Jane wrote: > Arum pictum (not to be confused with Arum italicum 'Pictum') turns out to be hardier than the books say. Some small ones in a well-drained spot in my garden survived well last winter, including 17 degrees F and a couple of weeks under heavy snow while in leaf.> Here in Zone 6 -- colder, wetter and possibly snowier than where Jane is -- Arum pictum has thrived outdoors for years, with no overhead protection. A nice colony has formed in our garden; other plants are in pots mulched only to the rim. Leaf litter descends on both areas haphazardly in autumn; this is a kind of mulch, of course, but some plants receive no litter and survive. I surmise that, as with so many other plants, setting the tubers deeply in a porous medium makes them more tolerant of wet and cold. I don't know for sure that they ever freeze, but I suspect that some do, at least occasionally. Paige Woodward