Sauromatum on the wiki and in the garden
Steve Marak (Fri, 10 Jun 2005 15:44:50 PDT)

I've also been growing Sauromatum venosum outdoors here in NW Arkansas
(nominally z6, but with the odd z5 temps to -20 F [-28 C]) for at least 20
years now. No special protection or handling. I know people farther north who
also grow them outdoors successfully. They have just finished flowering here.

They'll set seed, which I know is fertile only because I germinated a few
before offering it to others. I suspect they germinate rarely if at all in the
garden, otherwise I'd have thousands by now instead of mere hundreds ...

I do have a start of one of the "giant" strains, which I've not yet tested
outdoors. Anyone have any experience with these? Are they equally cold hardy?

Steve

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk wrote:

Jim McKenney wrote:

The plants growing here have been outside for decades, and they spread
themselves around a bit. They're not yet weedy, but the coarse foliage is
no friend to smaller plants.

I agree with this statement, but the answer is not to grow Sauromatum with
smaller plants that are in growth at the same time. I find it an ideal
partner to smaller bulbs - when planted deeply, below the other things. It
has yet to emerge here (like Arisaema candidissimum) while all the smaller
bulbs are now more or less dormant. When it shows up it will occupy an empty
temporal and spatial niche in a most convenient way, providing a lovely
foliage display for the rest of the summer and then getting out of the way
again. It has been totally hardy in Maidenhead for the past 14 years, at
least. A damp spot in a warm site will undoubtedly make it very happy, but
my largest patch is in rather arid soil and apparently quite happy there.

In my various gardens I grow 4 different stocks of Sauromatum venosum,
including one from Kenya, and I could not say that there is any difference
in hardiness between them. There is slight variation in foliage shape and
especially the colour of the petiole and its blotches, but nothing
significant. Flowering is occasional and in the open is comparatively
inoffensive compared to the various other stinking aroids I grow. Fruits
usually follow, but I have not attempted to grow the seed and am not sure if
it germinates in the garden.

-- Steve Marak
-- samarak@gizmoworks.com