Houseplants

So, in lieu of anything different from usual going on in our lives, and unable to believe that the end of January is this week. I'm going to use my weekly update spot (because that's all the "update" your getting) to plead for help with my houseplants.

I like my houseplants but am entirely too neglectful to them because I really don't know what I'm doing. Kind of like if I ever wanted to ride the bus... don't know what I'm doing (but that's another post for another day).

So, first up we have mystery plant. This is a view from the side, after having removed all the dead leaves (they just came off in my hand and were brown anyway...):
And this view from the top:
I would really like to know what this is and how to care for it. We received it in July at Chad's grandmother's funeral. Other than watering it, and today taking off the dead leaves, I haven't touched it.

Next is my African Violet, which I am learning I have sorely mistreated:

I purchased it a year and a half ago, if not a little longer, from Wal-mart and have never re-potted it (the mistreatment). It was in bloom when I purchased it and has not bloomed since. I do know to only water it from the bottom, which I have done. But am at a loss other than re-potting into something larger as to what else to do with it and am very intimidated at the sites I find online about them. There really seems to be a cult following for these.

This is mystery plant number 2:
A cutting from my grandmother, and she grows the things like weeds in her house, but this one hasn't sprouted anymore. I put one outside that has died off for the winter (just to see what it would do) and it produced several little sprouts and I'm waiting to see what the outdoor one will do come springtime.

This is the aloe from my grandmother, that seems sickly but remains green:
I have taken her advice and not watered it so much but it still seems like I need to do something else for it...

Here we have one of my two Christmas cacti that has bloomed off and on. I suspect it needs a bigger pot and not so much water to bloom again, but it's sprouting new leaves and staying healthy:
(this is a pot that waters from the bottom so I should probably put the African Violet in this...)

This second Christmas Cactus I received as a cutting from a nurse who I used to work with and it was only three leaves. It's bloomed before as well and I'm very happy it's doing so well.





Next is a mixture I got for my birthday:
It's a little sad because it needed water but is doing well.

Here we have two cuttings from the chicken and hen plant I bought and planted out front last spring:


They look wonderful and I can't wait for them to begin producing babies...

And that does it for me. And advice and identifications on my mystery plants are very welcome but alas I'm such a beginner that I should be told terms and such with the thoughts of a 10 yo child in mind...