Turn Up The Heat!

Almost a month ago, on April 28 to be exact, I actually thought spring had come. Eager to get started growing things I dug my boxes of tubers out of the basement and started potting them up. I have a small collection of plants in the Family Araceae, mostly Arisaema and Amorphophallus. What I like most about these plants, apart from their fascinating flowers, is the fact that when autumn comes I can box up the tubers and store them over winter. Then in spring I can grow them into exotic-looking, leafy gems that decorate my deck, patio and entry walk.

But getting back to this spring--it's been slow coming. After the potting session which included the Arisaema fargesii shown above, the weather stayed too cool and was rather dry. Consequently not much got off to a start. With the exception of my new, little Arisaema ringens (right) and a hefty Amorphophallus dunnii, most plants are far from flowering. Now that warmer weather may finally be here I expect that to change quickly.