It's beautiful, I'm interested in hearing more about it too.

Yes, definitely. Thankfully that's something we have in spades, though it would be miserable indoors. I spent one rainy season in Central America and got to experience rain and cloud forests at every altitude. (Orchids everywhere!) It was amazing. San Antonio, unfortunately, is facing desertification in 40-70 years, unless climate change can somehow be reversed. Doesn't speak well for my beloved tropicals.

If you have the year round humidity and warmth it will work out well. It'll be an impressive display.

Sage, I spent decades in San Antonio in a 'former life' and still have family there. I wasn't aware that the climate in San Antonio is changing to one so dry. In those days I grew aroids and other tropicals, but mostly various types of begonias by the hundreds. I helped start the Alamo Branch of the American Begonia Society there, which I understand is still thriving.

I love that big anthurium, I grow many types here in Florida and the big growers easily grow to huge size. I have a big collection of aroids of all kinds but my favs are philodendron and aglaonema.

Used to be a great nursery in a small town east of San Antonio, I think next town east of Cibolo. I doubt it's still there now.

Russ

Russ, we'll see if it's as dire as the climate change projection maps make it look. Personally, I think we're headed for a rainy season/dry season situation, with temperate, wet winters and hot dry summers when not much grows.

The anthurium was amazing. I love philodendrons, too. I just spent an enormous amount of effort bringing a selloum/bipinnatifidum through Erwinia blight, which is what happens when you fall in love with a plant and can't bear not to try. All the healthy new growth is so heartening.

That's awesome that the Begonia society chapter is still going strong. They're such cheerful flowers -- and taste good, too. Kind of like sweet tarts, but better. :)

I have never been to Cibolo, or out past it, but I'm working on exploring the various nurseries in town. Maybe I'll find other treasures like the anthurium.

Good for you on getting that selloum back to health! They're very common in landscapes here, I'm constantly looking for other tree-type philo species and varieties. Some of the old ones are still around but you have to look for them, X Evansii is a great one if you can find it. It's leaves are entire, a big pointed heart-shape and very leathery. Much different than selloum/bipinnatifidum.

The small nurseries have almost disappeared here in central Florida, Lowe's and Home Depot have taken over the market as they have in most of the country.

Russ

I have a small P. bipinnatifidum, a very frilly leaf variety, which just doesn't want to grow. Fortunately it doesn't want to die either. Now that the rains are starting I'm going to put in a better position, near my only other meconostigma type, a P. goeldii which is doing much better. Hopefully the change will bring about a change in the bipinnatifidum and it takes off (roots still in the ground, of course).

@Russ, I googled Evansii -- it's huge! And gorgeous! I love plants with personality. Right now I'm on a terrarium kick and searching for the tiniest possible varieties of tropicals to fill an old fish tank with. It's harder than expected to find things that won't need weekly pruning.

@TropicBreeze, that's what I love most about philodendrons. They're so unexpectedly hardy. The one I have outside has survived for nearly 20 years with everything from 20-115F, snow, hurricanes, and extended drought with no watering. It's had a hard life, but it's amazingly resilient.

Apologies for the slow reply. Life happened to an exceptional degree this month.

New baby: Alocasia poly. Decidedly NOT terrarium-sized.

Sage, what size is the aquarium you're planting with tropicals? There is a fairly new small alocasia on the market with the colors and pattern of Poly, leaves are much more narrow and top lobes short and rounded. I don't remember the name of it but I'll see if mine has a label in the pot. I think it's around a foot tall, perhaps still too tall if your aquarium is a 10 gallon size.

Russ

Oh, that sounds like a maybe! The aquarium's a 20 gallon high, so about 16" tall, 12" deep, 24" wide. I'm getting the impression that finding true miniatures is going to take some work.

May I recommend Syngonium Mini Pixie? I'm planning on acquiring some more mini aroids to do a tank terrarium as well and that is next on my list.

oh wow, the google image results are adorable! Please share when you get further into your terrarium process. I'm still in the planning stages, doing all the research, etc.

I think you'll find that with the high humidity and low light of terrariums even miniature aroids will grow taller than normal.