‘Pink Radiance’—Small and bushy, leaves centered and veined with shades of pink, pink-flecked on the edge.
‘Sea Gull’—White at the midvein and frosted all over.
‘Twilight’—Glowing flame-pink leaf finely netted with green.
CARE. Partial sun; if in a greenhouse shade against burn. Temperature: warm (75 degrees). Humid. Soil: rich, acid (azalea type). Keep moist. Fertilizer: feed liquid manure on alternate weeks.
PROPAGATION. Seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Terrariums, window boxes, specimens.
Calathea (Maranta) Marantaceae
There’s only one available true miniature in this group of richly colored and patterned tropical foliage plants, but many other species will stay small in a three-inch pot for years. The fact that they’re suitable for lush but restrained effects in far Southern gardens is my other excuse for including them.
These plants are maranta-like, the leaf tufts with markings a peacock could crow about, silky-velvet or iridescent sheens that outshine the gowns at a coronation ball. They are reluctant to flower but nobody cares. The following is only a sampling of the available riches:
argyraea—Low and compact, the blotched green leaves overlaid with silver and horizontally level.