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Jack in the Pulpit turning white?

18 years ago

I bought a Jack in the Pulpit last year that I'm sure had the dark purple/maroon coloring. It came up very late this year and it was all green and white! Is this color change common? Is there anything that I can do such as amend the soil in any way to get it to revert back to the darker colors?

Shelley

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Comments (2)

Trilliophile
18 years ago
Jack in the Pulpit are a little strange. One year they are female (you know cause it has two leaves). The next they didn't make enough energy so they are male (1 leaf) and not as showy. Maybe one year they hardly made any energy and they are just leaves, no reproductive organs. What I'm trying to get at is they can be moody. I see them of all different colors around the garden here and I would just give it time. It never hurts to give them some organic matter. We use chopped up leaves as mulch. They look natural and breakdown over the season to make for great soil.
aloha
t
plantfreak
18 years ago
An interesting question. Here in Japan most species are highly variable. A. serratum for example can have green or brown flowers (sometimes almost black), the leaves can be plain green or variegated, and the leaves can have serrated or smooth leaf margins. But changing color from season to season? Not that I know of. I would post over at the Aroid Forum about that question. There's some folks there with lots of experience with this genus. PF
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