Herself’s Houston Garden

Plants that flower in shade are rare, and rarer still is it to find one with bright colors. This plant dies back to the ground when the weather gets cold and it is the very last plant to come up every spring.

This plant is from the Caribbean. It does not like strong sun, keep it from direct sun. Other growers report it does better in areas away from sprinkler heads so go easy on the water but take care not to let it dry out.

This plant will reach about 2′ tall and is bushy in form.

It has been a totally care free plant so far, I planted it 2 years back.

I just acquired this plant from the Mercer Sale a couple of weeks ago.

This is a hybrid Colocasia. It can reach 5′ tall with a 5′ spread. It can tolerate high moisture, so you can use it in damp areas of your yard or in swale gardens. It can be invasive so keep an eye on it. It will also do ok in dry areas and not spread as much. I’m finding that like a Peace Lily it wilts when dry. Try not to let it dry out.  It prefers medium to damp soil.

It will grow in full sun to part shade, doing best with some shade here in Houston.

I tried planting one as a bulb last winter but the bulb turned to mush. The bulbs will rot in cold, wet locations. It is difficult to tell which end of the bulb is which on this plant. When in doubt with a bulb plant it on its side and it’ll send everything in the right direction.

This is a rapidly growing plant, start small it’ll get to full size in one or two seasons.

It does have spathe-like flowers but rarely blooms except in the wild.

It is also used as a root vegetable, like a potato in its native climates. It has been grown as a food source for over 10,000 years.   It was brought over to the US during the slave trade days as a food source for slaves.  Today it is not used much as a food source.

More information:
Floridata: Colocasia esculenta

See also:
Elephant Ears, African Mask

April 2007
Rather harmless looking plant now isn’t it?

( Bambusa lako )

This bamboo will grow to 40′ height. That’ll put it outside both the first and second floor windows. I’m looking forward to that. I have it in a L-shaped nook outside the house. The stalks should be about 3″ in diameter when it is full grown.

The stalks are black, the leaves are green. It does not grow so tight you can’t see through it, yet it is supposed to be a clumping bamboo and therefore not take over The Woodlands. If it does I’m sure I’ll be remembered as fondly as Mrs. O’Leary and her cow. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that though.

Bamboo comes in running and clumping types. The running kind sends out shoots quite a distance away. It has been known to run under streets. This is the kind that has such a bad reputation. Clumping bamboo clumps. It sends off rhizomes close to its base and can generally be kept in line by just cutting off escaping rhizomes once a year.

Ad oddity about bamboo is that when it flowers it dies. Not always, but close to always. No one really understands why yet. Some advise on saving flowering bamboo is given at the link below.

Another interesting thing is that certain species all flower at the same across the planet. Pyllostachys bambusoides flowered in the 1970s and has flowered every 120 years as a group. Other species have similar behavior.

I’m told bamboo doubles in height every year, so most bamboos will reach full height about 4 years after being planted.  This one has put up one new spike per year, the second reaching 20′ in height.

Watch for mealy bugs ( I just clean them off with a garden hose) and mites. Mites will have webbing and leaves will yellow. Use orange oil for them. Aphids and scale also attack bamboo and can be controlled with orange oil.

See also:
Golden Hawaiian Bamboo

More information:
ABS – When Bamboo Flowers
A Cane the World Can Lean On, NYT

This was purchased from Tropical Bamboo Nursery ( Sun Sentinel Story about the nursery ).