Tropical flora such as Sanchezia bring the exotic feel of humid, warm, sunny days to the home interior. You can use it as a houseplant or in the tropical garden. Ensure humidity is at least 60 percent so that it mimics effects as the rainforest.
Sanchezia is an evergreen perennial in the higher zones but may die back in zone 9 and return in spring. It is a semi-woody shrub with large, foot-long glossy leaves divided by thick colored veins. Flowers are bright red with orange bases and are carried on stems in long spikes. Technically, the flowers are modified leaves or bracts and have no reproductive organs. Sanchezia is native to Peru and Ecuador. As a tropical plant, it requires moist, warm ambient air and dappled shade. In its habitat, the plant grows under the rainforest canopy and receives protection from the hottest sun. The rich humic soils of the understory in a tropical rainforest are moist and dappled by light. The large trees trap dew and water, which drip down to the forest floor. The whole effect is fecund and muggy, a veritable steam of nutrients and moisture bathing all the plants in the forest.
