Slightly OT: Arum species

[David Shaw]

Jim
I am replying from northern Scotland. Not too certain how the zoning system=compares with ourselves but I believe the lower the number the colder the =temperature? I think that I am supposed to be zone 7 or 8 but our winter we=ather can be much wetter than yours.
 
I grow some Arums such as dioscorides and purpurospathum in the open garden=with success. I suspect that the one you lost was A. creticum and I grow t=hat in a pot in an unheated greenhouse. It flowers satisfactorily in early =spring and I then take the pot outside for the summer.
 
We have just arrived home after a week in Marrakech to find that Scotland h=as suffered a serious freeze up. The max/min thermometer indicates that it =may have gone as low as minus 10C! All the pots are frozen solid and most o=f our bulbs look very unhappy - however, this morning the temperature rose =to a balmy +2C. The Arum leaves in the garden have stood tall and proud thr=ough the freeze but the leaves of A. creticum in the greenhouse which were =flat and limp, like boiled spinach, are starting to stand up again (thank g=oodness).
 
For what it is worth I would suggest that you keep your Arum in the contain=ers in the greenhouse through the cold weather but then take the pots outsiÞ when winter is over.
 
I find that most Arum will be at flowering size some three to five years af=ter seed germination. In the wild they grow in a dry climate in the Mediter=ranean basin area with very hot summer days and cold winter nights. They prïer to grow in the open sun in a hard, baked soil but we generally find th=em deep beneath a vicious thorn bush to keep the local goats from grazing t=hem to the ground.Hope this helps a little.
 
David Shaw
Moray (25 miles east of Inverness), Scotland



> Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:20:07 -0500> From: jshields104 at INSIGHTBB.COM> S=ubject: Slightly OT: Arum species> To: ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL> > Hi all,=> > I've tried several "hardy" Arum species here, outdoors in the woodland => garden. None have survived more than a couple of years, dwindling away to=> nothing.> > So I switched to winter-growing Arum in the greenhouse: Arum=concinnum, A. > cyrenaicum, A. dioscoridis, and A. purpureospathum. There =was a fifth > species, which seems not to be with us anymore.> > These are =in 2-gal. plastic containers and are producing abundant > leaves. How old o=r large do they need to be to flower? What triggers > flowering? Will they =ever bloom in a greenhouse?> > I'm pretty much at sea with these Arum. I do=n't have a clue what their > growth requirements might be.> > Best wishes,>=Jim Shields> in central Indiana (USA)> > *********************************=****************> Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.> P.O. Box 9=2 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/> Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA> Tel. =++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA> > =====================================> Search the Arisaema-L archives =& subscription options -> http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/Arisaema-l.ht=ml> > Arisaema-L HOME & GALLERY: http://florapix.nl/Arisaema-L> > For help =with this list, send an e-mail to the listowners at:> Arisaema-L-request at ni=c.surfnet.nl> ====================================
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