ARISAEMA help needed!

I want to put a new plot into my garden just for Cobra Lily - Where can I find the best selection? I have been getting Plant Delights catalog for years, but I think that they are very pricey- I live in Michigan, zone 6 or 5b. Also, can I make a regular new bed (50/50) with shade but some afternoon intermittent sun? What about the soil Ph?

I just moved to my new house and tore out a TON of stuff--- I only have one small garden for full sun, so I am thinking of doing rare annual seedlings - Forget the roses and Iris (sigh) - I have a TON of shade... which is new to me, not to mention a family of rabbits, 8 skunks and raccoons, japanese beetles and who knows what else. I have released about 10 egg cases of praying mantis and a few hundred ladybugs... A new garden is so exciting and so challenging at the same time...!

Try these mail-order nurseries:

Arrowhead Alpines, Fowlerville, MI. www.arrowhead-alpines.com

Seneca Hill Perennials, Oswego, NY. www.senecahillperennials.com

I'm sort of confused.

The Plant Delights nursery sells Darlingtonia californica (Cobra Lily) and also sells many different species of Arisaema.

Your subject says "ARISAEMA help needed!". Arisaema is a really awesome genus and I grow both Arisaema dracontium (Green Dragon) and Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the Pulpit) and they sure do look awesome companion planted together in a moist shade garden but... they are sort of more of a spring ephemeral in that they began dying back a while ago so it would be sort of hard and on the iffie side to buy those for your garden at this time of year. If it is really Arisaema that you wanted help with, it might be best for you to order these plants next spring so you will have a better idea of what you are buying for your bed. Both of the Arisaema listed above should do fine in a neutral soil however they seem to prefer a slightly more acidic soil. Both like moist woodland settings in dappled shade. Neither would do well in a dry woodland.

Your first sentence of your post says, "I want to put a new plot into my garden just for Cobra Lily". Darlingtonia californica is the Latin name for the Cobra Lily. That's not an easy plant to grow outside year round unless you live in the Pacific Northwest. Your zone, regardless of whether you are a 5 or a 6 will preclude you from being able to grow that particular carnivorous plant outside unless you have a greenhouse you can move it to for the winter months. It likes an eastern exposure with no afternoon sun and cool roots. Most of the people who grow this plant, myself included, have resorted to adding fresh water and a few ice cubes to the water tray early in the morning and again sometime around dinner time. This plant likes cool roots or it will not thrive. Darlingtonia californica likes acidic mediums and these plants are best grown in straight long fibred sphagnum potted in an aquatic or plastic vanda pot. The other issue with growing just about any carnivorous plant whether it be the Cobra Lily or not is that they don't like tap water. Best to water all carnivorous plants with rain water or distilled water for best results.

Not too many rare annuals for shade but there are many perennials for shade. I used to be afraid of shade but now I prefer it. So many choices when working with shade and because many spring ephemerals are shade lovers, you can interplant other species in and amongst your spring ephemerals for a second wave of plants come late summer into fall. Twenty years ago I would have never thought I'd ever be saying that I preferred shade gardening over gardening in sun but I do.

The skunks are your friends. They are your free pest patrol for your lawn, they eat grubs. Lots of grubs. The rabbits are probably not going to be high on your list, they like to eat plants but for some reason or another I have never had a rabbit nibble on any of my Arisaema. Probably because they are poisonous to them... will wonder never cease. A plant that rabbits won't eat. Raccoons are a critter that people either love or hate. I like them but they sure do get into everything.

Here's a contact for you that will be able to provide you with local sources for Arisaema-
http://www.michbotclub.org/

If it was the Darlingtonia californica (Cobra Lily) you really wanted to buy, you can purchase them affordable from-
http://www.cobraplant.com/
This is where I bought mine. The plants were health, just hard to care for.

Welcome to Dave's Garden and congratulations on your new home. It sounds like you are really going to love living there with all the wildlife around you.

Equilibrium: I just got some tubers (corms?). I bet you can tell me how deep I should plant them . . . . Fingers crossed.

And which end is up?

This message was edited Apr 3, 2008 10:01 PM

This thread sort of bounced around. Are you able to share with me tubers/corms of what please?

LOL -- sorry to be cryptic.

I bought 3 varieties of hardy Arisaema (kiusianum, sikokianum and ringens).

What I've learned since I posted my question to you is to plant them pointed side up (they look remotely like a child's "top" toy) and 6" down, in humusy sandy slightly acid soil with great drainage. Quite dry in the winter and moist in the summer. Shady. I'm thinking of trying containers at least the first year.

Do you agree with all that?

Many thanks, as always.

I personally only have experience growing native Arisaema however what you described sounds consistent with growing members of the Arisaema genus. Couple things though, little voice tells me you might want to go a little bit deeper than 6" with these Asian species. Maybe another inch or two? Don't know for sure. If you could see where some of these species occur naturally, many wouldn't exactly be dry during their dormant season. Also too, many were growing in considerably more sun than their North American cousins so you might want to avoid locations that are full shade yet on the other hand you'd probably want to avoid locations where they would be exposed to afternoon sun. Dappled shade might be best? Exclude ringens from that though as it was growing in deep shade. Containers are probably fine but if your intent is to only grow them for the first year in a container, why risk unduly stressing them by transplanting them from a container to a location in your yard next year> that would be two transplants not one.

Equilibrium: Great suggestions. Re container, I'd prefer them in a location where I can keep a close eye on them the first year and fuss more over moisture levels, but you are right -- doubling the stress might not be prudent. But if they regress to just a corm over the winter, wouldn't that mean they are easy to transplant?

Yes, providing you get to them to transplant before they start active growth and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that these aren't exactly dormant when they're dormant but don't recall exactly what the point to the comments were so you may want to search around on the Internet a little bit more for any information you can find that will help you make the best decision. Me, I'm somewhat lazy and wouldn't want the extra work of having to plant them twice.

I searched the internet and didn't find much on point -- just advice on levels of moisture and type of soil. My yard is hilly and dirt tends to erode, so only tough plants make it -- hence I am often hesitant to plunk new plants directly into the yard until I get a sense of whether they will make it. But I can go either way.

Gimme a minute to go online. Be back.

Hangs head in shame... right genus, wrong species.

Ok, I'll do it! I know I killed off a ringens a few years back, so that is the one I wanted to be especially careful of. They aren't exactly cheap!

Thata girl! Go for it. Try backing off of the sand in your potting medium on the ringens. I know they're not cheap but what's the worse thing that can happen... you kill them again?

Equilibrium -- why do you say I should back off the sand in the potting medium? I thought they were supposed to like a well-drained sandy soil (as opposed to my own icky clay). I was going to mix pine bark, granite grit and maybe perlite and maybe sand, depending on what is at hand.

Not for that one. I forgot what I read. Go with the perlite instead.

Ok. Thanks!