Aussie Caladium hybrids .

Just saw an enormous tunnel nearly full of many new hybrids done up here in the tropics .

Some very unusual 'Lotus Leaf' mutations and strange petiole appendages . Great reds and maroons , super skinny straps and ribbons , great minis . Did not take my camera sorry , but a promise of notification when some mature leaves on the pick of the bunch are ready . Unsure if this pictured one is a local , but got it from a good friend who has shared many plants with the 'breeder'

Amorphophallus maximus

This species has been in cultivation in Australia for many years . This tuber came from a nursery not far from Brisbane , and I know a few people who are growing it . It has nice fine foliage so I think it would take full sun . After this flowering I may try it planted out . It has died down early for me a few times , usually during the wet season , so it may not like the heavy rains .
The peduncle [ stalk that holds up the flower ] is a very different colour to the lamina [ the stem that holds up the leaf ] . On the left here you see the deep brown peduncle , with just the faintest flecking of pale green . And above is the petiole , the reverse , with heavier spotting . Also the petiole can be hirsute [ hairy ] when young , very strange .

Some seeds just take forever to sprout !

Amorphophallus henryi , is an attractive small species from Taiwan . Very fast growing , I have got seeds in 3 years . I got another batch of seeds from one of the plants in my collection very early this year . And I had given up on them. Heard back from Jeremy at Melbourne Botanic Garden , and he had not seen any sprouts . WEll , there is a heap of sprouts in a pot today , nearly 1 year to sprout !

Dracontium polyphyllum .

Feast and famine , this easy to grow plant gives hundreds of tubercles . These are small tuberous offsets that form on the top surface of the mother tuber. They can take years to sprout , but ensure the plant forms a colony eventually . In hard times the tubers are eaten , I have not tried , but the way things are going it is handy knowledge to have . Mature tuber can get to 30 cms , and stem up to 2m high . This species also has attractive variegation on the foliage at times .
Infloresence is only small , and the fragrance is not putrid .

Amorphophallus lewallei

Am . lewallei , this is a species from Africa , Burundi . I have grown a few from seeds distributed by Wilbert Hetterscheid.

This is the best flowering so far , the tuber was approx 15 cms dia. and I grew it for a year planted out in full sun near my grove of paeoniifolius . I stored it dry and recently planted it out near where I have a gigas .

Also planted around the same spot is a prainii that flowerd a few weeks ago , and a haematospadix that is about to open a flower now . Have not grown this sp. in full sun yet , but I have enough spare to try now .

If you look athe pictures on the IAS site , you will see there are a few colour forms of this sp.
And another very strange thing , is if pollinated the seeds will set almost 1m high .
The peduncle extends from few cm high it is in flower.

some new Dracontiums

Must try and find out what this could be .
Got it as peruvianum , but I really must wait until it flowers to be 100 % . Lovely colour combination , cream green and pink . polyphyllum has a creamy coffee colour , and prancei is brown maroon . On the right here , croatii has distinctive black and white stripes .

Philodendron rothschuianum .

Interesting Philodendron species that is a little difficult to propagate .
This one just does not want to get a grip onto the tree I want it to grow on . Or maybe its telling me it wants much more light !

Some coloured Aglaonemas .

Got a few of the fancy new Asian hybrid Aglaonemas recently . I know many have been imported , but very few released . Why is it so ? The old style green ones are nearly indestructable .

another Alocasia princeps

Visited the local nursery in town and found a few pots of a dark stemmed shiny Alocasia I am sure is a form of Alocasia princeps . YES it is a new form of princeps from Borneo ,,

Briam Williams in Kentucky has tried it , and it has more cold tolerance than typical forms . Can grow to 1m , and it should clump well . The Bogor Giant form I have has produced many offsets .

Flecker in mid-winter .

Took a few people around the gardens over the Brom Conference .. amazed at how warm this winter has been . Its fooled a Dracontium gigas into flowering . The foliage was past its prime , all the leaves had been trimmed off , and when the flower was placed front and center in the Fernery , even the stem had been removed . Still a very impressive spike ,, easily a meter tall .

Some of the Cyrtosperma plants had fresh flowers , most impressive were these large leaves on an Alocasia reginula .

link my blog to aroid growers group

Forgotten about this blog , until I started reading one done by a local friend who grows Heliconias & Gingers . I wanted to post a comment , and I saqw a link to log onto my blog !!
This could be an easier format to post information on Aroids downunder .. it takes away the hassle of having to join google . Getting close to the big Bromeliad Conference up here in Cairns .
I know several of you aroid growers also have lots of Brom's and are coming up .
Looks like it will be well attended .