Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Mouse Tails
Arisarum proboscideum is a plant uniquely suited for culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. It just works. By which I mean that if it's given the right place, it grows happily without a lot of worry, but doesn't spread like a plague. It likes a bit of shade, a bit of water, and to be left largely alone.
It's an aroid, which is a genus that can provide strange leaves and even stranger flowers, but it's not too controversial for the woodland garden. The leaves are nothing much to look at, but peer under them and you find a small purple flower that is a work of art on a very small scale. It doesn't hurt that it seems to have a long flowering season during the winter months when not all that much else is happening.
It's a plant that takes a little time to really appreciate. And a little time to spread enough to make an impact. But it's one plant I would not be without.
