Caladium bicolor (with silver/white splotches) is one of the major species caladiums that many many of today's hybrids were derived from. I have it in my yard, also the more rare one with the purple splotches (C. bicolor rubicundrum). All calatheas are hardy here, they go dormant every year and come back in spring so I couldn;t tell you if Bicolor is hardy in zone 4. I think its probably not, I believe its native to South America. I know mine came to me from a friend in Puerto Rico, who said its native there, anyway (I know that's not South America, but its more tropical than anywhere in the USA)

Sorry meant Caladium not Calathea

Ok - Tropilab has a 50/50 rating on Garden Watchdog - 1 positive and 1 negative. The positive came from someone in Louisiana, and the negative from someone in Japan. Since the seed they ordered had to cross international borders, that could be the reason for the negative reply, which said the seed were moldy, and they had to pay $16 shipping.

Anyone else have any input?

Susan

Ive been thinking about ordering some Montrichardia seeds from this place for some time now. I guess its just getting enough time to do it. Susan, are there any large farmers markets in your area? The reason I ask is because you could probably find at least one or two species of Xanthosoma. Even the Walmarts around here (and probably in your area too) sell Malanga...which from the ones Ive grown turn out to be Xanthosoma violeceum. Check out the produce department and pick the ones not moldy or rotted. They are alot cheaper this way.
Xanthosoma brasiliense is a cool Xanthosoma that would be worth ordering. There are several forms (one with all green petioles and one with maroon petioles). It would be interesting to see what they have. Let us know if you order.
Michael M.

Mike, you think I could get it at the Asian Supermarket? We do have a large farmer's market in OKC. I doubt if our Wal-mart has any, but I'll check. The reason I say that is because OUR Wal-mart has the worst produce department I have ever seen! I think it could be because Buy for Less, down the street a few blocks, has a marvelous produce section, and they decided not to compete with them in that area. I live in what is known as the asian district in Oklahoma City, so the BFL carries a lot of unusual produce. Malanga, huh. I'll check that out, and thanks for the tip.

For $5.00 a tuber, I didn't think I could go TOO wrong. I'll probably wait until after the first of the year to order, though.

Susan

Susan,
The Kroger Supermarkets in Dallas often have malangas, but no one that works there knows what they are and they all get mixed up in the bins with the Colocasia (taro).

Asian markets? Maybe Asian Indian, but the Hispanic markets are much less likely to confuse them with taro which they don't carry.

These are not a part of traditional Tex-Mex cuisine , even though I love Tex-Mex!

The Hispanic markets in Houston & New Orleans that cater to Hondurans & Guatemalans are the most knowledgeable on this , but who could ever resist buying an off-color or odd-looking tuber to see what develops:)

Keiko

Keiko, you are right about Kroger. I have found Malanga in Kroger Supermarkets in Georgia many years ago. The sticker had an image of a Xanthosoma leaf (perhaps saggitifolia) and is had it named as.....Arum americanum....LOL! An interesting find non-the-less.
Atlanta has several Farmers markets. One of them is an International Farmers Market and I found Dasheen, Malanga, Taro, and Yautia there. Also found some VERY interesting other fruits and vegetables ive never seen before.
Susan, your probably not going to find Malanga in an Asian store, unless like Keiko said, its an Asian Indian place. In that case it would most likely be Xanthosoma violeceum. One thing that you MIGHT find in an Asian Indian store would be Amorphophallus peaonifolius. Ask for Suran...and not the canned stuff. If they dont have it they might be able to order it by the case for you. (Ive known people to do this) You would probably fork up a big chunk of change for shipping but you would end up with dozens and dozens of stinkies!

Arum americanum??!! Thankx raymikematt, that is one of those names that will be my belly laugh for the week :)

I guess I'll always do well with the idea that life is much too serious to be taken all that seriously :)

Keiko

Cool - I'm going to check out my local Buy for Less. Actually, I live in a multi-culture district of OKC (and I LOVE IT, I might add), and the supermarkets here cater to both asian and hispanic taste. Lots of bulbs and tubers all over the place, but I don't know one from the other. I'll be looking for the ones you guys suggest here.

I did notice at the Asian market, they have the HUMONGOUS taro tubers, and the very small ones. I saw a girl buying the very small ones. I wonder if they small ones are are for better eating?

