Re: Aroids in the garden

From: Krzysztof Kozminski <kk at netgate.net> on 1998.06.23 at 12:55:27(2353) E. George Oeser wrote: > I ordered several plants today for a new area of my garden. Many of the > plants will be aroids including Amorphophallus konjac, several Arisaemas, > Pinellias, and a Alocasia macrorhizos. The area is fairly shady, tends to > stay pretty moist, and is between to buildings. I live in zone 6b, but with > the microclimate created by the 2 houses, and the fact that we are on a > paeninsula in the middle of a fairly large lake I doubt that these plants > will see temps near the -5 degrees Farenhite listed as the minimum for this > area. +More > My main concern is the fact that I will be putting these plants in the > ground so late in the year, I am not too worried about the Amorphophallus, > Arisaemas, or Pinellias, but I do worry a bit about the Alocasia. Should I > keep it potted and winter it over inside before planting or would I have > better luck putting it into the groud? The plant is supposed to be a good > size already, and I think I could have it pretty well established before > the first frost, but I am really stretching the limits of the hardiness of > this plant as it is, what does everyone else think I should do? I'overwinter it indoors, definitely. By next spring it should be 3-4 ft tall, and then if you get enough humidity outdoors, you can expect it getting to maybe 8 ft tall, with 4-5ft leaves. Check out http://u1.netgate.net/~kk/Araceae/Alocasia/JPEG/macrorrhizos.2.JPEG or for a possible outcome - I think well worth an inconvenience of having it indoors. In zone 6, it is not likely that you'll get enough growing season to get it to the full size without a big head start indoors... ====================================== Krzysztof Kozminski http://u1.netgate.net/~kk/ kk@netgate.net "Applying computer technology is simply finding the right wrench to pound in the correct screw."

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