Some plants have beautiful leaves to compensate for their lack of flowers. Codiaeum variegatum, commonly called croton, is among the first that come to mind. Known in Thai as koson, they have leaves that are multi-coloured, or blotched and speckled in many different patterns.
BLOOMLESS BEAUTIES: Bromeliads are striking even without flowers.
I have known them by the name "San Francisco", which is what Filipinos call them, but although I have seen them since I was a child, and they have probably existed for decades even before I was born, they are still going strong.
Plant fanciers never get tired of croton because there are always new cultivars, with even more colourful leaves, to add to their collection. Croton have flowers, but these are tiny and insignificant, and it's their leaves that brighten up any garden in all seasons of the year. Planted in the ground, these shrubs can grow to a height of two metres, and although they can tolerate partial shade, it is in full sun that their colourful leaves are shown at their best.
HEAD TURNER: Above, fancy leaved caladium brighten up any garden.
Another plant which I had seen as a child is Caladium bicolor, whose heart-shaped leaves gave it the common name "heart of Jesus". All I knew then was play, but my best friend and playmate's elder sister grew it in pots in their yard. The plants had leaves with patterns that came in two colours, red or white over green , hence its species name, bicolor. Over the years hybridisers have developed countless cultivars in many different colour combinations and patterns, so that they are now known as "fancy-leaved" caladium although they still answer to the species name Caladium bicolor, from which they are all derived. Like croton, they brighten up any garden, but they are best grown in pots in the shade.
Caladium grow from bulbs and during the hot summer months their leaves disappear. During this time no watering is necessary. Before the rainy season begins you can propagate them by separating the bulbs into individual pots, using soil mixed with well-decomposed lead mould. When the rains come the leaves appear again, to display their beautiful colours in all their glory.
Acalypha wilkisiana, which Thais call hu plachon, is another shrub that is grown for its colourful leaves. Though it is known as copper-leaf, it's leaves are not that colour, but they do come in different shapes, some simple, others ruffled, in combinations of creamy white and green or in various shades of red dappled with orange or pink. It is best grown in full sun although it can tolerate partial shade.
Unlike other species of ficus, which bear bunches of colourful, if tiny, syconium, or fruit, I have yet to see Ficus elastica, or yang India, with fruit. However, growing to a height of six metres if planted in the ground, this tree is beautiful in its own right and makes an attractive focal point in any garden. From it two even more beautiful cultivars have been developed, one with variegated leaves and the other with burgundy leaves, and in turn several hybrids have been developed from these, too. Some have small leaves, while others sport the colours of their variegated and burgundy-coloured parent plants.
Ficus elastica in its many forms are best grown in the ground in full sun, but make wonderful houseplants if planted in pots. However, in Thailand houseplants cannot remain inside the house for weeks on end so make sure to bring them out for a breathe of fresh air after 10 days.
For a bromeliad fancier like me, however, nothing beats the bromeliads, known in Thai as sapparot see, where colourful leaves in a multitude of patterns are concerned. The family Bromeliaceae comprises many genera, each one comprising many species, and although some, like those in the genus Guzmania, have colourful flowers, most are beautiful even without flowers. My favourite are those in the genus Neoregelia, for although their flowers are small and insignificant, they more than make up for it with their leaves. I have intentionally cut this story short to leave more space for photos, so that readers can appreciate how leaves and not just flowers can beautify our surroundings.
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COLOURFUL CULTIVARS: Right to far right, croton in some of its many forms.
