Dranunculus vulgaris Source & Related Question(s)

From: Doug Burdic <dburdic at presys.com> on 1997.09.11 at 01:43:42(1216) Hello All, Last year I was fortunate enough to obtain some small Dranunculus vulgaris from Rob in Australia and since my first unsucessful season of growing them, I have searched the internet looking for answers as well as any source for more plants without any luck.(Rainforest Gardens in Canada sells them, but not to Oregon) Either I am not looking in the right place, or else there just isn't anything written about this plant on the net!? I did manage to find two beautiful pictures of Dranunculus vulgaris along with a few words about the plant, but that is the extent of what I came up with while trying to answer my own questions. You can view these at the following URLs: http://www.dsoe.com/explore/gardens/dranc1.html http://www.palomar.edu/Wayne/ww0602.htm#arums My plants were potted in a sandy loam w/good drainage and lightly fertilized. Same basic treatment I gave all my Aroids which are doing great with this one problematic exception. The new leaves would elongate and then dry up before they opened. The roots were checked and looked fine, with no insect or fungus problems on the rhizome(tuber,corm,?). Out of 9 shoots, only one actually formed a true 6" leaf(height not width). This week I excavated and removed the rhizome, fully expecting to find mush, but all appears healthy? In fact, there are several new, white lateral shoots that give all indication of beginning their spring growth!(?) I had been prepared to put this plant through the dry dormancy in my shop with the others, but am now having second thoughts since I would imagine this succulent new growth wouldn't survive.Should this be stored in sightly damp peat instead? Any ideas, prayers or suggestions of what I did wrong & what should be done with these plants given the above information would be greatly appreciated, as well as any much needed cultural information you might have on this species. Finally, does anybody know of a commercial source for Dranunculus vulgaris or happen to have any larger ones that they would want to sell? I'm not obsessed with this plant...but close. Apologize for the length of this post and thanks in advance for any information you can give me. Best Wishes, Doug +More Doug Burdic dburdic@presys.com

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