Re: [aroid-l] Thai Caladium Project

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at msn.com> on 2004.01.11 at 23:51:37(11007) Dear Tim, The 'Pink Fantasy' used to be/is grown by the Bates family in Lake Placid, Cen. Florida, I got some tubers YEARS ago, I had it here for a long time, and IF there is any difference between it and the Thai 'Honglong'/Thai Beauty' there were way too subtle for me to detect. I felt rather cheated when I finally saw 'Thai Beauty'. I do hope the potential author takes note of your comments, I`d love to buy a really useful book on these Caladiums, but would not spend my $$ on a book w/ just photos of 'pretty-prettys'. I`d be interested in hearing what you think of Dr. Resslar`s site, the selection of wild-collected 'natural' Caladium species is exceptional, and perhaps you can ask him if he would be willing to let a few photos be used in the proposed book. Tuber size seems a big issue, as I mentioned some friends have had no success here in Florida with BEAUTIFUL Caladiums purchased in Thailand over an extended period, when they 'go down', no tuber, so the plant is dead. My belief is that this may be caused by the extreme color of some of the Thai hybrids with little or no green, 'energy/food-producing' areas to their leaves, but have no proof of this. Keep us informed on any progress and good luck, Julius +More >>I'm not sure about the "Pink Fantasy" as I haven't seen that, I do know that "Thai Beauty" was a name given by Stokes Tropicals to thai hybrid "Honglong." Honglong is said to be old style, which I assume means its one of the earlier hybrids. It or its parents are definitely involved in several hybrids, and absent in many others. The variations in the thai caladiums is amazing. Once the gallery is done it will include some examples of all of the different types. The history of these is interesting and I've suggested as much of the history of both the introduction and breeding of the plants and the people involved. As far as their care and culture, ...well that seems to vary as much as the leaf types. Some seem as easy as the florida types, others are a pain. Since there does seem to be a true interest in making these commercially available from thailand I've suggested that they focus on a few at a time, using the best selections (ie. plants that will do well here). The tuber size is an issue, don't know how much of it is due to the actual variety and how much of it just that that is the size they had to sell. The "honglong" were actually the largest, really good size tubers. I'm pretty sure the author is willing to include anything information wise that would be wanted, so I'll pass on these suggestions with my already long list of suggestions. If she does them all it should be a very useful book. I shall go look at paul's site now. It might be worth mentioning that some wild species shots would be a good addition to the book, and if someone wanted their photos to be used I'll see if that is a possibility. I don't think they would be able to pay for photos, but free copies of the book might work???? Tim C. -- Timothy Chapman - tim@gingerwoodnursery.com Gingerwood Nursery- http://www.gingerwoodnursery.com On-line Ginger Forums - http://www.gingerwoodnursery.com/forums/ Gingerwood Nursery Mailing List - http://www.gingerwoodnursery.com/mailman/listinfo/gingerwoodnursery_ging erwoodnursery.com

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