Dear Jim and all, It grows very easy in the ground (zone 8 mediterranean) and is just coming out at the moment. Multiplies very well as it produces numerous small tubers. Very similar to Dracunculus vulgaris. I thought the genus Helicodorus had been sunk into Dracunculus? Regards Lauw le 22/03/04 5:59, James Waddick à jwaddick@kc.rr.com a écrit : > I am glad we are having a mini-round of comments on > Helicodideros, a monotypic Mediterranean Aroid. I got a couple small > tubers and grew them in a large pot for a few years as follows: > Wintered in a frost free, but cool greenhouse. Summers outdoors in > full sun and hot and dry after the foliage goes dormant in > mid-summer. It first bloomed last year. Altough I could only detect a > slight unpleasant odor, others were appalled. The flower is most > amazing in structure as Angelo has shown, but he does not do justice > to incredibly convoluted leaves. Like a bizarre origami project, the > leaves are a 3 dimensional array or points, horns and surfaces. > Definitely worth growing for the foliage alone. > > I have tried growing in outdoors here, but it has never > proven hardy, unlike the closely related Dracunculus vulgaris which > is coming up outdoors right now. Helicodiceros is coming up in the > cold greenhouse and when the last chance of frost is over it will > come out into full sun. It relishes ample water as it is growing, but > dry later. > > This is a plant that was something of a challenge to obtain, > but I have been fortunate to find the right growing conditions and > spread a few propagules around. I'd love to grow it in a slightly > milder climate outdoors. > Lauw de Jager http://www.bulbargence.com/ South of France (zone 8 Olivier)