Sauromatum venosum

   I have left a few smaller tubers of Sauromatum venosum in the ground and they come back up, even in my zone 5 garden.

Adult leaf

The large one pictured above I brought indoors for the winter

It  has just started to wake up again, but the smaller ones left out over winter have been up for almost a week.

Petiole of Sauromatum venosum

S. venosum in the garden last year

I have not had any bloom yet, but I shouldnt have to wait much longer.

S. venosum that have survived and came up from last year.

Caladium sororium

Have you ever had a plant that you loved, but you just could not keep it alive for more than a week? Even if you could keep it alive, it would just be hanging on by one leaf?

Caladium sororium, leaf underside

That plant, for me, has been Caladiums!
They are amazingly attractive, but I always ended up having them rot!

Caladium sororium

But then.. at the IAS show and sale last year, I picked up a plain green little Caladium. It was being sold by Enid for only $3!



I thought it was a pretty good deal, and It was a plant I had never saw before, so I bought it!

C. sororium

It is a species from Bolivia called Caladium sororium, it has green leaves, with blue iridescence on them.

C. sororium.  Photo Credit: Sascha Rybinski. Used with Permission.

So far it has been an easy plant to grow, and it has helped me keep three other Caladium alive, C. 'Thai Beauty', C. 'Candidum Junior', and a species called Caladium clavatum.

Caladium 'Thai Beauty'

Caladium 'Candidum Junior'

Caladium clavatum

Mayan Mask

Alocasia 'Mayan Mask'

Alocasia 'Mayan Mask' Is a hybrid bred by Brian Williams.
The plant can grow up to around 7 or 8 feet tall, but right now mine is only a baby.
It is an easy plant to grow, so far it has not shown any signs of going dormant. It is still growing strong after being ripped out of the soil and potted up, to be brought indoors.

Alocasia 'Mayan Mask'

The parents of this hybrid are Alocasia odora and Alocasia Amazonica.
Alocasia Amazonica is also a hybrid, the parents are believed to be A. longiloba X A. sanderiana.

Alocasia 'Mayan Mask'

Alocasia Amazonica as a parent gives this hybrid the color, A. odora gives it the size and hardiness.

Starting With the Plant that Started It

I first became interested in aroids when I saw my first inflorescence on an Aglaonema at my grandmother’s home and began to do some research to learn about the plant. I am now 15 years of age and don’t have a greenhouse, I also live in  Zone 5 so my plants must be inside for the winter. I also grow other tropical plant species although my interest is mainly in aroids.
In the beginning I paid little attention to details since my primary attention was devoted to growing common houseplants. Interestingly, I soon learned many of my grandmother’s plants were aroids, and I slowly began to build a collection of my own.

Philodendron 'Imperial Red', cataphylls

As I studied I began to discover the uniqueness of an aroid including some of their features such as the reproductive parts of their inflorescences, the petiole shapes and how nodes and internodes play a role in the plant’s survival. I also learned why it is important to pay attention to simple parts of the plant, such as how the cataphylls and the venation or vein structure

Philodendron 'Imperial Red', stem

I found a large colorfully red-leaved plant at Wal-Mart but the specimen was labeled only as Philodendron 'Imperial Red' offering little researchable information. Still, I immediately knew I had to have it! In the next few days the plant bloomed for me, but the bloom didn’t last long and soon rotted and fell off. I researched more about Philodendrons and found the website www.Exoticrainforest.com and was immediately fascinated with the variety of plants in the aroid group!

Philodendron 'Imperial Red'

I emailed the site owner, Steve Lucas, and asked about my plant and was informed Philodendron ‘Imperial Red’ was a hybrid that according to the online patent application had as many as seven parent species. As a result, it was likely sterile and incapable of reproduction. The sterility was probably due to the plant being inbred so many times as well as it being a tissue-cultured specimen prepared in a chemical soup. Those factors also had something to do with the inflorescence dropping so quickly.

Steve led me to the International Aroid Society, and introduced me to a few people. I learned a lot from these people, and I am still learning even more.

If I never bought, and researched this plant, my life would be so much different.

Philodendron 'Imperial Red'