Dracunculus vulgaris in Seattle Area
Steve Marak (Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:07:00 PDT)

Rob,

My climate in NW Arkansas has about the same rainfall in a year as you,
but in a very different distribution and I'm pretty sure my temperatures
are more extreme in both directions, so I'm not sure how helpful anything
I say will be. But D. vulgaris does survive very well outdoors here, 25
years now for me and far longer for others, and we do get a significant
amount of our moisture when they are dormant, so I wonder if there is some
other factor in your climate contributing to the demise?

I can't overwinter D. vulgaris in an unprotected pot outdoors, but I've
had them several places in the yard and they don't seem touchy about the
exact location or soil. (Our soil is reasonably but not exceptionally well
drained.)

I have had people tell me that provenance matters, some strains being
hardier than others. I've acquired plants from commercial sources several
times just for comparison - all are gone, while the ones I got from local
growers have multiplied enough that I've given many away.

I overwinter a lot of dormant tuberous aroids in pots indoors, providing
only enough water to keep the soil from being bone dry through the winter
- many Amorphophallus do very well this way. My only concern with treating
D. vulgaris this way is that it starts up so early in the spring for me
even outdoors, usually 2 months or so before the last frost.

Not very helpful, I know ...

Steve

On Sun, 10 Oct 2010, Brian Whyer wrote:

-- Steve Marak
-- samarak@gizmoworks.com