Identification: NOT an Aroid!

Many thanks to everyone, including those whose frustrations kept the thread going until we had an answer. If my Botanical Latin had been up to scratch I could have worked out that a plant with blue starry flowers and heart shaped leaves would likely be cyanastrum cordifolium. Also, I now know where I must have bought it, Arden Dearden's Equatorial Exotics in Cairns, Queensland which I visited in November 2003. I saw in my googling that it is on sale at Glasshouse Works in Stewart, Ohio, where they mention its slow growth rate.

 

I really enjoyed this quest! Much like the detective novels of which I am fond: begin with a mystery; observe; gather clues; utilize the 'little gray cells' of the brain; discard red herrings and incorrect information until---voila! The mystery is solved, and the truth shines clearly. Great stuff.

And it is a beautiful plant!

 

oh, great!! there's somewhere in the states to get it through!! thanks for the info, ian!