They aren't tropical and will do fine year round in your zone. They bloom early in the season and the older the bulb the bigger the bloom. I have 5+year old bulbs that produce 3' blooms. Don't plant them anywhere that you might smell them. They smell like carrion but the flower is beautiful. It lasts a week or two but the foliage is pretty and is sometines variegated. It's an aroid and will produce a typical aroid seed pod that's interesting looking. The foliage will die back in the heat of the summer.

Thanks Karyn! BTW what are you doing up so late? I hope you have been resting!!!! Do they only smell when they bloom? Do the flies swarm around it only when in bloom? Thanks for the zone info as I have not found anything to tell me how hardy it is. Now go back to bed!!!LOL!!!
Joyce

Karyn, I hope you are not up getting ready for Black Friday Shopping at 5:00AM!!! I bet your doctor would not be happy!
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
Joyce

I was wondering what you were doing up so late too! lol I'm usually up late. It's the only time I have to myself. The rest of the day the kids need one thing or another. I have no intention of shopping on Black Friday, way too busy and you can get the same sales the rest of the year anyway. My DD on the other hand will be at the mall with her friends bright and early. More power to her. Dinner was nice. It was weird just having immediate family because I usually have a houseful but we enjoyed ourselves and clean up was much easier. I hope your holiday was nice as well. I have some pics of the Voodoo lily somewhere in my Photobook that I'll look for and post later. I made the mistake of planting them near the front door many years ago. Now they are on the side yard. It's so funny to watch people walk up to smell them. The looks on their faces when they get a whiff is hysterical. The blooms are so stunning that you are naturally drawn to them but the stench after they've been open for a couple days is really bad.

LOL!!! It sounds like it smells bad!!! I wished I could have seen the looks on their faces!!! That would have been priceless!!!! What about flies? Are there a lot of them swarming around it? I read the flies go in and get trapped and come out the next day with a load of pollen. As for why I am up late??? I am nocturnal!!! Hope you can find your pics of the voodoo!!! No shopping for me either. Hope all the other shoppers get what they are searching for!
Joyce

The flies swarm but they get trapped and die in the bloom. That's a good part of what makes the blooms stink. The flower doesn't smell bad the first day before anything gets trapped but after they begin to die it gets downright nasty.

Check out Daves Marketplace.. You will find a better price I believe...

Here's a bloom from a bulb that's a couple years old.

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I have them too & plant them in partial shade after frost is past. We dig ours up every fall & they bloom before they are planted in the spring. My friend keeps the bulbs in a cabinet in her basement (& has for the past 30 years). No one ever remembers to check them & then there is that dead body smell when you open the basement door. I can spare a bulb or two if you want one of mine. They grow really fast here.

{{gwi:575711}}

Linda

I've never bothered digging mine up except to divide them.

Karyn, Your voodoo is beautiful! They are so cool! I saw one in a book that was taller than the person standing next to it! One bulb on Ebay says it weighs 3 1/2 pounds!!! They must get to monster size!!! Thanks for all the info!

Kylie...What is Daves Marketplace? I just find grocery stores when I look it up online. Please let me know as I am a bargain shopper. Always like to get the best deal!!!

Linda....UGH!!! Dead body smell in the basement??!!! Does yours bloom in your greenhouse? Do they still smell if the flies can't get to them? Thank you kindly for offering a bulb!
Joyce

Yes, they will stink up the basement even in the closet with the door closed (but that's from a big box of them). If you don't like the smell, just cut off the flowers & toss them. The bulbs & leaves don't smell. The flowers are cool looking, all maroon & green splotchy-colored with long red "tongues". The biggest ones I have are about 4 or 5 pounds. Email your address & I will get it out to you when it is warm enough.

Linda

WOW Linda, look at those bulbs...someone just gave me a few bulbs and they are really small.

I am soo glad this thread appeared, I was wondering where to plant them..Id say right next to hubbys pond would be a WONDERFUL spot, dont you ?? LOL

Karyn, thanks for the info..I have always liked the bloom pictures, and wont mind the smell, i have an area that isnt close to the entrance...but it is really near the pond..LOL

Kym

They should do well by the pond as long as they don't have wet feet. You won't have to lift them in the fall in your zone and they multiply really fast. The bulbs get big in just a few seasons and can reach then size of a grapefruit in about 4 years though they aren't really round, kind of puck shaped. The size bulbs that Linda posted pics of will put out big plants with blooms that are several feet long.

Voodoo Lily looks like a really cool plant and with a smell like that it makes this plants really cool.Anyone have one the can spare for postage or I can pay for the plant as well LMK

Rigo