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Re: [SG] Adding dormant plants

Sheila

The only Amorphophallus I've got is A. konjac and I'm just am glad it shows
up every year, even if it has never bloomed for me - it is planted in the
ground outside.  However, there is good information on the web for
Aroids...here's some:

Timothy Chapman's page on Amorphophallus:
http://hoya.mobot.org/ias/Genera/Amorphophallus/amorph.html  has a lot of
good information, unfortunately some of his links are dead.

But, you can reach the links to Krzysztof Kozminski's  page from the
International Aroid Society's site which also has more links, photos and
information:  http://hoya.mobot.org/ias/

If you are getting into growing Amorphophallus, you will do well to sign up
for Aroid-L, the mailing list devoted to Aroid species, there are some real
experts on that list.  Instructions on how to do this can be found on the
Aroid Society's web site.

According to Roy Harold's Arisaema Page, A. thunbergii ought to be hardy
for you.  If it's a dormant tuber, I'd just plant it outside.  If it's
still green, and has not been outside to harden off, I'd keep it
inside...but that's just me.  I don't have any mature plants of this
species to really know what they will do.  Some of them are sensitive to
winter wet...dunno if this is one of those.

Canna have always given me a fit.  Either they get too dry and desiccate or
too damp and mold - it's a toss up.  I've tried storing them in just about
every media going over the years.  Oddly enough, the last couple of years
I've dug them and ended up leaving them in a pile - still encased in a fair
amount of soil (mine's clay based) in the garage and had more come through
the winter alive than when I've cleaned and carefully stored them....I
sprinkle some water on them periodically.  You can also pot them up and
keep them almost but not totally dry in a cool but not freezing place which
also seems to work fairly well for me.

Probably through sheer luck, I have managed to keep Sarracenia leucophylla
alive for two summers and a winter and it actually bloomed and made
pitchers for me this year (Yea!)  Mine is in a clay pot in a mix of peat
and coarse sand.  I keep the pot in a container that is slightly shorter
than the pot and I keep the container full of rain water.  DO NOT use tap
water.  I collected jugs of rain water last year and they are still being
used...have turned a bit green, but the Sarracenia does not seem to mind.
I wintered mine over in my pseudo greenhouse which gets around 40F and
maybe a bit colder on the floor where this guy lived.  Key, I believe is to
offer it bright light/sun and cool temperatures because they do have a
winter dormancy period, but do not completely die down.  Also key is the
water.  From what I've read and been told, chlorinated tap water is about
instant death to them.  I have read of people using bottled distilled water
and it seems to me that spring water ought to work, but rain water is the
preferred medium.  They want to be wet.  Do not let them dry out.

Now, just so's you realize I am NOT an expert, I have to tell you I managed
to kill the S. rubra that I bought at the same time as S. leucophylla with
the exact same treatment :-(   I am quite fascinated with this genus and
long for the day when I can have a real bog garden in sun and try more of
them in an outdoor situation.  I know they will be hard for me, they may be
a bit marginally hardy for you, but worth a try I should think.  I
definitely would not plant this one outside now where you are.

Best of luck with your interesting collection of new plants!!

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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Sheila Smith wrote:
> Hello; I was planning to buy plants that are marginally hardy in my area
or
> tender, then keeping their dormant roots in the basement throughout the
> winter, for early spring planting (tender ones to be planted in late
> spring).  Some aren't dormant yet, and I may be able to keep them going
all
> winter indoors, and then plant them out in spring.  The plants are:
>
> Amorphophallus bulbifer
> Amorphophallus paeoniifolius
> Arisaema thunbergii
> Canna (various; they're all tender up here)
> Various Sarracenia spp. (shade-tolerant types)
>
> All but the Cannas I believe will be hardy here with proper placement and
> care, but it may be too late in the season for them to establish
themselves
> well enough to take the risk of living outdoors all winter.  What advice
> does anyone have to give on keeping these plants over winter?  How should
> they be treated if kept indoors?  Thanks in advance.
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