Amorphophallus, Devil's Tongue, Snake's Tongue, Voodoo Lily

The flowers are arresting (if revoltingly malodorous), but the foliage is quite lovely as well. A large, palmate leaf atop a long stem. B...Read Moreeautiful, glossy green. Sometimes only one leaf per bulbil, sometimes several. This is one of the last bulbs to leaf out in spring here in zone 9a. They are cold hardy here, and I dig around and remove the 'pups' every few years. Maybe not for everyone - our puppy rolled all over the flower last spring - too stinky to resist, I guess.
As the bulb grows, the foliage and flower grows as well, so a large old bulb can produce a 2' flower followed by a 3' stalk of foliage.

I inherited the bulbs of what I believe to be a VooDoo lily from my Grandfather. (Actually I went to his house and dug them up after he ...Read Morepassed away.) Grandpa called it a lily of the nile, but I believe it to be a VooDoo Lily. Depending on the condition of the bulbs, the flowers can be as large as 18" in length. The pistil and shrouding flower (calla-lily-like) are a deep velvety purple and they smell like long dead road kill on a hot day. The flowers are quite striking but they stink. Don't plant too close to a door or window. These bulbs have survived outdoors through the worst winters I've seen in the Pacific Northwest. Grandpa had this plant when I was a small child and I'm now 50 years old. In the intervening years there have been large snowfalls and long hard freezes. They're not common here, but they happen occasionally. I would rank their hardiness well above begonias and probably closer to dahlias or glads. After the flowers die back, the plant develops orange-colored berries on the stalk. I never tried to eat them but owing to the smell of the bloom, I wouldn't recommend it. We just moved to Astoria Oregon from Seattle Washington so I'll upload a picture next year after I've nursed it back to health with cow manure. The bulbs are shaped somewhat like Jicama and can get very large. As the bulbs increase in size so do the flowers. They don't seem to like direct sunlight. They like manure and lots of rain so they grow well here. In this environment, they start growing in late March, bloom in June, and fruit and leaf in July. They die back in August/September depending on the temperature. If you don't mind a plant that's pollinated by flies, I recommend it as a striking addition to any garden. I get lots of comments. The plant means so much to me because it was so precious to Grandpa and it makes me think of him everytime I see it. It brings back many happy memories.

Apparently Asian in origin this bizarre plant may be dormant for years before it blooms. During the winter it can be kept indoors anyplac...Read Moree the temperature doesn't get too low, like a basement. In early spring mature plants will grow a bloom apparently even if they have no soil or water. It reaches heights averaging 4-5 feet but recorded as high as 8 feet. The bloom smells of rotten meat and attracts flies which pollinate it after which the flower will die back and is followed by leaves. Bulbs grow in size each year, and eventually little warts will form between leaf axils and grow into new bulbs.