Curcumas

Is anyone growing curcumas. If so, how do you use them in your landscape since they die back during winter. I have mine in pots but would like to put them in the ground but would rather not have bare spots during the winter. Any suggestions for annual that I could plant over them or near them that like shade.
I prefer the unusual.
Jan

I'm growing them, but I have them on the West side of my house mixed with Heliconias, Gingers, Begonias and other assortment of plants. This way when they die back in the winter the other foliage covers it (thruth is that is quite overcrowded in there, so I doubt anyone would miss them).

I can't think of many annuals for shade other than impatiens and wax begonias, but why not have just tropicals like anthuriums, begonias, bromeliads, gingers (big and small), amazon lilies, and many others. Just a suggestion...

I guess I've been afraid that the others will crowd in and curcumas won't have any place to come up. The one I have has HUGE leaves.

Jan,

Jnana has some excellent suggestions and I would also like to add, just go with what Home Depot is selling as annuals. Petunias, impatiens, dianthus, they will all die after a few months anyway, so I don't believe there's any real danger of them crowding out the curcumas.

I am glad you brought up the subject of curcumas too. This is my first year with them and despite the fact that the temporary yard man mowed them down when they were just coming up, they have actually done very well. But I didn't know they were going to die back, so I shall make plans as you are.

Molly
:^)))

I too am growing them for the first time. I got a (?) whatever you put in the ground to make them grow from the RU in Feb.....

I do believe, however, that I planted them up-side-down....LOL God takes care of children like me and it has started to grow...I have 2 large leaves each and both are green...

That's it for my wisdom on this matter...LOL

Hap

Hap,

I heard a long time ago about planting bulbs......when in doubt about up and down, lay it on its side and it will come up.

I thought I had planted a bunch of my caladiums upside down this year because they seemed to take a while to come up. In the end, I think it was because we had a cooler than normal spring here this year and that probably caused the delay.

Molly
:^)))

What the heck is a Curcumas? Duh!!!!!!!!!! xoxoxo me

Marilynne,

At the Okeechobee round-up we raffled off a box full of bulbs donated by Buried Treasures. Didn't you get any of those?

There were curcumas, gingers, desert rose and some other various things. This is a curcuma, one of mine in bloom.

Molly
:^)))

I have a couple different ones but this is my favorite.

http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid4763694


Jan...

Jan that is huge and so pretty!

Molly
:^)))

I, too, got a couple from the Feb. RU and they have a couple leaves. Glad it was mentioned they die back and come back! They get morning sun.

Thanks CORKY for asking. I have been wondering, but I figured I was supposed to know so I just kept quiet! LOL Of course, I just now discovered Cannas so I really am the "cows tail" when it comes to plants. LOL
Pati

See what I GOOGLED http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/2002/archives/2002/in_the_garden/flowering_plants_and_shrubs2/ornamental_ginger
(scroll down to Curcumas

This message was edited Jun 30, 2005 7:44 AM

patischell -- Thanks for the excellent info.

Most of my curcumas (often sold as "Siam Tulips" or "Thai Tulips" have not made a reappearance yet this year. One bluish tinted one is blooming, but I haven't had a chance to check out its I.D. yet. It may be too cold for them here.

I completely have given up on heliconias. They are sold here by the megastores and probably survive in the gardens closer to the river where the ambient winter temperatures are warmer, but I've l planted one a year and have lost each one in winter.

Jeremy

Nope, Molly I got a voodoo lily and a couple wee bulbs. Not that one tho. Me

Okay, Marilynne,

You're coming to the S Fla Roundup. We can figure out how to get you some.

Molly
:^)))

Mine come up like clockwork every summer and bloom in August. The bed they're in is (and looks like it will always will be) a work in progress, so I usually have bare spots at different times of the year. Uh, let me rephrase that: The FLOWERBED usually has bare spots....

LOL
Pati

Waho. I get some whatchamacallits from Molly. Okay, who knows how and when to seperate daylilys in central fla.? Mine are gorgeous and been in ground 3 years. I can't remember if ya seperate or leave them alone here? I am canoeing in my yard today and had to spray my cannas they had Molly leaf rollers. First time I've ever had this problem. Will the stuff you use to get rid of slugs help this problem?Marilynne aka Corky in Swampland--Lakeland, Floodira

Good Morning Marilynne,

Let's see, first, daylilies. Seasonally, I have divided a daylily anytime it had a fan to spare. I just made sure I watered well for a while to keep them from going shocky. I would suggest that if you do it in the summertime, do it at the end of the day, like dusk, water well. This way it doesn't have to contend with the hot sun until the next day. Daylilies are very strong plants, even down here in Fla.

As to the leaf rollers, first let me ask this, did I give them to you or just jinx you by complaining about them? LOL Either way, I am so sorry.

Bayer Advanced Garden Tree & Shrub Insect Control. This is a systemic control. They say it last about 6 months but the most time I have gotten was maybe 3 months. The leaf rollers eat all the leaves before they roll up in the leaf. The cannas look terrible. They don't kill the plant. I have a couple 7 footers blooming right now on leafless stalks. So much for creating a foliage wall to cover the crawl space under the gym building.

Although not exclusive, the leaf rollers do tend to prefer the greener leaves. My bergundies, bengals and cleopatra only have minimal infestations.

Cork, I have started my round up trade list. You are the first on it. I suspect by November the curcumas may be dying back for the winter, but I will be able to dig some new bulbs. I believe they multiply by bulbs in the ground.
I guess I better get out there and put some tags on those things so I don't lose track of what is where!

