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Arum italicum

I am going to try this plant in Firestone, Colorado. Last winter we visited the Denver Botanical Garden specifically to see what was green in winter. We found Arum Italicum with beautiful green leaves and the full clusters of orange-red berries just beautiful. I believe DBG is in Zone 5, as are we. Will post again with what success (or not) that we have with it here. I doubt that I have to worry about its invasiveness in this zone.

Interesting foliage in cooler months. Colorful seed pods after blooming. Has spread somewhat in my flower bed, but I don't consider it invasive.

It behaves wonderfully in my shade garden. I've had no growth outside of the clumps. I love the green all winter. I'm in the Philadelphia area. My freinds who live 40 minutes south of here in New Jersey are thrilled to have me come dig theirs up as it pops up everywhere in their beds.

It is highly invasive in my backyard. Difficult to get rid of, since tubers, or parts of tubers start new plants. Otherwise, it is an attractive plant.

I feel the pain of those of you in the more temperate areas.
I saw several areas in CA that were overrun w/ it.

Here in Ohio though it's very mild mannered.
In fact too mild mannered here.
I'm having trouble getting it to spread.
It makes a great succession plant.
I have it in a bed w/ Jack-in-the Pulpit, Mayapple (very invasive but so impressive in spring) and Hosta.
So we get a 4 season display.

I have this growing in my flower beds and it is a pain. I have had some success eradicating it by digging it up carefully so as not to leave any bulblets. It is a very vigorous plant here. It has even popped up in my potted plants!

It sounds like this plant should be avoided in the warmer zones. Here in zone 6 it behaves quite nicely. It stays in a clump and multiplies slowly like any plant would. Of course, I'm growing it under a pine tree and a maple tree and in pure clay soil, so the conditions are far from ideal. Maybe its robust nature helps it thrive where other plants have suffered. I love the stalks of berries in summer and the foliage in winter. I don't mind it going dormant in the summer because I'd rather have the foliage in the winter anyway!

This plant will grow anywhere. It can be invasive, spread by bulbets, seed, moles, gophers, and squirrels. Nothing eats on them. Wonderful foliage for the winter months. Great Orange color when seeds ripen in late summer.

Avoid at any cost!! Ever since moving to my present home on 2 1/2 acres 18 years ago, I have watched Arum italicum extend its coverage, displacing even crabgrass. This is in spite of all the hours I have spent each spring chopping down every single blossom and disposing of every single seed pod I could find. It flourishs in under the big oaks and grows to a couple of feet high in the spring. The leaf petioles and blades are semi-succulent and are filled with tiny crystals of calcium oxylate, visible in a high-power microscope. The calcium oxylate effectively deters any insect or other herbivore from eating the plants and, if you handle them, will make the skin between your fingers itch, much like fiberglas. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! DO NOT SPREAD THIS PEST!!

One of my neighbors planted one arum bulb about 30 years ago. The entire neighborhood is infested with it now. It is impossible to kill. Round-up won't kill it. When you try to dig it up, you release all of the tiny bulblets attached to the big one, and you end up with 50 plants where you once had one. I haven't seen my azaleas bloom for years. The arum is taller than the azalea. The arum dies down in March, allowing me to reclaim my garden, but by then the azaleas are finished blooming. One of my neighbors kept mowing it for four years and finally killed it, but that's impossible to do if it's in your flower beds. Another neighbor actually sold his house to get away from it. Please use caution planting this, and make sure you really love it, because it might be the only thing in your garden after a while. It is certain to outlive all of us.

My zone 4b/5a garden was too cold for it. I planted half a dozen bulbs in a sheltered shady area. The first year, only one came up. After that, none survived. I have grown other arums successfully in the same area, including black dragon and basic Jack-in-the-pulpit.

Those flowers are too cool to go without! Foliage provides something to look at during the bleak winter months, along with the seed stalks.

When planted in a bed with improved soil it crowded almost everything else out and was almost impossible to irradicate.

A good companion for hostas; when the hostas die back in the fall, Arum will produce leaves repeating the shape of the dormant hostas, and remain green all winter. Plants produce white spathes of flowers in late spring, then go dormant as the hostas re-emerge. The berries form after the flowering is completed, and remain to provide late spring interest.

Partial shade;average,well drained soil
with organic matter.
Plant in late summer or early fall.
Set the tubers into individual holes or
larger planting areas dug 2-3inches(5-7.5cm)
deep. Space the tubers 8-12inches(20-30cm)
apart. Keep the soil moist during leaf
growth and flowering.

Propagation:Divide in early fall;otherwise,
allow plants to form handsome clumps.