I received this plant when I was in the hospital several years ago as a gift. I have no idea what it is. My first guess would be some type of primrose. Its a very picky plant! The leaves will die if they touch ANYTHING including the edge of the pot it is in. What can I do, if anything, to prevent that? Its a beautiful plant and will flower almost year round.

Streptocarpus. They like cooler, shadier spots. Obviously, if it's flowering year-round for you, you have it in a good spot.

Hi Pamala, to All Things Plants!

I agree with Shadegardener/Cindy, your lovely plant is Cape Primroses (Streptocarpus)

There are a lot listed in the database and all require the same type of care: http://garden.org/plants/brows...

Some great culture information from Dibleys here: http://dibleys.com/strep.htm

Thank-you for identifying this for me. What can I do to keep the leaves from rotting where the Streptocarpus touches the edges of the pot? The plant would be ever so much bigger if I could keep this from happening.

I tried growing Streptocarpus years ago but I didn't have a lot of luck with them. I don't see any rotting leaves in your photo. I wonder, when you say the leaf edges are rotting ... are they getting brown and soggy or are they turning brown and brittle, crispy-like? In my experience, rotting leaves usually occur at the base of the leaf and stem and it's caused by over watering. Brittle, crispy leaf edges are usually do to a lack of humidity and if that is the case you can raise the humidity levels around your plant by sitting the pot on a tray of moist pebbles, replacing the water as it evaporates. Or, you can mist the leaves a few times a week. If the leaves are truly rotting, the solution would be to go easier on watering. If the soil is retaining too much moisture you can add extra perlite to lighten it up for better drainage.

Pamala54
I know less than nothing about the plant but welcome to ATP.
You have kept the Streptocarpus alive for several years (and I am happy you are not in the hospital anymore!) so you are doing a find job!

Make sure the edges of your pot don't have any sharp burs or fertilizer build up. Avoid getting the leaves wet when watering. No direct sun. Only ideas I can think of that would cause brown spots and demise of leaves unless you have spider mites. Misting your plant would also make it happy and deter spider mites but may not totally eliminate them if present.