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Growing Aroids in Australia - Part 1

© Paul Tyerman

Aroids, members of the family Araceae; are a strange and diverse lot. Most people would be familiar with their commonest members such as the Calla Lilies and the Funeral Lily, but beyond that they vary considerably.

They range from tiny little aquatic plants to the largest floral structure in existence (Amorphophallus titanum - the Titan Arum as seen on "The Private Life of Plants") and pretty much every size in between.

"But what do you grow?" I hear you ask.

I have a fairly diverse range including Alocasia, Amorphophallus, Anthurium, Arisaema, Arisarum, Arum, Biarum, Dracunculus, Helicodicerus, Philodendron,Pinellia, Sauromatum, Spathiphyllum, Typhonium, Xanthosoma and Zantedeschia (Calla Lilies).

These vary from indoor plants that cannot cope with frost, to outdoor plants that can go in the ground quite happily and look after themselves. Some of these are only young as I am growing them from seed, while others have been living happily in my garden for years without trouble.

Given how diverse the family is I can't really give a general description of what you need to do to look after them, so I'll concentrate on a couple of different genus specifically.

I hope to write future articles that include information on Amorphophallus, Arums, Dracunculus and Sauromatum at the very least. This article will cover the genus Arisaema.

Arisaema:

These are not a commonly available plant but are actually quite easy to grow. Given good drainage many of these would happily grow out in the shaded garden, even here in Canberra where temperatures tend to get fairly cold in Winter and pretty hot in Summer. But wherever they are grown drainage is essential as many species are prone to rot. Most are highly suitable for pots, making a definite statement when in flower and many just as much when only in leaf.

Most of my Arisaemas I knock out of their pots and either keep dry in paper bags for winter in my garage, or repot and keep the pots in my garage. In both cases I monitor them regularly to make sure they aren't drying out too much and shrivelling. Those I have planted in the ground look after themselves.

Some of the easiest Arisaema species are as follows..

Arisaema candidissimum.

Gorgeous hooded "calla lily" flowers striped in candy pink and white. The flowers emerge just before the foliage, so there is initially bare ground with the flowers growing out of

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