Canadian Zone 5 Arisaema tubers

[Rand Nicholson]

>The three species that I saw most often thriving in these cold gardens
>were A. sikokianum, amurense, triphyllum and dracontium.
>
>A. sikokianum is readily available in nurseries in Alberta.
>
>More later after I unpack my bags, and catch my breath.
>
>Kristl Walek
>Gardens North
>Z4,  N. Gower, Ontario


Hello Arisaema Frostbacks, from the Great White to the Northern Big Sky States:

I will have first year tubers (short supply) of A. sikokianum and A.
amurense for trade in the fall when they go dormant. These are from Mike
and Jan Slater's (Thanks guys) seeds and they have come up with an
attitude! The siks were _very_ vigorous.

If interested, please contact me privately at <writserv at nbnet.nb.ca> so as
to not clutter up the AEG-List with unnecessary posts. First come, first
serve; I have a very small supply of each. Preference will be given to
those that have tubers (or bulbs, rhizomes; take note you Trillium and
woodland gardeners) to trade. If you have nothing to trade and I have
anything left over, it is yours for free, by date of your post.

**************

Something I Found Interesting:

Many of the siks have _sharply_ toothed leaves (many others do not) and
some have a dark mottling, as is sometimes seen in some A. erubescens
(consanguinium? Has there been a consensus on the correct name of the
thing? I have two immature erubescens tubers from [the most gracious and
helpful] Ellen Hornig that are _totally_ different in the appearance of the
leaves).

I put this down to the variability that I have found in other Arisaema,
such as A. triphyllum. I have plants that range from all green stems, leaf
petioles and spathes including the spadix, to variations on that theme.
They are grown in a clump and I let nature take it's course. This year,
there is _one_ seedhead (on Grandma) ripening now and I have about twenty
plants. Here is a plant that thinks gender is an option. Go figure.

These triphyllums are all the offspring of three tubers that I found plowed
up into a ditch at a road construction site over twenty years ago. I still
have the largest tuber (I call it "Grandma") that I collected from that
site and it is a great producer of offsets and seeds. Most that I return to
the wild, when I can find proper sites.

So. We know that A. triphyllum can live for _at least_  twenty years in
cultivation and, I suspect, that the variability in triphyllum is innate
(There are no stands, natural or otherwise, within  several miles of where
I live). Also, a mature tuber will shrink or enlarge according to seasonal
conditions and if it is producing offsets or seeds.

***************


Kind Regards,

Rand


Rand Nicholson
<writserv at nbnet.bn.ca>
250 Somerset Street
Saint John, New Brunswick
Canada
E2K 2Y3   (Maritime Zone 5b)