Susan

Whatever species name is applied to a particular variety, when grown as a food crop, Colocasias are broken down into the very large tubers known as dasheen and the smaller clustering tubers known as eddoes. The small eddoes are considered a more gourmet variety.

My family has been in Dallas for five generations and we never eat taro except when visiting relatives in Hawaii, but as a more practical point in the landscape, the large dasheens grow best in well drained sandy soil with a lot of water and the eddoes are the ones that do well as a bog or aquatic plant as long as the water does not become stagnant.

Keiko

Is there a reason you don't eat them in Dallas? Are they not as fresh when purchased at a Dallas market? Are the smaller ones, the eddoes, preferable for consumption?

I remember the girl who was looking and picking out some of the smaller ones. She was being very careful and it took her a long while to find the ones she wanted. I asked her about growing them as a plant, but she had no clue.

Don't the eddoes eventually get large enough to be considered Dasheen? I mean aren't they just a smaller version of the larger tubers?

I have also heard that the Imperial taro (if you can find it) is actually 'Illustris'. Any truth to that?

I would like of like to experiment with root vegetables that can be grown from products purchased at the farmer's or Asian/Hispanic markets. So long as they haven't been treated with a growth inhibitor. I would just think that planting a taro bulb that is a foot tall and at least that much around, would produce a larger plant than the mid-size bulbs we purchase at the garden centers, wouldn't you?

I hear a lot about people growing garlic, but some say the grocery product is treated. However, I have had garlic bulbs sprout in my frig if I kept them too long, so if they were treated, it must only last for a certain amount of time.

I pulled up my ornamental sweet potatoes (Marguerite) yesterday, and they look just like regular sweet potatoes. I stuck them in a dark cabinet until spring and will plant them out again.

Susan

Hi Susan,
What I meant about not eating them in Dallas is that we have been here far too long to develop an acquired taste for taros. I think in other areas of the world where starches are not so readily available the body creates a demand for them and people get creative about how to satisfy that demand. I and my family really prefer rice cooked to perfection in an electronic steamer.

Imperial Taro is synonymous with "Illustris" and it is an eddoe. I think using the species name antiquorum vs. esculenta may indicate eddoes, but there is really no standard for this.

Eddoe tubers never get as large as dasheen, but produce a lot more small tubers as offsets. They tend to be less fibrous than dasheens which is the reason they are the best culinary varieties.

Garlic? Whether treated with growth inhibitors or not, the long days of summer will always make them go dormant June- Sept in Dallas. This is a short day, cool weather crop here, even if they temporarily get frozen back to the ground around New Year. I love the way 'Elephant Garlic 'actually a leek, picks up the slack and starts flowering long after a bed of Iris is past its prime.

Keiko

Shipping the 5 varieties (1 of each)to Sarasota, FL, just up the road from them would be $44 plus the $25 for the bulbs = $69(they are all shipped out of South America). Not really a deal, unless you really wanted those varieties, and there were no sources near you.
Anyone have a good picture of any of the Xanth's listed. His pics stink. If they are unusual or really cool looking, getting a mature bulb would be worth it.

Here is an image of Xanthosoma brasiliense.
Michael M.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Keiko, I did indeed look for the Imperial Taro when I was at the Asian Supermarket, but did not find any there. It may not be the best time to try to find some, I don't know.

Ah, an electric steamer - I yearn for one also. I must get one soon. I have to increase my veggie intake. I believe I actually could be a vegetarian (not a vegan), because I don't eat much meat anyway. But, the old blood pressure is starting to rise with the sun now, and I need to start watching my diet. Starches are definitely not good as they convert to sugars. But at least I can plant them.

Rsieminski - for some reason, I got the impression that they get their supply from South America, but they actually sell them here in the states. I will have to check that out again. I would really like to have at least a couple of the species, e.g. brasiliense, as Michael has mentioned.

If I have to pay those ungodly shipping rates, I think I will look elsewhere, thank you very much. Especially if they are just tiny little tubers. If I thought I was getting a hefty tuber, it might be a different story. I might have read something about the fact that the size of their tubers could vary substantially, but that doesn't tell me anything factually. A lot of room for messing around with my money there.

I have some time to search around and check out other sources.

Right now, I'm too scared to go check out my back yard. You would know this would be the year we have these ghastly, horrid, frigid temperatures in Oklahoma, after several mild winters. Ah, Oklahoma, how I hate it here. Wish I could move with my daughter to Columbia, SC. Doesn't get near as cold there, and I would feel much more secure with my lovelies in the ground (8b).

