Arum

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John

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Re: Arum idaeum
« Reply #15 on: July 23, 2013, 09:51:24 AM »
A question about Arum idaeum was posted under Dracunculus so I am conitinuing it here.
Yes I have grown A. idaeum on and off over the years. Unlike A. creticum it has never been happy in the garden and dwindled to nothing each time I have tried it. I currently have only seedlings in a pot.
In my experience it has a better scent than A. creticum though the strength varies. The best scented plants were small spathed ones from the Omalos in western Crete. It is a sweet smell without any additional unpleasant tones which I find you get with A. creticum. They are obviously very closely related but I never saw any hybrids in the wild.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2013, 06:55:28 PM by Alisdair »
John
Horticulturist, photographer, author, garden designer and plant breeder; MGS member and RHS committee member. I garden at home in SW London and also at work in South London.

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Fleur Pavlidis

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Re: Arum
« Reply #16 on: February 28, 2014, 08:35:39 AM »
John J was kind enough to bring two bulbs of Arum sintenisii with him to the AGM in Greece last November. One is now at Sparoza and the other in my garden - still in a pot but flowering happily.
MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #17 on: February 28, 2014, 09:41:16 AM »
Excellent, Fleur, that's a relief, I did get the right one! When I dug them up they were dormant, no foliage, etc, so I was worried I might have misremembered exactly where I had planted them and taken the wrong ones! One of my clumps has just produced 3 spathes. Have you tried smelling them? Unlike most arums they tend to have a slightly sweetish scent.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

HansA

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Re: Arum
« Reply #18 on: March 19, 2014, 11:42:51 AM »
Lovely Arum sintenisii!

A good one for the garden is also Arum creticum - here Arum creticum 'Norman' with Canarina canariensis in the background.
bulbgrower on the balearic islands, spain
landscape architect

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2016, 08:01:49 AM »
My prized arum has produced its first flowers of this season.
Oron, you missed out on getting one of the plants that I took to Greece a couple of years ago (Fleur got it instead) but I have been successful in producing more from division, they don't seem to produce fruiting bodies for some reason. If you are still interested maybe we can find some way of getting one to you?
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

Umbrian

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Re: Arum
« Reply #20 on: February 16, 2016, 08:52:18 AM »
Weirdly beautiful - an eye catcher.
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #21 on: January 22, 2017, 10:03:37 AM »
The first flower of this year, a little earlier than usual. Our Arum sintenisii is still attracting attention as we had 2 local amateur botanists to see and photograph it yesterday. Useful contacts though as in return they offered to show us the location of another rare Cyprus endemic later in the year when it's in flower. Just another example of how a passion for plants can bring people together.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #22 on: March 12, 2017, 10:09:18 AM »
Pleased to say that the divisions I have taken from my original plant are establishing well and beginning to flower. The photos show just two of them that are in flower now.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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Alisdair

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Re: Arum sintenisii
« Reply #23 on: March 12, 2017, 10:58:49 AM »
Off-topic, but:
John, I've a few plants of Iris sintenisii, presumably like your fine Arum also named after Paul Sintenis a 19th-century German botanist and plant collector. They have been growing happily in our hot Greek garden for many years but I don't think they've ever flowered.
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #24 on: March 12, 2017, 01:17:23 PM »
Alisdair, I believe you are correct in your presumption that both plants are named after Paul Sintenis. I knew nothing about this iris so looked it up. From what I can gather they are native to temperate areas and grow at altitudes between 900 - 1500m. They prefer soil that doesn't dry out in summer as their roots are shallow and they don't like intense summer heat. They also appear to need lots of water in order to bloom.
As I say this is all taken from the Internet as I have no experience of these plants.
Maybe your location is too hot for them and that's why they don't flower.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #25 on: February 15, 2018, 11:45:05 AM »
It's that time of year again, the Arum sintenisii are making their annual appearance.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #26 on: March 23, 2018, 09:05:34 AM »
A few weeks ago a Cypriot botanist/photographer came to my garden to photograph the Arum sintenisii in flower. Today he returned to ask if he could take apart a flower in order to photograph its reproductive parts. It seems that when he was preparing to put the plant onto his website he couldn't find any evidence that pictures of them had ever been posted on the Internet. When he left I took a couple of photos myself.
For anyone interested his website is www.savvastryfonosplants.com.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

Umbrian

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Re: Arum
« Reply #27 on: March 24, 2018, 08:21:00 AM »
Interesting picture John - you should be proud to be furthering the available knowledge about this plant.
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

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Alisdair

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Re: Arum
« Reply #28 on: March 25, 2018, 10:59:30 AM »
Fascinating!
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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John J

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Re: Arum
« Reply #29 on: January 16, 2019, 09:03:40 AM »
The first flower on our arum appeared yesterday, seems to get earlier every year.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)