How beautiful! I have one calathea. It is like your second picture. (Medallion?) I have read that they can be difficult to grow so I haven't purchased any more. I do love the beautiful foliage of calatheas. I didn't know that they had blooms. Thank you for sharing your pictures.

I always get excited when Tropic posts pics and was definitely not disappointed this time. You have the coolest plants, Tropic! It looks like these are all purple on the back of the leaves. Gotta love that. Thanks for sharing, never seen a Calathea bloom before!

Tropic..Gorgeous Calatheas. Flowers are so cute.

Would you happen to know Pic 5's name? I've never seen a Cal with such striking, white smudges.

Calatheas and Ginger foliage, 'especially Kaempferia,' are similar in appearance, too. Toni

Thanks for those comments. I've been away with work for a while and am only just catching up on all these threads.

Sarah1502, I don't know the name of that one, the label just had "Calathea", not unusual for the big stores. It's one of my favourites, that photo doesn't do the colours justice. I'm hoping it will multiply so I can start off a lot more plants.

Purple,that's another thing I like about them, the purple colour on the back of the leaves. Looks good coming and going. When they get too strong light/sun the leaves roll up exposing the undersides.

Toni, don't know the name of number 5. But it's the reason I put in the "and some relatives" It's not a Calathea, but is closely related. Same with the last one, number 6.

Awesome! I saw a pic of the 3rd one around here somewhere months ago and have had my eyes peeled for it since. (Yes, it's painful, but I keep looking!)

Just noticed the combo in one of these pics - Calathea and Caladuim - fun to say and look great together!

Morning Everyone,

Tropic,

Although plants 5 and 6 aren't Calatheas, are they in the Marantaceae family?

In general, (I've given up trying to distinguish Calatheas, Ctenanthes and Stromanthes.) :) Toni

Wow, I love that third photo above. I'd ask what it is and then buy one if I didn't already know how my ornata tortures me.

Your plants are stunning!

-Grace

Thanks Grace, they're aptly named Peacock Plants.

Toni, I'll have to blame you. Went to my local nursery to find out what that No. 5 plant was. They couldn't remember the name but said the same about it being a Calathea relative. Then they showed me what they said was the same plant, but more of a variegated version. I ended up buying it, it's your fault, LOL.

Tropic, it's all my fault. lol..Too funny.

Your plant is Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar'....
Definately a Calathea relative.
And a very nice specimen.

I've never seen so much white in its variegation.
Was it getting a lot of sun? WOW!!!

Beautiful pics!

Is there a scent to that bloom?

Thanks for that ID Toni. The variegated one is still quite small. I'll wait til it's grown a lot bigger, the variegation may change a bit with age/size. (I think I've become more variegated as I've got older, LOL.)

Asleep_in_the_garden, thanks. I didn't try them for smell, wouldn't have thought they had any. I'll have to try then let you know.

Hi
Very nice!! Wouldn't show pix of mine at the moment
as we're setting record lows this March Boy do they HATE cool dry air . gary

Morning,

Tropic, Leaf patterns might change as plant matures, but I think, more importanly, patterns/shapes/colors alter depending on light.

Often, individual leaves, 'on the same plant,' differ in markings.

LOL. I feel the same about variegated plants. Green is nice, but variegation is special.

Don't know if you consider red leaves variegated, 'I don't,' but red/variegated foliage is striking, opposed to green. Unfortunately, most of my plants are green.

Gary...I can't fathom FL being cool with dry air. What the heck? lol.
What's with the climate change? In all of US, not only FL.

Are you having problems w/your Cals? Are they kept in or outdoors?

Hopeful
Set record highs in Jan Feb decimated my winter garden lol. Looks like will finish as a zone 11 in spite of March lows.
Generally "winter "is cool and dry in my area. I depend on it to grow strawberries This year I got fantastic mango/ carombola though lol gary

wow so pretty! i live in new york so i can't plant it outside. How are they such a vibrant green? my calathea leaves that are growing out are so pale.

Hey Gary, in a way I wish IL had FL's problem. :)

Record highs, Jan/Feb.
2013, we had record lows..lol.

I'm laughing, but really sorry you lost some plants. Perhaps, they'll surprise you, return in spite of the heat??

You said you got mango. New or awaken from dormancy?
Sorry, I'm unfamilar with carombola...

Kats, can you summer your Cal/plants outdoors in summer?

Hey hopeful, yes i summer all my plants outdoors. You think that will help? i just wish i knew how to keep them happy during the winter time.

Hi Kats...
Do I think summering Calatheas outside will help?

Yes, I do. As long as they're first acclimated.
Outdoor shade is much brighter than a sunny, indoor window.

From spring through autumn, my Cals/Stromanths, etc, are placed in a shady spot, between houses.
Although the shelf faces north, on sunny days, a little east and west light aims at plants.

Fresh air and humidity will perk up 'our' Calatheas. Toni

Asleep, I sniffed the blooms but couldn't detect any scent. Maybe they were a bit old already, or just are not scented.

Well, ended up buying some more Calatheas, only 5, LOL. They didn't have any more that I didn't already have.

The top one in the photo is one I already had. Since it's been very slow growing and still small I put the 2 smallest ones I bought near it. They're a bit more plain green with small leaves.

This one is fairly tall already, about half a metre. No colour patterns but still has the purple underside.

Another reasonably tall one. I like the patterns on it. Although a bit similar to some of the others, it's still different enough.

A nice tallish one as well. I took the photos very late in the day. Thery look better when I use the flash on the camera. Normally I'd split up the plants so that I'd have more (for the same money). Just didn't have time. It would be great to not have to go to work, but then I wouldn't have the money to buy plants. What a bizarre world we live in, LOL.

I was thinking...about the smell of ginger and how they tend to release their scent at night to attract night-time pollinators.

Sop I looked up gingers and calathea,and as it turns out they are in the same order "Zingiberales".

Perhaps it saves it's aroma til the night shift.

Thanks for the heads up!
Kind of you to remember me! :)

Lord, those are dreamy. I might post a picture of my Maranta leuconeura, if that's appropriate. People speak of them being easy, but mine just now got happy. I wish I knew why it is suddenly pleased.

Had one like a million years ago but as I recall it was an uphill climb that I never really got the hang of and now-a-days I just don't see the sense in getting one only to watch it slowly waste away.

Don't get me wrong,they're GORGEOUS but...

I'm just too chicken. :)

Asleep, I am with you.
This thread and the lovely photos is the SOLE reason my Calathea didn't go into the trash this week but instead, got kicked outside. I've been known to go to hell and back to keep gardenias alive (and still fail) but one species shaming me every year is enough. Lol

I chopped her down to nothing so she can duke it out with Mother Nature.

Grace

Hi Grace!

Mother Nature at zone 10,eh? ...That just might work!! Wish I was in similar settings at the moment but alas,likely be may before I can do anything similar. Back then I kept them in terraria where the humidity was maxed out and that was easy enough but behind the glass they weren't as easy to see so naturally I would want to take them out to see if maybe they could stand it outside their sauna for a bit but they were just spoiled in there so in time they'd pout. I wish I had a greenhouse sometimes. :)