Susan

Michael,
Thanks for the addtional image of X. brasilense. I have never even seen a photo of X. violaceum that could convey it's incredible beauty growing in Texas thru the heat of the July-Sept. summer.

Do mature plants of this species have any great ornamental value, or should they be considered collector's items or landscape fillers?

Susan, Nothing to be concerned about in Dallas, YET! 85F last saturday afteroon, 12F Thursday morning,possibly back up to 70F Sunday afternoon. Under these conditions I don't think the soil will get cold enough to harm most aroids in sandy soil with good drainage.I really just wonder how bad it might get around New Year's this year. Start Mulching!

Keiko

Today it was up in the 50s, almost 60! Hurrah! I don't think it was cold long enough for the ground to freeze. Especially with my south facing yard. However, all top growth is definitely looking tweaky. I had already mulched it pretty well. So, hopefully all is well.

Dallas, ah, Dallas. I lived there for 2 years. It was so nice NOT to have the winter we get in Oklahoma City. So unpredictable here. The nice thing is that usually our cold spells only last 2 or 3 days (like this week). It was 7 degrees one night/morning. But 3 days later it was 45 degrees in the morning. Hard to believe! I see that you do get some of the same in Dallas.

I remember an ice storm in Dallas. It can get pretty nasty. But the next day it was so nice. The live oaks just keep on keeping on. The pansies keep blooming.

Drawback to Dallas - traffic! I finally figured out how to get around quicker on the back streets.

Michael - is that YOUR brasiliense? Beautiful! I must have it!

Susan

The Arbuckles really aren't much of a mountain range, but sometimes on the weather report they mention how they keep your cold Oklahoma air from spilling over the border :)

In reality we live in a small canyon or ravine where especially on clear winter nights the temperature is often 10F colder than the official low at D/FW airport and more similar to OKC. I don't think the USDA zone system is all that reliable based on air temperature, It's the soil temperature that counts with tuberous or rhizomatous plants. After all the sleet and ice Thursday it turned out to be a glorious sunny weekend to work in the garden (gather leaves & mulch).

Dallas traffic? My husband & I both took the day off Thursday rather than risk all the fender benders & snarls from the ice & sleet since we would have never made it in time to go out to lunch anyway :) You're right about the backstreets, it's gotten to the point where it's faster to go through a hundred lights taking Hillcrest/Preston all the way downtown rather than attempt to get on LBJ or Stemmons I-35.

Keiko

Susan, yes that is. I have a regular green form of brasiliense and this fall i got a cool form with red petioles collected in Trinidad.
Michael M.

Hillcrest/Preston. I used to live right off Preston Blvd., and took it where it changed to another street, straight on to where you turned on Maple (I think). It was pretty close. Ojeda's was my favorite Mexican joint. Just a hole in the wall, but delish Mexican food. Loved their sour cream chicken enchies and salsa. There was also a Dominican restaurant a few streets North of there, that had great salsa with more cilantro, that was great, too, with a fabulous black bean sauce. Mmmmm. I forgot, this is what I miss about Dallas - the FOOD!

Susan

I have heard of them and ordered from them! The site shows Florida address and stated everything was in stock. I placed the order for 5 different items and the shipping was 5.75 (I am in AL) so total was 35.75.Well then when I received the confirmation on the order the the total was 53.10!!!
I emailed them and this was the answer and I still haven't received bulbs... "The rhizomes are shipped directly from Surinam, South America and international shipping rates apply.These rhizomes are heavy (4 - 5 lb.)!
We advise on all our pages that the S & H may differ from what pops up when you order and to also visit our web store page (www.tropilab.com/webstore.html) for the right freight rate.
If you have questions, please e mail me or call us toll free at (877) 808 9410"
I have still not received them and they say they are stuck in mail somewhere..I am afraid they will be frozen when I do receive them :-(
If anyone has a good place they buy from PLEASE let me know!
Lhouselvr

Did they ever come?
What did they look like?
Quality?
Did they grow?

Rsieminski - I never ordered from them, after the input on this post, and I don't know if Lhouselvr ever got his/her order or not.

I ordered a couple of Luteas from Brent & Becky's which should arrive next week. That will be the extent of my purchasing for this year.

Susan