooming pot. Cutting old "canes" to the ground and letting the new shoots come from the roots will also work - but the plants will grow taller before they bloom then in a first case. Pinching seems to work better if you do it on young shoots just out of the soil.

Yes, increasing the light helps.

aviolet6, I am so happy to hear your episcias are doing well! I was looking over your list and am toying with the idea of getting a couple things. Still in the thinking stage however! Rosie