Different doesn't have to mean difficult
Do you like unusual plants in your garden? I do. But for me, 鈥渦nusual鈥� can鈥檛 equal 鈥渄ifficult鈥� or 鈥減icky.鈥� I want plants that don鈥檛 demand too much from me and yet add a note of distinction to the garden.
One plant that does this is .鈥� (I realize that鈥檚 a mouthful. If you prefer, try the delightful common name Lords and Ladies.) It鈥檚 so easy to grow that it is often a pass-along plant (one that a gardener digs from his garden and gives to another person).
The will remind you of the silver and green forms of caldiums. But this plant is a perennial 鈥� you plant it once and it returns year after year (increasing the size of the clump each year).
This is a plant that鈥檚 interesting all four seasons of the year 鈥� but in ways that other plants aren鈥檛. Its leaves pop up in mid to late fall, when other plants are going dormant. Then, in late spring, a creamy appears. (It looks like those on the popular houseplant known as peace lily.)
That fades fairly soon, and the leaves wither afterward -- but over the summer, a stalk of bright red-orange ripens. (They really stand out against a background of ferns.) Then, in autumn, leaves reappear and the cycle starts again
The plant needs partial shade, including some sun in spring and summer. (In cool-summer climates, full sun is a possibility.) Soil should be moist but not wet.
For those of you in cold climates, the bad news is that is a plant that does best in Zone 6 and warmer.
If you don鈥檛 have a friend who鈥檚 growing this delightful plant and can give you some, you may have to hunt for it. Because of its unusual growth habit, you won鈥檛 find it among the bedding plants at your local nursery in spring.
Bulb catalogs often include it, though, and so do some mail-order nurseries that sell perennials. (Be sure the 鈥楶ictum鈥� part of the name is there; plain Arum italicum is a different plant.)
But if you want something different in your garden 鈥� but not difficult to grow 鈥� this one is worth looking for.