Flaming Flamingo Colours ...
After months of dormancy this little plant will produce a number of small buds which twist and turn their way through the leaves ...
as you can see ... to form a glorious display of waxy like flowers of bright red!!
These long lasting blooms will last for weeks providing a stunning splash of colour within the house ...
Over the next few weeks I’ll keep you up to date with the progress of my flamingo flowers and they develop ... and provide with a few facts about this stunning plant ...
What’s In A Name
The Flamingo Flower is just one of the common names of the Anthurium (repeat after me an-THOO-ree-um). You’ll also find them called the Painter’s Palette (beautifully descriptive I hope you’ll agree ...); Tail Flower (from the Greek ‘antus’ meaning flower and ‘oura’ meaning tail), the Painted Tongue or Pigtail Plant.
Belonging to the arum family, the anthurium is related to the calla lily and spathyphyllum. With new species of anthurium being found every year at the moment you’ll find between 6-8 hundred species, with the following two species popular as house plants:
Anthurium andreanum
or Painters Palette originating from Colombia. Hybrids of this species are popular pot plants, with their heart shaped leaves and flowers (colours ranging from red through to white).
Anthurium scherzerianum
or Flamingo Flower from Guatemala. With my Anthurium falling within this species I’m familiar with its lance shaped leaves and bright coloured flowers of red (which can also be orange).
Once You’ve Seen These Flowers You’ll Never Forget Them ...
The striking flowers of the Anthurium are very distinctive. They are formed from two distinctive parts – the ‘spathe’ which is the convex, leaf-like part of the flower with a ‘waxy’ or ‘varnish like’ finish
- the ‘spadix’ or spike / tail like part rising out of the spathe and is either curved (in the case of the A. scherzerianum specie) or straight (A. andreanum specie).
You’ll find these flowers in a wide range of hues, from white, salmon white, white with red dots, pink, coral, rose, scarlet or deep red together with lilac, green and even a chocolaty brown.
What’s It All About ... A Little Bit Of Blooming Trivia ...
With Valentines Day just around the corner we should remember that flowers are said to have a meaning ... and the Anthuriums are no exception. For the practical ones amongst us Anthurium means ‘hard working’ whilst for the romantics it’s said to mean ‘think of me’ ... Whilst in Hawaii where the Anthurium originates it is seen as a messenger of hospitality ...
Well ... fingers crossed the little buds which have appeared on my Anthurium will continue to flourish ... I’ll report back on their progress next week ... and let you in on a few more Flamingo Flower facts ...
