Hi Susan, I've been meaning to take your "girls only" poll since you first came up with it, but I've been pretty busy since then, trying to get all my tropicals dug up and repotted and stored in the greenhouse and cellar for winter. But since it's a very windy and rainy day today, and I got ALL 57 bananas stored in the cellar today, I thought I'd take the time to answer your poll... How did your interest develop - suddenly or over a long period of time, or was it forced on you so that you eventually became the addict's codependent? I've always loved big elephant ears, since I was a child, but had no idea what an "aroid" was until maybe five years ago when I discovered GW. So I'd say my addiction grew over a long period of time. What is your favorite group of araceae? Philos? Colocasias? Amorphs? Callas? Break it on down, ladies. My best loved are Xanthosomas, followed by Colocasia, Alocasias, Amorphophallus, and Philos. It's hard to choose because I've yet to find one I don't like. If you had to choose between a man and an aroid, which would it be? And, if an aroid, which aroid would tip the scale in its favor? Definitely choose a man. They are way more fun to cuddle up with! Besides, it's DH's paycheck that pays for my addiction! What is your favorite place to buy aroids? Ebay? Local nurseries? Online nurseries? Overseas nurseries? Trades with other aroidiacs? I love eBay and have found some fantastic plants there that I've never seen any other place. I also love trading with other Aroid lovers. Some of my best plants came from trades. Do you grow your aroids in the ground or in pots and then have to heft them indoors for the wiinter; and.... whichever place you grow them, which do you prefer? I would prefer to grow them in the ground but the vast majority of mine go into the greenhouse for the winter. I leave the hardy ones outside. A. Titanum comes inside the house for winter because I killed its siblings last winter in my too cool greenhouse. If you had a choice of anywhere else to live which would be more conducive to aroid culture, where would it be? Hawaii What aroids are you currently growing? Alocasias, Colocasias, Xanthosomas, Philodendrons, Syngoniums, Nephthytis, Monsteras, Sauromatums, Dracunculus, Amorphophallus, ZZ Plants, Western Skunk Cabbages, Arum Italicums, Jack in the Pulpits, Calla lilies, probably others I can't think of right now. What aroids are on your list of "must haves", but haven't been able to get yet? Cyrtosperma Johnstonii, variegated Monstera, Philodendron 'Pink Princess', Alocasia 'Portei' and Amorphophallus henryi. What aroids are on your sorta, kinda, maybe, might wanna have it, but aren't really sure? Possibly Amorphophallus paeonifolius.. Which aroids would you NOT recommend to anyone, and state your reason. I like them all and would recommend them to any plant lover not familiar with aroids. AND (DRUMROLL), if you had a huge wad of money to tip your favorite Chippendale - no, no, no, I'm getting way off the subject here - to buy a really rare, expensive, aroid, what would it be? It wouldn't be an aroid, it would probably be an AeAe Banana. :)

@love_the_yard I was at the Lowes on Atlantic Blvd the other day and there were huge discount racks of all kinds of stuff. I got ground orchids 1 gallon for 3.00 -they are the orange flowered ones. No name on them except 'Ground Orchids' lol. I am pretty sure they are the tropical types and will have to overwinter in the gh in our zone grrr. I saw Belotti passiflora, white and pink mandevillea, and a bunch of annuals and other perennials on the discount racks. I think they were getting ready to put some 3 gal roses on there too because they were in the process of pulling them from the display and moving them to the discount area. I also saw some 3 gallon Sting Ray alocasias that were good size (I already had some of those). I might go back this weekend and see what's left on the discount racks though lol. We also have the 'wild' green alocasias on our property. Last summer one had a leaf as big as the hood of my car! I am thinking of making a huge fountain base or birdbath with a few leaves (concrete casting). They are soooo big! I don't like how they invade my flower beds but if there are few off by themselves somewhere they don't bother me. These things do reseed like crazy as well as make runners. The huge one by my car last year made about 50 seedlings. Hopefully most of them froze cuz I only see about 10 over there now. I keep my Mickey Mouse Taro in pots. It likes to go out the holes in the bottom of the pots and start new plants all over the place lol. It is definitely the cutest EE !! I saw some at the Ace Hardware in Mandarin that were obviously MM taro but they had them labeled as "Variegated Sting Ray" and a big "WOW!!" marked on the sign in front of them. Reminds me of the ebay seller ads. That Ace is normally a great place to find unusual things (in their gh) so I was kinda surprised at the mislabeling. I got a 3 gallon black Bat Plant last year. It was great and flowered nicely then one of the dumb roosters came and ate up the blooms grr. It is still doing good and overwintered in the gh where I only light the heater when it goes under 32F. So I think they are a little hardier than zone 10b/11. I have another baby black one and a baby white bat that overwintered in my somewhat cool gh as well. ~SJN

another thought... prices for plants can vary GREATLY between different geographical areas of the country. EVen from the same store or supplier. Pricing can be vastly different for the same thing. It shouldn't be a big difference for me and Laura, as we both live in the same area, but things can be pretty wild elsewhere. I bought a bamboo palm (Chamaedorea) 2 years ago at a local sale for $7.99 in the 3 gallon comtainer. These palms are extremely cold hardy (to 20 at least) and I had been wanting one for a bit. Now that they have "caught on" nationally and Home Depot is offering them for the whopping price of $69.99!! That is pretty unbelievable to me. Our same local independents have the same palm for $49.99. Prices for other landscape plants can be off the scale as well. We are very lucky to live close to a local grower who sells all types of different alocasias, colocasias and xanthosomas to our 2 local independent nurseries here. I have purchased things like Alocasia plumbea nigra (aka Metallica) in the past, a big heaping full 3 gallon pot, for about $15. I saw the exact same plant in a nursery in Dallas TX that my sister in law took me to for $39.00. I myself used to raise different gingers for the local nurseries when I was operating my nursery, and I can tell you, anything you buy at a nursery is marked up 100%. If I sold them a plant for $5, they charged $10. Unless you go to Home Depot or another box store here, all the orchids are sold by local and regional growers at the independent nurseries on consignment. SO are the bromeliads. We are lucky here to have some great private growers here who sell their stuff on consignment. There is also a local independent food market that sells their things on consignment.

Susan, I got my ZZ Plant a few years ago when WalMart put them on sale half price for $5. It's doubled in size since then. That was a great bargain. :) Robin, It's still a little early in the year for most places to have the "cool" elephant ears. They start carrying them when it really warms up in spring, about May. I did see Lowes has some packaged bulbs of C. 'Black Magic' and C. 'Illustris' (Imperial taro). I didn't buy any though, so I don't know how large the bulbs were. They are both really pretty elephant ears and reproduce rapidly. I've actually traded for the vast majority of my elephant ear collection. If you can find some really cool ones, you can often trade your pups for 2 or 3 pups of varieties you don't have. Pups grow fast and most elephant ears reproduce pretty rapidly. I've bought mine on eBay, at Lowes and Home Depot, WalMart, local nurseries, and from several different online stores. Don't be afraid to buy elephant ears online, just check their feedback at Garden Watchdog to be sure it's a reliable seller. Once you get a few of the cooler varieties, you'll be able to trade for just about whatever you want.