Azaleas, Strep & Australis

So I bought an azalea in the spring, it was blooming white, and it was gorgeous. Well since then, it has suffered a lot of abuse. I had planted it out back in a small garden, and my wonderful dog dug it up at least three times, each time breaking more branches. Once it started getting cold I brought it back in the house. Now I know azaleas need a cold period to bloom, so I might have to put this back outside near the end of winter. Here is a pic of my white azalea.......we will see in the spring if it blooms again.Well I guess it is azalea time again, because everywhere I go there are blooming azaleas. I don't normally buy these because I haven't had the chance to see if I can re-bloom them, so I don't want to go all out with this plant just yet......lol. I can see myself getting very into these if I could get them to re flower, because the are just beautiful!

So the other day, at Walmart, I came across some azaleas. There was one that caught my eye, it was just the prettiest thing I had even seen. If I can re accomplish the blooming process, I will be so impressed with myself. The color pattern is one I had never seen before on azaleas. .......I guess there are quite a few cultivars, much like roses(have you seen some of the bloom colors roses have lately...OMG!)

So anyways, here are a couple pics of this famous azalea I rant about. See what I mean......Magnifique!!Now on from that.....here are a couple little plants I have my eye on right now. My streptocarpus (gesneriad)......it is still just small, and at one point I thought it was going to die from rot. I had had it in my humidity dome, and it did not seem to like that much humidity, since I have moved it, it is growing quite nicely. I have never seen one of these flower in person, so it will be interesting to see it when it flowers.

The other one I have my eye on right now is my hoya australis variegata. I took a cutting of it, and the cutting is growing so nicely right now and the color of the leaves is just so cool. Deep red and green, and so shiny.