Trish gave me some of these from her swamp. Boy, the leaves get big on this plant. BTW, the leaves DO smell like rootbeer.
rootbeer plant
Lisa, take that plant and get rid of it!!! Trust me! You will regret the day you planted it!!!
I just loved this plant at first..but now..I am trying so hard to get rid of it. It is very, very aggressive. It has totally taken over my flower bed. I thought I could keep it in check, but I can't. It has crossed over my pathway and is coming up on the other side. I am finding shoots from it at least 8 ft away.
---Trish, forgive me, I hope I haven't hurt your feelings :)
Hmmm, maybe I will keep it contained in one of my container bogs so it cant escape.
I have this one, thanks to a trade, and yes - it does smell like rootbeer. In my climate, I bring it in, but it is coming out thru the holes in its pot.
Those are so pretty! They do smell nice too. I sent mine south last winter since they aren't hardy here. They sure look nice!
Luv the size and shape of the leaves! I lost my little one that I got at the swap.
:( Donna
oh oh.. I guess I best be digging up now while it hasn't gone to far.. wonder if putting metal sheeting like you do for running bamboo around it, plunged in the ground would work as far as trying to "contain" it.
trish and lisa,
I really hated telling you this..but friends don't let friends grow rootbeer plants in zone 9..grin.. I do think it is a neat plant..I enjoyed the plant for about a year. The second year was when I realized how bad of mistake I made. I wish I would have grown it in a container. It gives a wonderful tropical look to my flower bed..and to my walkway..and to my shrubs...and to..etc..etc..I just wish that armadillo would dig THAT plant up instead of all my gingers! Then he would be welcome here!!
Lisa & Trish,
I went take a few snapshots for yall to see. Here is mr. rootbeer being very happy. This is AFTER I culled it out in early spring. I pulled out all but about two of 'em. I think I *gave* it more energy to grow! There is a pathway under there..honest!
here is another one. It is sneaking up on my split leaf..so far it has pushed out some of my gingers and is working on taking over my morning glory bush.
having fun all over.
last one.
Yikes! I hate when this happens. I'm going to battle with a few bullies of my own in the front flower bed. GRRRRR.. What is the botanical name of this plant?
Lisa I have the one you sent me in a pot. I thought you were supposed to eat the plant like root beer. Dang now you tell me you are just supposed to smell it. Taste lile root beer also. Cough, wheeze. boy it taste good. Jim
*LOL* Lisa.. yikes a bit of kuduzu jr. huh?? Darn that stuff does run rampant through the garden. Well I will dig mine up.. pot the bigger one up and trash the rest. thanks for the warning.
I love mine,I guess I am lucky I have to dig mine up.
I leave mine in a pot year round
lisa is right...it will take over but i still love the dang things
I got my start from "weeds" two or three years ago. I've kept it in a pot, but did have two little ones come up where the pot sat last year, and I had dug up 3 or 4 small ones when I took it in last winter. It hasn't been overly invasive for me yet, but I had read that it was. I love the big leaves and uniqueness of the plant.
I also have some Root Beer plant. I bought it from one of the Angel Fund Auctions at the KYRU last September. One plant. Later I find out there is plenty of this stuff taking over yards all over the place down here.
For me, this is not a bad thing. I don't have near enough shade in my yard to grow all the plants I want to have, Hence, the Root Beer plant. I let it grow tall, snap off the leaves on the lower parts of the stems, pull pups every couple weeks or so. They are now about 5 feet tall. I have small ferns, pots of hoyas, some gingers under there and small EE's.
Molly
:^)))
The botanical name is Piper auritum. In Central America the foliage is added to soup. The large leaves are laid out and meat such as chicken is wrapped up in the leaves and then baked to add flavor to the meat. It is also eaten as a green. In the US there is controversy about how safe is is for culinary use. But it sure does smell wonderful. I grow it in zone 5 and have a very hard time keeping it alive all winter. I just buy a new one each year. Zone 9 and 10 are like living in another country but I envy the weather.
I would really like to get ahold of some of that plant for my bog area. Anybody have some for trade ... or for SASE ... or for, uh, nevermind, that would get me in trouble with the wife! lol