Re: [Aroid-l] Temperature requirements for Helicodiceros

From: "Tony Avent" <tony at plantdelights.com> on 2010.01.31 at 15:46:31(20533) Aroiders: As often happens, gardeners seem to have greatly underestimated the winter hardiness of both Dracunculus vulgaris and Helicodiceros. Our former research horticulturist Petra Schmidt brought clones of Dracunculus here from her previous home in St. Louis, where she had grown them for many years, so Zone 6b would certainly be fine and probably colder. We have had numerous calls from Zone 6 areas of Tennessee over the years where Dracunculus vulgaris grew fine. Helicodiceros have also been fine here for more than a decade surviving temps to at least 6 degrees F with no mulch. As with many plants from warm climates, they need good summer heat to produce an adequate amount of sugars to fully develop their potential winter hardiness. We are predicted to drop near 10 F tonight (we hit 9F last winter) and a number of our helicodiceros are already up and growing, so we may get some burned foliage, but the plants should be fine. Tony Avent +More Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent ________________________________________ From: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Paul Temple Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:42 PM To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Temperature requirements for Helicodiceros (Susan B) Hi. I´ve been silent for about a year as a result of some legal issues locall y. However, the Helicodiceros question spurred me to break silence! I used to live in the English countryside where winter temperatures often fell below zero Centigrade, though not too much colder. My helicodiceros plants (I had perhaps 30) survived these winters outdoors,below ground (obviously!) at a depth of between 6 and 12 inches. Once mid-Spring arri ved (mid to late April), out they came, flowering annually once of mature age.Once mid-summer arrived (August at latest), the heat dried off the plants and they became dormant again. So I would say that Helicodiceros is more hardy than is generally stated (but it not reliably hardyso probably can´t take -5C or less for lo ng periods) while it is also not a heat lover, preferring dormancy once temperatures reach about 25C for a prolonged period. Of course, this was my experience for my plants in the South of England so it´s only a guide, not a rule! Have fun. Paul In the cool mountains of the Dominican Republic (but sadly with no Helicodiceros!) _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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