spathe(s) – Mama Nene's Garden

The wet season brings out nice blooms to my Anthuriums. Most of my friends think that the thick and waxy heart-shaped colorful spathes are the flowers. (Well, I guess that’s the common misconceptions about these tropical plants.) The spathes are just modified leaves developed by these plant to attract and fool the humans. The actual flowers are really on the spadix — about a hundred or more minute blossoms cover the spadix. Anyway, here are some photos of my Anthurium‘s inflorescence. Enjoy!

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For those who opt to go green, the Spathiphyllum plant is a great alternative to canned air fresheners. I thought about my Spathe plant this morning when an obnoxious smell of a dead rat reeked in my kitchen. This is one of the popular indoor plants that cleanse the air pollutants or harmful gases from the room.

This plant is commonly known as Spath, Spathe, Peace Lily, or Snow Flower. I have three varieties of these perennial plants. One is the Spathiphyllum floribundum; the cultivar ‘Domino’ is variegated variety of an intermediate size. Its marbled green and white large leaves are about 12cm to 20 cm long, and 5cm to 9 cm wide. The the flowers in the spadix are surrounded by a greenish-white spathe about 10cm to 20 cm long. Presently, I put this plant with my Anthuriums under the shade of my young Durian tree.

Second is the Spathyphyllum wallisi. This herbaceous plant is has dark green glossy leaves and its foliage makes an attractive indoor plant even when not in bloom. It is also recommended to place the Peace Lily near a desktop or computer in the house. Its spathe is white or white with green lines and its spadix is cream or ivory. Most of my potted Peace Lily plants are under the shade of my Mango tree.

Third is my Spathiphyllum floribundum miniature (not shown). I haven’t seen its flowers for a long time because it grows so dense in a shady area in my garden, I still have to arrange a schedule to re-pot it. These plants thrive well when they are slightly pot-bound.

Anyway, most Spathiphyllum are easy to care; they thrive well in shaded areas as well as with bright light but they dislike direct sunlight and over-watering. I only water them once a week but I see to it that the soil would be moist and not dry.