Up and at ’em in Winter

Several plants emerge in the fall/winter season…some native, and others from far away Mediterranean climates. One of the most unusual plants we grow is the pig’s butt arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus. Depending on the location of the original population on one of the Mediterranean islands, it can emerge in our climate as late as February or as early as December. Here is a photo of our plant of an Alan Galloway collection from Majorca, which is the earliest to emerge in our garden. Let’s hope it’s ready for our upcoming cold snap. Even if this never flowered, we marvel at the glaucous, three-dimensional Escher-esque foliage.

Arrangements to perfume the garden

Helicodiceros muscivorus arrangementI was recently looking for some flowers to put in a vase for our patio and got thinking…what would you use if your dinner guests were the type of people you wanted to eat and leave…quickly.  The answer was right before me…Pig Butt Arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus.  So, here’s my creation…also perfect if your child has a “favorite” teacher who they want to be sure remembers them over summer vacation.