[Arisaema-l] Introduction

[Roi Speed]

Hi everyone, as a new member to the AEG I´d like to introduce myself
and explain how I became interested in these ¨strange" plants.
I live more or less in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand
on a 9 acre block of land my wife of 40 years and I have owned for 35
years now. I am a retired medical biochemist who now makes a dollar as
a gardener for hire!
My first arisaema were a.ringens that I bought at a nursery closing
down sale about 10 years ago. I was interested in ¨anything that grew
from a bulb¨ ... Planted out in a woodland garden, in a few years they
had multiplied hugely and were quite a topic of conversation. I had
great trouble finding further examples and most of those that I did
were way outside my budget! A couple of years ago whilst visiting a
son in Northern Ireland I found some seed for sale on the net and have
purchased seed a couple of times now. This group was recommended to me
by a friendly nurseryman in England. My hardiness zone is said to be
9, and our son in Northern Ireland also has a zone of 9. I find this
hard to believe
and would be interested in any comments. Our ground never freezes and
day time temperatures never stay below freezing in the middle of
winter. In NI, well.....
In the day or two I have been a member I am already amazed at the
range of variation within a specific variety, and also Michaels
amusing/amazing tale of seed collection. I look forward to learning
more about these fascinating plants.