A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Dragon Arum's Growing Conditions????

Anyone growing this???

Dragon Arum from Van Dyck\'s picture

I know Bill's mother had one...
*where did she have it growing/type of soil, sun, etc...Bill???*

VERY CURIOUS!!!!

I planted 3 of them a few years ago but only one survived the first winter for some reason. Mine is in partial sun. I think one key for survival is good drainage, especially in winter. The first year it grew to about 2 ft. and the second year it got over 3ft. tall. It "blooms" in early spring and for a few days smells like a rotten dead animal. I believe the smell is to attrack pollenators. It dies back in summer during the heat.

Thanks Alan,
I was just very curious...
I have one spot that I already grow Arums' in..
But it's right by my house/and walk way....

And it was really the smell I was pondering over.
To able to have it grow *zone 6* I think for me,
it's the only place I could put it..
but I don't want them smell to be so bad...

Did it make any berries like????
After it was pollenated???

No berries...the "bloom" dies and leaves the leafy stalk for a few weeks and then it dies back until the next spring. Although it only smells for a few days, it REALLY smells bad. I made the mistake of planting mine along the walkway outside my front door, so when I walk out the door the smell really hits me. I can't even sit on my front porch for those 3 or 4 days, especially if there is a breeze.

That's what I was wondering about...
For the smell...
Well, it's like a side walk way, but it's
still an area where we walk....
and the tenant walks by there too...
I've got to get it in the ground, very soon...
And I am a growing zone 5 here..
but the planting instructions say growing zone 6.
I know I can over winter dahlia's there.... so, I believe it would live...but the smell is what I was worried about...

Do you still have the one?
And has it multiplied for you at all???

I do still have the one, but it has not multiplied...it just got bigger after the first year. I have no idea how to propogate it...it so far doesn't seem to grow "babies" next to the mother bulb, and I haven't seen anything resembling seeds, but that may be because I cut the old "bloom" off after it dies.

Well, I still haven't had a chance to get
it in the ground yet...
But I will give it a try there...
If for some reason it really smells too bad..
I will move it and hope for the best...

I wondered if it made berries.. it sort of looks
like the arums' I have.. Jack~n~the~pulpit's too??
So that's why I was wondering about the berries???