Molly
:^)))

I have 3 blooming now. I will take a picture when/if the sun comes out today, of all three.

Here's the photo. The tall one is pink, the short one up front is actually lavender and there is a shorter one right behind the lavender that looks like it's going to bloom white. Maybe later today or tomorrow.

Does anyone know how fast the bulbs will multiply in a season?

Molly
:^)))

corky....that's a great take off on the spelling for our state.....tis true, by golly...

Hap

Molly -- Thanx for photo. How much sun do your curcumas get? Mine are planted from the Feb. RU and no sign of the flower yet.

Sue

I named them after you because you had them first. hee heee ain't i bad? I got out yesterday after checking the weather radar map and sprayed all me roses for black spot etc. and in 30 minits the monsoons hit. oh well, ya can't fool mother nature not even w/ sophisticated radar. xoxoxo to all.

Sue,

It seemed to take forever for the foliage to even appear and I would say that it took about a month after that for the bloom stalk to pop up. I had to go out and look to see how much sun it's getting. We are having a few moments of sun between the clouds. You know how it's been. My best guess is, they are getting about 2-3 hours of full direct sun. They are shaded first thing in the morning by a Royal Poinciana in my back neighbors yard, and then in the afternoon by the mango tree with a bit of filtering in between all that. Here's a longer shot of that bed. Sue, I'm sure your blooms will be along shortly.

Corky, thanks for that, I was afraid I had given you some of those worms. Having one person in this country upset with me for passing on garden vermin is enough for me. :^))))

Molly
:^)))

Thanks, Molly -- Will wait patiently (mmm hmmm) for the bloom stalk.

Sue

Some, like mine bloom late in the summer, August.
Jan...

Jan --
Looks like that's where mine are headed.

Sue

But Sue, ya know that's not that far away either..........

Molly
:^)))

I had one of those leaf rollers in my little greenhouse window. I start all my cuttings and I place my plants I have gotten in the mail in that window till I can get to them. I had a rooted cutting of the Brugmansia Harlot in the window and I looked at it one morning and it had no leaves at all. When I cleaned the window out I found this worm and I couldn't think of what it was, but looking here it reminded me of what I already knew.
I think I have a pot of Curcumas, I had some and couldn't remember what I had done with them. I had a pot of bulbs that started growing so I put them in my shade house, it is a real pretty plant.
Here is a pictures I took tonight. Is this a curcumas.
If it is I got it from Buried Treasures. I've had it about 2 1/2 years.

Connie

Nice looking plant Connie.

Tell me, the leaf roller you found, was it fat, grey, and slimey looking? They bleed black blood?

I have only seen this kind on my cannas. I sure don't need them on my brugs, the weevils do enough damage on them.

Molly

Well Mine was grey body fat had a red head. I murdered it w/ my spray. What I read said they only get on cannas and are caused by a moth that lays eggs on the leaves. oh this one was at least 2 in. long. yucky bug. I thinned out mine cleaned up underneath them and will be going today for the stuff molly mentioned. With this weather you really can't do much bug, fungus etc. maintenence. I usually put down my grub stuff as we have oleander caterpillers and that seems to help deter them. I have a beautiful passion vine that the little suckers got into and now it is just about naked but blooming right on. we have skeeters here that can stand flat footed and rape a turkey to so watch out for the west nile virus wear proper clothing at all times. xoxoxoxo me

The passiflora may have been eaten by Gulf Frit cats. I grow the passis just for them.
Jan...

Jan --

Are they the same cats that eat the Yellow Mandavilla vine? ...orange with little black spiky hairy clumpy things?

Sue

I don't have Mandavilla but here is a picture of the little guys.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/126745794/188182555bQNZlO

That's the one. There's plenty of mandavilla left anyway. With all the rain, the vine is doing quite well...in spite of the caterpillars.

Well the oleander caterpillars just love my clematis. I have put down grub bait, spraying them w/ sevin is the only thing that kills the little dears. Yucky ugly bugs

Thanks, budgie, for the caterpiller photo. I now know what to look for and will let them eat all they want of my plentiful passiflores! I started with one or two passion vine plants last year. This year I have them coming up as much as about 20 feet or more away from the original plants. They apparently spread mostly by their extensive root system. I didn't have any flowers on the passion vines until this year, so there were no seeds last year to cause the spreading. I've transplanted some of the vines successfully, but am leaving most of them where they chose to grow until I get them better established.

Jeremy

Yes, they will spread by underground runners. I have about 4-5 varieties but so far, only p. incense is in the ground. It was a volunteer presumbly from a bird passing over and just appearing in my yard one some a few years ago. It dies back during winter and then surprises me the next year with where it will come up.
This year, it has decided to take over the fence on my old dog kennel and the fence on the side. I am still planning to plant the others in the ground but need to repair/replace some fencing first.
I love the p. incense for its fragrance.
Jan...

P. 'incense' may be the variety I have. My passion vines came as a rescue from a job I was doing, helping a friend with his landscaping business, pulling out tons of passion vines from a backyard to replant the yard with a more controlled and less wild garden design ("Why?, I wondered.) My landscaper friend mentioned that the Passiflores we were pulling out were especially nice because they were fragrant, and I do catch a whiff of a wonderful, light perfume when I'm in the area of my passion vines that are flowering. Thanks for the I.D. for these plants!

Jeremy