I always enjoy visitors in my garden, and garden clubs sometime come. I like hands-on gardeners because they are forgiving of weeds, since they frequently have them in their own yards.
Garden club members are usually also really interested in plants that are a little out of the ordinary such as Arum Italicum, which has taken up residence in my garden. I don't even know how I got it, but I surely enjoy having it.
The variety is ‘Marmoratum'. (I found this out from a catalog.) The plant has striking green foliage with some white markings on the large leaves, especially in the early spring. The flowers look like large peace lilies and can be seen best by moving the leaves that shade them from above.
The flowers also look a bit like Jack-in-the-pulpit blooms but are larger and appear in June in the Midwest. They are followed by bright red berries on vertical stalks.
My plant is semi-evergreen and grows about 12-18 inches tall. It seems to have spread by seed this year, as there is the original one in my shade garden and a new one in the sun garden. I will watch to see how the one in full sun fares.
These arums grow in zones 5 to 9 and are hard to find except in specialty catalogs. They really add an exotic touch to the garden!
Notes: McClure and Zimmerman Flower Bulb Catalog and Planting Guide.
