One rhythm, two ambitions. Anthurium is among the largest genera of aroids, well over a thousand species native to tropical America, from Mexico and the Caribbean through Central and South America (Plants of the World Online, n.d.). Many grow as epiphytes, perched on tree branches with their roots in the open air rather than in soil, which is the key to how they like to be potted.

The bloom that isn't a flower. The glossy, colored “flower” of the flamingo-flower types is really a spathe, a modified leaf, wrapped around the true flowers, which are the tiny ones packed on the tail-like spadix at its center. Other anthuriums are grown not for that at all, but for large leaves of deep velvet crossed with pale veins.

Both come from the same warm, humid, dappled forest, so both want the same things indoors: bright indirect light, an airy mix that drains fast, warmth and real humidity. What differs is emphasis, and it lives on the cards below.

Light. Bright, indirect light is the target. The flowering types want steady bright light to keep blooming; the velvet-leaf types prefer it a shade lower and very steady, and both scorch in direct sun. A bright window with a sheer is close to ideal.

Water and humidity. Water when the top inch or two of mix dries, then let it drain freely; those epiphytic roots rot fast in a pot kept wet. Humidity is the make-or-break, especially for the velvet types, which want 60 percent or more; low humidity shows first as browning leaf tips. Rain or filtered water suits the fussier ones.

Substrate and feeding. Pot in a chunky, open, epiphytic mix built on orchid bark with perlite and a little coir, so air reaches the roots between waterings. Feed lightly with a dilute balanced fertilizer, or a bloom-supporting feed for the flowering types, through the growing season.