Just when you think you’ve seen it all… Walking through the garden this week, I noticed that one of our Amorphophallus konjac seedlings had decided to flower at the completely wrong time of year, and to make matters worse, in doing so, it suffered from a crotch blowout. You’ve gotta love Mother Natures’ sense of
Amorphophallus krausii ‘Son of La’ is a giant, winter hardy selection of the non-offsetting Amorphophallus krausii, from an Alan Galloway collection, on our 2005 expedition, when it was discovered in the province of Son La, Vietnam, near Dien Bien Phu, at 4,573′ elevation. Alan had grown this selection outdoors in his Raleigh garden for years,
La, La, La, and now, Son of La Read More »
Recently, Garden Curator, Doug Ruhren, was moving one of our new Amorphophallus konjac selections from our field trials into the garden. When dug, this form, with solid black stems, had a tuber that was nearly the size of a basketball. The old growth has died back, and it will remain dormant until next June. Below
Basketball Jones…On the Move Read More »
For those who have followed us for a while, you know we have a fascination for tuberous aroids, particularly those in the genus, Amorphophallus. We’ve spent quite a bit of time making seed selections as well as hybrids, often using the super winter hardy Amorphophallus as a parent. So far, we have 14 species that
Cognac or Konjac – We’ll take the Latter Read More »
Our recent Titan Arum flowering caused quite a stir in the area, resulting in 8,400 visitors to Juniper Level Botanic Garden. On the two other occasions we’ve had one flower, our attendance hadn’t exceeded 1,000 people, so having this many folks was quite unexpected. At times, the line to see, smell, and touch, exceeded 300
The Titan has Fallen Read More »
We usually don’t think of seed as being one of the more showy part of the plants, but that’s not the case with the Southeast Asian (Japan, China, Taiwan) native, Amorphophallus kiusianus. After flowering, these form a stunning seed head, usually atop a 2-3′ tall stalk. The berries first turn pink, then over a course
There’s just something about a plant, whose inflorescence looks like a giant phallus, and smells like a pile of rotting meat, that people just can’t resist. Perhaps, it’s the horticultural equivalent of staring at a car wreck. If you’re one of those individuals who is so inclined, or you’re just entranced with nature’s sense of
The March of the Titan – T-minus 10 days, and estimating Read More »
One of our favorite summer combinations is our planting of Amorphophallus konjac ‘Gordon’s Gold’ in the middle of this patch of the North American native Juniperus horizontalis ‘Wiltonii’ (aka blue rug juniper). This patch of groundcover juniper looks completely normal until mid-June, when the love lily emerges with it’s stunning gold foliage. What a contrast
Perhaps you will read this post and decide you have not learned anything, so forgive me in advance. But some occurrences in the garden are just so charming they require nothing more of us than to just enjoy. This photo of a happy family of five voodoo lily flowers caught my attention. They appear to
Eavesdropping on Amorphophallus Read More »
