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 »
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
It’s the start of arum flowering season at JLBG. These fascinating tuberous aroids grow through the winter, and sleep during the summer months. Our earliest species to burst into bloom are Arum creticum from Greece, Arum sintensii, from Cypress, and Arum palestinum from Palestine. Unlike many of their relatives, arums don’t produce foul odors. Arum
Over two weeks behind this winter, the new growth of the Mediterranean native, Dracunculus vulgaris has finally emerged. This lovable monster is now only a few weeks away from showing off its foul-smelling, phallic, but visually fascinating inflorescence, a large maroon spathe with a dark purple spadix. Watching this is sort of like a train
The Vulgar Dragon Awakens Read More »
Flowering this week in the garden is one of our more unusual hardy native aroids, Symplocarpus foetidus, aka: skunk cabbage. Although the floral aroma is barely detectable by humans, it does work well enough to draw in flies for pollination. Since skunk cabbage evolved to flower in the winter, often under snow, it learned to
That Cabbage Smells like Skunk Read More »
In our search for the worlds’ most esoteric perennials, we’ve managed to grow enough of the hardy monotypic aroid, Ambrosinia bassii, to share in the new 2025 catalog, that launches at year end. This miniature oddity from Europe’s Mediterranean region, prefers to hang out in woodlands, growing in humus over the top of limestone rocks.
It’s all about that Bassii Read More »
I just snapped this photo of one of the most fascinating summer-growing aroids in the garden. Englerarum is the Charlie Brown of the hardy elephant ear like aroids. It looks somewhat like an alocasia or colocasia, but after taking a DNA test in 2013, was kicked out of both genera, and left to its own
Unwanted and Un-loved Read More »
Two of our favorite elephant ears from John Cho’s breeding program in Hawaii are looking great in the garden now. The top is Colocasia ‘Maui Sunrise’, while the bottom is the more compact, Colocasia ‘Waikiki’. View JLBG’s Colocasia specialty collection gallery.
Hawaiian Happiness Read More »
Colocasia ‘Redemption’ is looking rather exceptional in the garden now. We are thrilled to be able to offer Brian Williams’ amazing elephant ear introduction. If you’d like a little pizzaz in your summer garden, this is for you.
Lookin’ for Redemption Read More »
