WOW!! I enjoyed your story and it does offer hope that I can get my mess looking good one day. Thanks
Rambling tale of plants and ponds and dreams.
Now that you have practiced and know just how to do it, I need my pond enlarged.
Can give directions to Texas at a moments notice. smirk.
Christi
Elfs_Garden, as Confucius said, 'Every long journey starts with a single step'.
LouC, just drop the air ticket in the mail and I'll be there! Have passport, will travel! :O)
Oh, tropic, if I only could. I would have visitors from all over the world....ALL THE TIME.
I can furnish bed and bath and all you can eat.
LouC
LouC, "... bed and bath and all you can eat." You've convinced me, but I might have to walk. Not sure how long I can hold my breath under water though. ;O)
hahahaha. Just keep it in mind. Door's always open.
LouC
I know I'm resurrecting an old thread here, but I did finally find my Giant Swamp Taro, Cyrtosperma merkusii (formerly C. chamissonis). This is it bursting out of its pot. I'm in the process of building a new pond for it but the wet season beat me. It's going to have to be patient for a while.
I really enjoyed your story-what a lot of work putting all those photos in there. How big is your plot of land? It looks like you have a jungle. I had to look up your town to find out you were near Darwin. I never thought it was so lush in that area (I was wrong . . . ) I used to live in a suburb of Sydney in 1985.
I too have enjoyed reading about and seeing your progress! So glad you resurrected the thread, I hadn't seen it the first time. Your new giant swamp taro looks very beautiful! Keep sharing...
Brenda
How things change in a short time. Last posted here April 1st and on April 14th my firstborn grandson drowned at age 25. I will never, ever recover.
LouC
So sorry for your loss, LouC. We lost our son at age 35 to a very unexpected heart attack. It's been just over four years, but still miss him mightily.
Tropicbreeze, I admire your patience. It seems I want it and I want it now! Just like putting the water in my pond yesterday before I had lined the interior with rock. Now, I have to do it the hard way.
Don
I'm sorry, I should not have posted such on this thread.
No worries LouC, it's something that never really goes away. You learn to cope with it, but never get used to it.
Mothermole, it is quite a bit different to Sydney. We have a very distinct dry season, and also a very distinct wet season. Our rainfall is very heavy over the time it falls. But for the dry season I have bore water for irrigation. I have a brother living in Sydney.
Brenda, I usually get obsessed with one project. before it's finished I'm onto something else. So many half done jobs. The Giant Swamp Taro get up to around 5 metres (16.4 feet) .
Don, I know that feeling, I lost a very close friend and now and again it comes back to me. It's possible to live with it, not possible to forget.
But don't ask me how many times I've had to do things over again, I'd be too embarrassed to say.
Tropic, I just saw your thread for the first time and enjoyed it greatly.
Lou and dgal, never be concerned about your posting so long as it is not an insult. Your words spoke from the (still-broken) heart, and you've got lots of friends. I'm sorry for your losses.
Tropic, I always believed that if you were persistent, you'd find that giant swamp taro. I've grown a new affection for these water lovers. They are happy in the shade and produce beautiful colors with a little sunlight. Keep us apprised.
PS North America has been pretty darned cold, so many of us wish we were there with you.
Thanks Cathy. The Giant Swamp Taro quest started a long time back and although I can now see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel, it won't be complete until the new pond is finished. I've been hearing about the freeze. Hopefully it's going to keep warming up from now on.
Tropic, I read your thread a few weeks ago. Congratulations on finding your Taro! Your property is beautiful!
Lou, I understand how you related the date and your grandson. Don't be sorry for sharing. I wouldn't even know what to begin to say about your loss ~
Jennifer
Lou C. and Dgal: I am sorry to hear of your individual losses. I can't imagine . . .
I enjoyed reading the thread. Any recent pictures?
Belle
Belle, the pond has been through a few changes. I put some Thalia geniculata in it and it took off in top gear almost filling the pond in no time. Quite a job to get it out. Even now I still get seedlings coming up around the place. Removing it opened up the pond again. The Typhonodorum has never looked back. It flowers regularly but I ran out of people to give seeds/seedlings to. So now I cut the immature seed pods off and compost them.
The surrounding plants are doing quite well. Everything is so tall now that the pond looks tiny by perspective.
1st Photo. A front view. The timber leaning at the back is a fallen tree propped on another tree. Still have to work out how to get it out of there. The problem with rainforests, always some tree falling.
2nd photo. From the back edge towards the front. On the left Lasia spinosa, a water aroid. Bottom left Carpentaria acuminata, a palm. To the right Typhonodorum lindleyanum, the "owner" of the pond.
3rd photo. Bit further back, looking through (over) the foliage at the back of the pond towards the pond. The centre plant is the Lasia spinosa.
4th photo. Cyrtosperma merkusii, Giant Swamp Taro, the original purpose for starting this pond. It's in the background of the pond in soggy soil.
5th photo. Urospatha grandis, another water aroid. It's in a pot on the edge to stop it from getting out of control and easier to reposition if needed.
Some more of the plants in the pond. I'll post more later.
1st photo. Alocasia cucullata. Not a large growing Alocasia which likes to sit in water. The top of the pot is out of the water.
2nd photo. Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Variegata' is a very nice "dramatically" variegated aroid that grows best sitting in water. This one is still a bit small, they get up to about shoulder height.
3rd photo. Cyrtosperma johnstonii in centre foreground. Another water aroid, related to Giant Swamp Taro.
4th photo. Cyrtosperma johnstonii has an amazing petiole (leaf stem)
5th photo. Cyrtosperma johnstonii flower.
Lovely!! Lovely!!
Where did you buy the swamp taro?
I collect alocasia Colocasia and I will google swamp taro and see if I can buy them .
Thank you for sharing.
Belle
Thanks Belle. A good person to check with for Cyrtosperma species is Rachel. She's often on the tropical plants and aroids forums. I know she has the Cyrtosperma johnstonii growing (and the Lasia spinosa). There'll probably be some on Ebay too. Here I got them from a specialist nursery, Equatorial Exotics, in Cairns. But they are becoming a bit more readily available now.
I checked on Ebay and there are none.
A lady on DG has them in her trade list but i do not like to trade. I prefer to buy.
If you check with Rachel she would be able to tell you where she got hers from, she's quite helpful. Another person often on the aroid forum is Dave (tropicalnut777). He's just starting out on Cyrtosperma and is great on tracking things down. They are available over there, but difficult to find.
That swamp taro should not be hard to come by. I can get them here at a nursery, but later in the season (we get cold here, up north). A garden center with a section of wter plants shuold have it.
Tropicbreeze,
How do I get int ouch with Rachel.
Thank you Cathy. Can you d-mail me when you see any?
thanks,
Belle
Look up my Lasia spinosa thread on the aroid forum. Click on her name and you'll get the link to her Dmail. Dave, tropicalnut777, is also on that thread.
Also, when you're looking around be careful on identity. As mentioned on this thread above, I was initially sold a Typhonodorum lindleyanum as a "Giant Swamp Taro". At the nursery they really didn't know what it was but thought it looked like it could be called a Giant Swamp Taro so they called it that. The "real one" is Cyrtosperma merkusii.