Re: Black-leaved Taro
- Subject: Re: Black-leaved Taro
- From: D* P*
- Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 13:13:38 +0000
There are several dark or almost black leaved varieties of Colocasia
esculenta - some more tender than others. The toughest and probably
most cold tolerant is C. esculenta 'Fontanesiana', which is almost as
cold hardy as the straight species. It tolerates a few degrees of
frost here in the UK and does quite well in southern gardens, provided
it is kept fed and well watered in summer.
I find that Colocasia are somewhat reluctant to die back completely in
most winters and even if they doe lose their leaves, the stems remain
firm and plump. We are having a very early spring in my part of the
UK after a rather mild winter (the only major frost was one of minus
2C. (29F) at the end of December) and already the Colocasias are
pushing up new shoots. This is in line with Hedychiums, which have
remained largely evergreen, Cannas and Bananas - the latter now
growing very strongly.
It has been a very strange winter over here - some parts experiencing
greater cold than for many years. Here in the south west the winter
has been warmer than for the past 5 years and until the January rains,
much drier than I can remember. We've had a fair share of winter
gales, with gusts up to 70 miles an hour, but damage has been
negligible. For the past few days, we've been getting up to 10 hours
of sunshine per day and although night time lows have dropped back to
around 5C (40F), it is very pleasantly warm out of the wind.
At the moment, Acacias dealbata and baileyana are still putting on a
brave show, despite being badly bashed about by the wind. They have
now been joined by the spring flowering plums, cherries, almonds and
Pittosporums. Magnolias started opening 10 days ago and daffodils are
carpeting the grass in a sea of yellow. I just hope that the good
weather continues so that the exotics which are waking up, don't get a
cold shock to stop them in their tracks.
More on topic and a mention of what is probably little import to those
in much warmer, drier regions: a large specimen of Agave americana
down on the sea front, has been pushing up a sturdy flower spike over
the winter months. It first appeared in October and is now some 10
feet high. Compared to flowering plants I've seen in the Med, it is
somewhat slender, the base being about 12" in diameter, so I suspect
it will not rise to the lofty heights normally associated with the
species. Nevertheless it is a comparatively rare event out of doors
in England and I shall watch its development with interest.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK
