One of the joys of trialing so many plants are the unexpected successes. One of those successes, flowering now is the Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema prazeri ‘Chiang Mai’ (praise yer eye). This Northern Thailand collection from the late Alan Galloway has absolutely no business thriving here in the ground, yet here it is in flower in mid-June, after going in the ground in 2019. Two other collections of the same species didn’t survive.
Tony, You’re preaching from the Arisaema ‘pulpit’ to the shade plant ‘choir’. I have a good stand of the native Jack in the Pulpit Arisaema triphyllum in our little 1/3 acre piece of hardwood bottomland. Luckily the deer do not find it tasty because the many flowing clumps we have take years to develop. These days the ephemeral streams that feed this low lying section could use a few days of good rain, or our moist bottomland risks reverting to ‘dry shade’. Perhaps your team could start working on an Epimedium-Arisaema hybrid to meet the challenges of climate change? Preferably the hybrid would maintain the flower of Arisaema and the draught resistance with the fall color of Epimedium? [satire]
Greg