Not for the timid

This girl is from the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest where there’s 80 percent humidity. Add in dappled shade from the high canopy trees and the constant murmur of tropical breezes. Sounds just like your living room, right? Well, it needs to.

This girl pouts when she doesn’t get that humidity. And her leaves fall to the floor if she gets dry for a time. Don’t give her any direct Texas sunshine, or she’ll pack her bags and head to the compost as fast as she can. There are no compromises with this picky perfectionist. Let her down and you’ll live to regret it.

As stunning as the floral bracts are, the cultivar ‘Louise’ was selected more for its foliage than its flowers. The pattern of its veins is superbly crisp. The floral bracts are nice icing on the beautiful cake.

Remember that “bracts” are leaves modified to look like flowers. The real flowers of this plant are small and white, tubular and hidden within the yellow spikes. The bracts function to draw pollinators in the dank darkness of the rainforest.

We don’t have a lot of houseplants that bloom without direct sunlight, but this is one. Warm, humid conditions are more important to it than the sun. Keep thinking 80 percent humidity and 80 degrees. Soils consistently moist but never wet for a prolonged period. Bright light, but no direct sunlight. The kind of place ready made for moss, mushrooms, and ‘Louise.’

Zebra plants are comparatively slow growers. Use the best highly organic potting soil you can find, preferably one that’s high in its content of Canadian peat moss with a bit of finely ground bark and perlite or expanded shale mixed in for aeration.

Since you’re interested mainly in foliage, you’ll want to use a complete-and-balanced, water-soluble plant food once a month. Position your plant away from heat registers and the fireplace, both places noted for drying air currents. Remember that’s a no-no for our girl Louise.

The plants are started from cuttings, but my experience has been that just growing the regular plants is challenging enough. You don’t need to magnify your frustrations by trying to root cuttings on top of it all. Just buy yourself a new plant periodically.

If you’re anything like I’ve been all through my life, plants like this one have probably caught your eye, too. Here’s hoping this little story will help you tame down our wild-spirited lady enough that the two of you can enjoy life together.