Arum match.com

We are always interested in checking out the offspring, when plants in the garden have unexpected romantic rendezvous with their distant cousins…often when we least expect it. We have found arums tend to be quite promiscuous in the garden. While most offspring go to the great compost pile in the sky, a few are worthy of adoption and naming.

Below is our selection of a cross of Arum dioscorides x Arum italicum that we named Arum ‘Love Child’. While the foliage resembles typical Arum italicum, the spring-borne flowers show great influence of Arum dioscorides with the purple spotting inside the spathe. It’s our hope that Plant Delights will have a first crop of this new hybrid to share in the 2023 catalog.

Arum x diotalicum 'Love Child'
Arum x diotalicum ‘Love Child’
Arum x diotalicum 'Love Child'
Arum x diotalicum ‘Love Child’

Arum world

Arum are a fascinating genus of hardy aroids, known by most gardeners from a single southern European species, Arum italicum. The most popular cultivar of Arum italicum is Arum ‘Marmoratum’. The key to enjoying arums is to not let the seed drop everywhere, since you can get easily get over-arumed. Flowering season is now, followed by seed season. Each seedling has a different pattern from the original, so it’s a personal preference whether to remove seed or not.

Arum italicum ‘Marmoratum’

Arum apulum is a little-know species that is rarely seen in cultivation, native only to a small region of Southern Italy. Our flowering plants in the garden now are from a wild collection made by a plant explorer friend.

Arum apulum

Below is an interesting hybrid between Arum italicum (central to southern continental Europe) and Arum dioscorides (Mediterranean). Arum italicum has patterned leaves, but solid green flowers. Arum dioscoridis has solid green leaves and spotted flowers. The hybrid, Arum ‘Chui’ is an introduction from UK plantsman John Grimshaw. We added the notospecific (hybrid) name Arum x diotalicum. These hybrids have both spotted/speckled leaves and flowers.

Arum x diotalicum

Chui hits the spot(s)

It’s hard to imagine a more spotted hardy plant than Arum x diotalicum ‘Chui’. Shared with us by UK plantsman John Grimshaw, this hybrid of Arum italicum and Arum dioscoridis shares the best traits of both species…the leaf markings of Arum italicum and the floral (spathe) staining of Arum dioscoridis. We hope to have enough to share in a couple of years.