Arisaema speciosum is an unusual perennial from the eastern Himalayas. It grows from fat, knobbly tubers, which are best planted singly in large pots for stability.

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You will probably find a shoot already emerging from one end of the rhizome, so plant it with this just poking through the compost. Keep it warm and well watered, and a bulging, pointed shoot will quickly develop into a mottled stalk, topped by three leaves.

The flower (or, more correctly, the spathe and spadix) will develop alongside the stem, with closely spaced white stripes decorating the trumpet. The result is not very long-lasting, but it is dramatic.

You Will Need

  • Arisaema rhizome
  • Large terracotta pot
  • Multi-purpose, peat-free compost

Total time: 15 minutes

Step 1

Growing Arisaema - adding compost to the pot
Growing Arisaema - adding compost to the pot

Place a layer of drainage material in the base of a large, deep pot, followed by a few handfuls of potting compost.

Step 2

Growing Arisaema - placing compost around the bulb
Growing Arisaema - placing compost around the tuber

Sit the tuber in the pot and fill in around it with more compost, until just the new shoot is poking through the surface.

Step 3

Growing Arisaema - topping up with compost
Growing Arisaema - topping up with compost

As the mottled leaf stalks emerge, top up the pot with more compost and water regularly to prevent it drying out.

Step 4

Growing Arisaema - arisaema flower
Growing Arisaema - arisaema flower

The exotic striped spathe will form on the side of the leaf stalk and lasts about one week before beginning to fade. Start feeding every week once your plants are growing strongly.

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Arisaema varieties to grow

  • Arisaema consanguineum - in summer, a purple-brown hooded spathe with green and white stripes appears beneath it, followed by bright red berries in autumn.
  • Arisaema engleri - in spring, a dark purple and white striped, green-speckled pitcher flower sits on a central purple stem, among broad, dark green, lush foliage.
  • Arisaema speciosum - has a mottled stem with usually a solitary, palmate leaf and a hooded, white-striped, purple spathe.
  • Arisaema tortuosum - a very tall growing, shade-loving Arisaema, with lovely mottled stems and a large green spathe. It’s perfect for a moist woodland border or a container display for a shady corner
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