Monday, January 29, 2007

Dragon Arum (Dracunculus Vulgaris)

This one I am excited about. I got this back in 2005 and potted them up. It grew a plant but it went through an accident where the plant broke.

The bulbs struggled in the pot after which I don't know why as they did really well before. They were relocated to a bed but... no one knew where. Totally slipped the minds of us, it did. Not a good thing!

They never made a peep in 2006 so it was agreed that they died off. Imagine the surprise when we saw this! Apparently, over the long warm spell in December and January, they've been growing.

Sad thing is that we're now getting freezes, sometimes several nights in a row, so it's gonna be tough. The bulbs rested for an entire year and was ready to burst free but now winter seems to finally be giggling its way here.

I have placed a bucket over it in a lame attempt to protect it from the freezes but I have to face the possibility that they'll die down to the ground and will have to peek up when spring finally comes around.

It's just frustrating because everything actually grew during the warm spell. Nothing peeked out or budded or... No, everything grew and grew and now winter is coming around. Oy!

5 comments:

MrBrownThumb said...

Pretty cool, I have some of these too that are waiting for the warmth to come so they can be planted outdoors.

DragonStone said...

What I can't wait is for the bloom. I keep reading that it emits this rotting meat smell that'll attract a cloud of bugs. That'll be an interesting thing to see.

MrBrownThumb said...

Yeah, I want to experience the same thing. Last year all I got was foliage.

DragonStone said...

You're kidding! I never thought it'd not bloom. Dang. I hope my bulbs worked up enough energy to send out a bloom or two this year.

MrBrownThumb said...

I'm not 100% sure but they may have to be a certain age before they'll bloom.

I wish I had bookmarked it now but when I got my first bulb I was googling around and I came across a "vase" for these. It was a silver cylinder that looked like those funky rings that are the length of your finger. And the pics had these bulbs with these silver cylinders around them (not potted) and blooming.