2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
A rhizome perennial from the tropics, Caladium, with surprisingly elegant large leaves, is not grown here for starch, as is done in its homeland. But, if you need to add red-green colors to the interior of a room, a greenhouse or a garden flower garden in the spring-summer period, then the Almighty created this plant for you
Caladium or Cladium
Just one letter separates the colorful leaves, the shape of which has been compared to angelic wings or the heart of Jesus Christ, from the jagged, sharp, narrow and long leaves of a rugged prairie dweller called Cladium. Contact with the leaves of Cladium threatens a person with cuts and wounds, and therefore, in those places where Cladium settles, only alligators, crocodiles and turtles, protected by strong shells, live at ease.
We are more attracted to beauty, and therefore we will talk about Caladium. But for those whose garden plots are located in areas with a warm climate and border on swamps, to protect themselves from uninvited guests, you can get a Cladium.
Rod Caladium
The genus Caladium is not numerous, it consists of only 15 perennials with amazing decorative leaves on long petioles, which more than compensate for the inconspicuousness of the inflorescences with their white-red patterns. Some are scared off by the long dormant period of the plant, which lasts from autumn to March. But with the small dimensions of the apartment, with loggias and balconies, this is the most suitable view for a bright holiday of nature.
Modest yellow ears of inflorescences that form at the end of summer, as if embarrassed by their simplicity against the background of heart-shaped large leaves, try to hide their flowers behind a greenish covering leaf. In general, the flowering plant creates the impression of a bright court ball, which was accidentally attended by an unattractive girl, a dowry, defending herself from curious, unfriendly glances with a modest nondescript fan.
Varieties of Caladium
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Caladium bicolor (Caladium bicolor).
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Caladium Pictoratum (Caladium picturatum).
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Caladium Humboldt (Caladium humboldtii).
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Caladium Schomburg (Caladium schomburgii).
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Garden Caladium (Caladium hortulanum), combining hybrid forms of the plant.
Hybrids and hybrid forms
Hybrids obtained by breeders by crossing Caladium bicolor with other species are grown as indoor and garden plants.
Florists are interested in varieties such as:
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"Pink Cloud" (Pink Cloud) - leaves with a beautiful combination of green color with dark red or dark pink spots, similar to light clouds, and white veins.
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"John Peel" (John Pul) - with bright large leaves with a red center, framed by a green edge.
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"White Christmas" (White Christmas) - green leaves with snow-white triangles giving the impression of loose snow lying on the surface of the leaf.
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"Gull" (Seagull) - with white veins on a green leaf background.
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"Saint Keverne" (Saint Keverne) - variegated combination of light green with pink and red veins.
Growing
This delightful plant in areas with harsh climates is grown only as an indoor plant, which retires for the winter. When the aerial part dies off, the roots are dug up and stored at a temperature of 15 degrees in containers filled with peat.
Caladium, an inhabitant of the tropics, loves diffused light and is afraid of drafts. The optimum temperature for a successful growing season is 21 degrees. Abundant watering and humid air help maintain beauty.
The rhizome rises one third above the surface of the soil, consisting of a mixture of peat, leafy and soddy soil with an acidic environment. Top dressing with liquid mineral fertilizer is combined with watering once every 7 days.
Propagated by offspring and by dividing the rhizome.
Can be infected with fungi.
Attention! All parts of the plant are poisonous.
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Caladium
Caladium (lat.Caladium) is a rare genus of succulent herbaceous plants that create dense undergrowth in the American tropics. In its native land, it is used for food purposes, producing starch from the roots of plants, although the juice that permeates all parts is considered toxic.
Caladium Bicolor
Caladium bicolor is one of the plants of the family called aroids. In Latin, the name of this plant sounds like this: Caladium bicolor. As for the name of the family of this plant, then in Latin it will be like this: Araceae. Description of caladium bicolor For the favorable cultivation of this plant, it will be necessary to provide it with either a solar light regime or a partial shade regime.
Balsamic Touch-me-not
Impatiens balsamic is one of the plants of the family called balsamic, in Latin the name of this plant will sound as follows: Impatiens balsamina L. As for the name of the family of the balsamic mellitus itself, in Latin it will be like this:
Forget-me-not Swamp
Forget-me-not swamp is one of the plants of the family called borage, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Myosotis palustris. As for the name of the swamp forget-me-not family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Boraginaceae Juss.
Rhubarb: Not Tops, Not Roots, But Petioles
While fruit trees and shrubs are just beginning to bloom and form tight ovaries, those who grow rhubarb in their garden harvest thick juicy petioles in May. It would seem that such a special thing can be prepared from these strange huge sticks? If you have never tasted rhubarb before, be sure to cook compote with it, make dumplings or bake a pie. Believe me, having tried it once, you will be glad that rhubarb is a perennial plant, and in the next 7-10 years it will give more
