Plant Category: Guatemala

Tradescantia spathacea ‘Concolor’ is an upright-growing Tradescantia that forms compact plants made up of handsome rosettes of attractive green foliage.  The pointed leaves are large in size; the foliage is nice and smooth with a lovely sheen.  This plant’s white flowers are borne within green bracts and are held tightly to the plant’s stem.  I am really fond of Tradecantia spathacea ‘Concolor’; it’s a tidy and compact Tradescantia with thicker and much longer leaves than the other varieties I’ve grown. 

Tradescantia zebrina ‘Superba’ are attractive trailing plants with handsome purple and silver variegated foliage.  Each leaf displays wide bands of silver either side of a central purple stripe and every leaf is enhanced with a fine purple outline.  NB: The purple colouration is more subtle when plants are grown in softer lighting, as you see in the leaves of the plant at the top of this page. 

Tradescantia zebrina ‘Burgundy’ is a charming, naturally trailing, sprawling plant with silver and burgundy striped leaves.  Leaf colour will vary on individual plants according to the light levels and different growing conditions the plants experience.  Plants grown in areas that enjoy brighter sunlight, which are only watered when their growing media has begun to dry out will display more vibrantly coloured foliage with a more vivid purple colouring than plants grown in poorer quality sunlight.

I bought this endearing little plant about ten years ago.  For me this is a truly charming terrarium plant.  I adore Goeppertia micans leaves; their foliage may appear to be lovely, but fairly ordinary plain green, narrow leaves, but when you touch this foliage it’s a delightful surprise to discover that these leaves are sumptuously soft!  The undersides of every leaf are smooth and silky, they feel like the softest velvet. 

Maxillaria acutifolia is a small and compact orchid species from: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Venezula, Trinidad and Tobago.  From winter to springtime, mature Maxillaria acutifolia plants produce these very cute yellow-orange coloured flowers, which are fragrant and have a nice scent.  The blooms are held low down at the base of the plant, underneath the leaves; however the blooms aren’t completely obscured and the flowers can be easily admired.

French beans (known by their botanical name, Phaseolus vulgaris) are such lovely vegetables to grow.  These plants are both productive and decorative, with attractive flowers.  French beans are super plants that will truly enhance your garden; the beans they produce taste delicious, too!

Firstly, take care to select the type of French bean you want to grow.  There are two types of French beans: tall climbing French beans (often called ‘Pole Beans’) that grow up to 8ft (2.5m) tall (and taller!)

Callisia repens is a low growing, tender herbaceous perennial plant from Mexico, North, Central, and South America.  Plants thrive in partially shaded conditions, in shallow, free draining, acid soils.  This easy-to-grow plant readily adapts to a range of circumstances; tolerating both brighter and more shaded environments, as well as moist, humid, and drier conditions and neutral compost and soils; making Callisia repens a superb houseplant, thats hard to kill!

Chilli peppers (also known as chillies, chile peppers, and by their botanical names of Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens, Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum pubescens, and Capsicum chinense) are a group of tender vegetables that flourish in warm and sunny conditions.  Gardeners can grow green, white, red, yellow, orange, purple, black, and indigo, coloured chillies.  Chilli peppers are decorative and handsome plants that can enhance your garden as well as producing peppers to compliment your meals.

Sweet pepper plants (also known as peppers, bell peppers, Capsicums, or by their botanical name of Capsicum annuum) are tender vegetables that thrive in warm, bright and sunny areas.  When all risk of frost has passed, sweet pepper plants can be grown outside in the garden, but until then the seedlings need to be grown in a warm, protected environment – a greenhouse or conservatory is ideal. 

Courgettes, also known as Zucchini (and by the botanical name of Cucurbita pepo), are tender vegetables that are very productive and rewarding to grow.  Courgettes vary from one variety to another; you’ll find seeds of yellow courgettes (like my plant in the photograph above), pale forms of courgette that are such a soft green they’re almost white, as well as light green, very dark green courgettes, and striped courgettes. 

Sweetcorn (also known by its botanical name of Zea mays) is a delicious vegetable, which is easy to grow.  Home-grown sweetcorn tastes amazing!  It’s markedly sweeter than supermarket sweetcorn, because the sugar inside the sweetcorn kernels starts to turn to starch once they’ve been harvested.  The sooner you eat your sweetcorn after harvesting, the sweeter it will be; home-grown sweetcorn tastes sensational!

Runner beans, also known by their botanical name of Phaseolus coccineus, are tender perennials that originate from Mexico and South America.  Runner beans are deservedly popular in the UK; these easy to grow vegetables are both decorative and productive.

Both dwarf runner bean varieties and tall climbing runner bean varieties are available – check the label before buying seeds or plants to determine how tall they will grow. 

Helianthus annuus, also known by their common name of sunflowers, are tall growing annuals with very large, round flower heads with brown centres and yellow outer petals, which are very attractive to bees and butterflies.  The flower heads of Helianthus annuus turn to face the sun, they slowly turn as the sun moves throughout the day.  Helianthus annuus grow best when planted in a very sunny spot.

Domingoa purpurea is a miniature epiphytic orchid, which originates from Guatemala and Mexico.

Domingoa purpurea is a miniature epiphytic orchid species that does not require a rest period to grow well.  So if the conditions you provide are constant, with sufficient light, water, and nutrients, this miniature orchid will grow well for you.

This Domingoa purpurea specimen is growing inside my Miniature Orchid BiOrbAir terrarium.