Camelia zanonia "Mexican Flag", a member of the commelinaceae family, is one of my favorite tropical plants, but it is hard to come by and difficult to grow. I first saw this amazing beauty at the long gone, but legendary Fantastic Gardens in south Miami and had to have it. A small rooted plant was expensive, but I purchased and grew it successfully for a time. I have tried it over the years and grown it for time patches only to lose it, usually to winter cold or just weakness from its lack of green. It can rot very easily. It seems to want warm, humid, but relatively shady conditions. There is a wonderful speciman of it growing in the tropical houses at the NY Botanical Garden, perhaps, the largest edition of it I have seen. It crops up occasionally from some sources, but usually has to be propagated and is never cheap. It's the very kind of plant I wish could be worked on and even, perhaps, tissue-cultured for it is so lovely as to be irresistible to any plant lover who encounters it. But, if you do, beware that you need to be up for the challenge.
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