First, I need to make sure of the place I'm going to put it. It takes mostly shade but lots of light. I just love the colors, the leaves come in red and change to a heavy variegation. The flowers are also red, but it's the foliage!

Anyone know what it is? As I recall the guy said it was a heliconia xxx India, I can't remember what came in the middle. They seem to call both gingers and heliconias, 'heliconia' here so it could be a type of ginger.

You should post this over in the plant ID forum; you'd probably get an answer faster there!

I think that plant wants full shade. It looks like a type of ginger to me.

That looks like Stromanthe sanguinea: http://www.google.com/search?q...

Thank you Lin, that is it! I'm looking around for a spot in the garden for it, I'd prefer not to keep it in a pot. This is probably the wrong time of year to plant it however, everything seems to say not to let it dry out and we are entering the driest and hottest part of our dry season. I may have to keep it in a pot until the rains start and plant it out then. See, I'm already planning for it and I haven't even gone back to buy one. It's clear I'm going to though.

It's a beautiful plant but one that I've never been able to keep alive ... probably because of the fact that I always let them dry out.

Lin, you are sooooo good!
That really is a beautiful plant; not intended for this end of the world, tho! sigh.

Lin - I thought at first too that it was Stromanthe but once I enlarged the picture I didn't think it was. The Stromanthe grows very close to the ground. This is a taller plant I think.

The second picture does have some large specimens. I'd say they were about 3' high and with long stems. They had some others in smaller pots that were spreading more sideways than up. The area the bigger plants were in was shaded with an almost black shade cloth, much darker than some of the other shade houses. It really does look like the pictures Lin posted and others that I googled, it's hard to imagine that there are a lot of plants that look like this. When I go back to buy it, I'll bug them about a latin name. It probably won't help, few people know the latin names in nurseries here. At least, I'll get the local name and I can google it on MX google and perhaps find more info.

Hetty, the sites I looked at for this plant claim anywhere from 3 to 5 feet for maximum height.

OK, either it is a species I am not familiar with or we only have stunted ones here

Lookee here:
http://www.plant-care.com/stro...
and here:
http://www.backyardgardener.co...

Thanks. Like I said, we must have only stunted ones here LOL

Aww, and look at that; it's a relative of one of my favorite houseplants, Maranta Leuconeura. Gee, wonder if I could grow a little one indoors?

hmm ... maybe it's Ctenanthe? http://www.google.com/search? http://saylorplants.com/pd.asp...


q=ctenanthe+oppenheimiana&hl=en&prmd=imvnsfd&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=1ExZT_CUHqPisQKxmNW1DQ&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=786

Or perhaps a Calathea. Ctenanthe and Calathea do look similar. You're right about planting in the wet season. Always the right time I think.

Interesting links. The Ctenanthe says it has a white flower, this one is red to pink, and is from Brasil but the Stromanthe is from Central America. I'm pretty sure that in a botanical sense, the Yucatan is considered C. A. The two plants do look alike though and it seems to say the names are interchangeable.

I have a Calathea but something is eating it and I am not sure it will survive. I have it in a damp place, around a fish bowl, but at this time of year it does get a little direct sun. I just noticed the eaten leaves yesterday, it could be the cats? I don't see anything else in that bowl that is eaten. I guess I need to move it and see how it does.

My slug problem is worrying me about the Stromanthe, the coffee grounds and egg shells aren't really doing it. I will put it in a pot for a couple of months and try and get the slugs killed plus then I can plant it when the rains start. We don't have any problem supplying the humidity here, or the temperatures. It rarely gets below 65°F at night or below 50% humidity, which is right now. The humidity will go up a lot with the heat soon.

Jonna, if you are able to purchase any 1" or wider copper tape or copper strips, that can be very helpful as a barrier against slugs and snails. Also wood ashes.

Jonna, I'm surprised you have slugs and snails there. They can't survive the climate here. We do have a large local snail wjhich has a very hard shell, like the sea snails. But their population density is very low and virtually non existant in gardens. I've never seen them on garden plants and they're usually only ever on the ground. I've only seen one on my place in about 7 years but out bush you may see up to about a half dozen in a wet season.

There's something nibbling away at my Calatheas. But not sure if it's bandicoots, possums, or wallabies ...... or all of them.

Awwww...I hate it when something makes a 'happy meal' of our plants!