Hi, I know nothing about aroids, but am thinking about adding a couple to my landscape. I would like something nice and tall and saw some photos of Colocasia "Coffee Cups" (hope I have that right), and am wondering how that would do in part sun/part shade. I am in zone 7b, borderline 8a, Southern Virginia, so lots of summer humidity and a fairly acid ph/clay soil. Would it do well in my area? I want to screen behind a grill, between our neighbor's home and ours, and have about 5 feet of planting width to work with. I was considering underplanting with either a hardy hibiscus or a non-hardy one, potted or planted.
Thanks,
Laura
Tall Colocasia for my landscape
Laura-
Colocasia 'Coffee Cups' is lovely. I don't have it (but it is on the list), but I have many other varieties of Colocasia esculenta. I have grown them in part sun (morning sun and afternoon part sun) and they have done well for me. I don't think you will want to underplant it as Colocasia tend to have many runners or pups and the plants quickly becomes a densely packed group of little plants. In a season, one stem of a 12" high plant can become a plant that is 2.5 feet in diameter (with the leaves) and 3 feet high. In the following year it will be even bigger. (And that's in Zone 6a, OH). We also have clay. Make sure you dig a bigger hole than you need and amend the soil with compost. I like to use 2:1 compost (or humus) to manure.
ROX
PS Brian's Botanicals sells C. coffee cups.
http://www.briansbotanicals.net/catalog/
Perfect information, thanks! I'll give it a try, if it doesn't like that spot, I can always move it later.
Laura
Well, I've gone and ordered two, now to finish moving all the dirt into the new planting beds, lol! They will probably stay indoors under lights for a few weeks until the danger of frost is passed.
Laura
Best of luck.
ROX
They arrived today, safe and sound...and FAST! The name suits the color so well. The stems/petioles (not sure which is correct for aroids), are a rich purplish chocolate brown. I can't wait to see the leaf with the sun behind it, amazing! I did not know they were so pretty. One of the plants already has some tiny baby offsets at the base.
It cooled off tonight, so they are indoors. I tucked them into larger pots and will keep them under my lights when the weather is cool and move them outdoors when it is warm to harden off.
Pics when I can get them outside. Thanks for the advice!
Laura
Great to hear Laura. Here's what mine looked like last year grew it form a plant 8 inches tall or smaller in one season.
Yowza! I was thinking about adding a couple of cannas to the mix. I have a depth of about 4-5 feet between a fence and a "pad" where our grill is and want to use them as a screen. You photo clinches it. I have Canna Pretoria and a dark one...I think Illustris or Elustris. I'll just have to stagger them a bit to give them enough room to spread out.
I'm guessing I should allow about 3-4 feet between the Colocasias and the Cannas, or can I squeeze them a bit closer?
Laura
You can get away with 2 feet apart but if they are further apart they usually get bigger and more impressive. I usually squeeze everything in pertty tight.
Thanks, It was Canna Futurity I have that is the dark one. Crossing fingers that it warms up again soon.
Laura
As this is my first experience with aroids, I have a couple of questions regarding planting them.
I can see they have a bit of a root flare at the bottom of the petioles. When planting them, is this the crown? And, should I keep it at ground level, or are they not very particular?
I transplanted these into larger pots and they were a bit "weepy" for the first couple of days. They are beginning to stand up again on their own, but a couple of the leaves were bent, so got their water supply cut off and are a bit dry now. I can see I'll have to watch that when I plant them out.
What should I know about their watering habits in general?
Laura
Any help?