Good luck with the mango ginger. That sounds fascinating. Be sure to take a photo of the flowers it produces. I wonder if they will be fragrant? I think if allowed to grow, turmeric will eventually become a tree (not sure how big though). In any event, I am definitely starting a root soon. Then in the fall if the plant gets too big to bring indoors, I'll save a root or two and begin again the next spring. Turmeric root and its chemical curcurim (sp?) is being used in cancer research and also for contraceptives...it's supposed to stop fast growing cells from growing. Amazing!!

I'm quite late to this thread, and I didn't even finish reading it entirely, I got stuck on the callas. I bought a set of three callas last year, supposed to be calla amethyst (purple). They were planted as follows: 1) in ground in an area that gets a couple hours of direct sun and is otherwise shaded by the house and a dogwood tree; 2) in a 10" pot in an area that got hardly any direct sun - between the house and a crepe myrtle/dogwood/and shade from a tall oak; 3) in a 14" pot in full sun from about noon-1pm. (can you tell I had no idea where to put them?) #2 & #3 bloomed early, but white. #3 grew biggest - but #2 had a ton of torenia volunteers basically cover it (I did say recently that I am bad about feeling guilt when pulling seedlings). #1 grew fairly weakly. All were white - disappointing! ~ I didn't do anything at all to them over the winter. I left them right where they were, in the ground or in the empty pots. This year I transplanted them all - #3 ended up being three large plants; #1 was one large plant and about 9 babies; #2 was three medium plants. #3 is still in a pot, but better soil, #1 (less babies, who are in small pots and some given away) & #2 are all planted in the ground basically where #3 lived in the pot last year. I also contacted the bulb company again to remind them they hadn't followed through on figuring out why they bloomed white... and they sent me another batch* of three amethyst. The three are now in pots in front of the bed where #1 & #2 are planted, and two were sprouting yesterday. *just what I needed! As if I don't have too many plants right now, lol. ~ and now I will read the rest of the thread. This post was edited by aharriedmom on Thu, Jun 13, 13 at 8:20

Do you know what kinds you have? Some species go dormant, some are evergreen. If you do just let us know and we can tell you for each one. If not just water them until the leaves turn yellow. Those are the dormancy requiring ones and you just need to keep the soil very slightly moist over the winter. If they stay green just keep watering them (don't overdo it though!). -Kyle

Hi, I'm in Zone 8, coastal Va, and have several that I grow in the ground and leave them there with pinestraw mulch. They come back every year - no damage. If it is a large pot, maybe you can suggest that your mom mulch it heavily and put it in a protected spot, maybe near a brick wall. Good luck, Linda