Refrigerator time

[Wills, Simon]

Ellen Hornig said:

>>I think Paul Christian needs to spend some time in a *real* winter....
Paul, as you observe, many arisaemas "turn to mush" if they freeze.
Well, here in Banana Belt North (upstate NY), our 120" average annual
snowfall often keeps the ground from freezing very deep, so thus far
(i.e. last winter - don't know yet about this) I've overwintered my
A. candidissimum and A. franchetianum successfully by planting them
c. 1' deep; and this year I'm subjecting a number of others to hardiness
experiments (tortuosum, nepenthoides, ringens, as I remember).  Sikokianums
seem pretty hardy - I think they're only 8" deep or so.

However - without all that snow to keep us warm, the ground would freeze
a good deal deeper than it does.  I think we'd then be restricted to
arisaemas which actually tolerate freezing, unless we could get them
18" down (or more).

Do I understand (looking out here over a glistening expanse of ice-glazed
snow, sparkling in the sunlight) that it's spring in England?

Ellen>>

I will be very interested to hear how your current overwintering experiments
turn out.
Like Paul Christian we do not have a *real* winter - lowest temps. so far
this winter have been -7C, though this went on for longer than usual in
January and put 4 inches of ice on the ponds.   We grow tortuosum,
exappendiculatum, costatum, sikokianum and nepenthoides (among others) in the
open ground and have the most trouble with nepenthoides.   This comes into
growth earlier than the others, appearing above ground between now and the
beginning of April, and a few degrees of frost in late April really knocks it
back.   Let us know whether your steady low temperature keeps this one in
check so that it comes up in sensible conditions i.e. after the last frosts.

Simon Wills
Clevedon, England (about three miles of water from Wales :-))
and, yes, Spring is here for a day or two.