Dracunculus mysteries

[anita]

I have been growing Dracunculus vulgaris and Dracunculus canariensis in the garden (Southern Hemisphere- Zne 10 equivalent) for several years now and have just noticed that Dracunculus canariensis is coming up following heavy autumn rain a fortnight ago. The strange thing is that there are plants coming up nearly two metres away from the original plantings and I've always collected the seed that's been set. So my guess - without digging up that bed which has crocus emerging - is that it is spreading via stolons.
Has anyone else observed D. canariensis in the garden or in the wild? Does it usually multiply via stolons? 
Another interesting thing that I noticed in the two preceding years is that a particular tuber seems to flower once only. The next year there is no sign of the mature plant that flowered - it does not reappear but there are young plants nearby. I've never read of this anywhere and thought I'd double check my observations this year by inserting a chopstick alongside the spot where the largest plant had flowered. While there are a number of young plants now about 25 cm high there is no sign of anything happening near last year's flowering corm. So it seems that  D canariensis flowers and then the tuber dies.
In contrast the Dracunculus vulgaris I've been growing seem to get larger each year. The oldest plant last year was nearly 1.5m high and the stem is nearly as thick as my arm. It looks quite spectacular as the spotting on the trunk shows up dramatically as the plant's girth increases. The spathe itself was nearly a metre long. D. vulgaris does offset but it hasn't surprised me by producing offsets at considerable distances from the original planting.
Finally if you can grow Dracunculus vulgaris I'd suggest you try and track down D canariensis. Although it lacks the spectacular markings of D vulgaris - the plant is quite striking with its pale cream spathe and it has the advantage of a pleasant scent, reminiscent of ripe melons. D canariensis in my garden always flowers a fortnight earlier than D. vulgaris. If you look at the photo of D vulgaris carefully you might be able to spot the spent spathes of D canariensis in the background.
Anita

[Lesley Cox]

Can't help with your queries at all Anita as I just have some young plants of D. vulgaris, no flowers yet. I suspect my climate may not be warm enough. I really like the pale spathes of D. canariensis, quite spectacular in fact and not so sinister-looking as the other. A pleasant scent must be a considerable bonus.

[Carlo]

On  the other hand, sinister is what it's all about when you grow Dracunculus.... I haven't tried D. canariensis, but vulgaris came back in unprotected situations in New York.

Hope to give them both a go at the gardens in Canada...

[Lesley Cox]

I didn't realize you are now in Canada Carlo. When did that happen?

[Maggi Young]

Yikes Lesley, this is my fault.... I heard from Carlo then read his  news in the Alpine L, I think and so "thought"  he'd posted it here!

Carlo's got a great new job in Canada:
this from his email.....

I am happy to report that I am the new Head of Horticulture for the Royal Botanical Gardens in Canada (the country's largest)!


I start as soon as appropriate paperwork for a move into the country can be arranged (and will  be moving sometime after that as soon as THAT process can be arranged).

[Lesley Cox]

That's great Carlo, I hope you'll be very happy there and you know there are some wonderful Canadian Forumists to feel at home with. Pity Kristl moved east.

I know about the paperwork and I'm only thinking of 8kms down the road!

[ArnoldT]

Carlo:

Flemington, NJ to Ontario.  Hope you brought your winter coat.

[emma T]

i am now going to try and track down D. canariensis. looks a fab plant  . I planted my  D. vulgaris in my sented garden  . 

Is there a pale green/white form of D. vulgaris ? I seem to rember seing on in Philp Rix bulb book . Does anyone grow it ?

I hope to one day plant up a sinister garden , full of sinister looking plants !

[Darren]

Emma - you may find another thread from last year linking to pictures from a US nurseryman digging the white form of vulgaris from the wild in Crete. I shall refrain from commenting about this, tempted though I am.

I recall that NCCPG (as was) once listed this amongst the plants they thought had died out in UK cultivation and were asking the same question as you. No idea what the response was.

[Tony Willis]

I have what I hope is the white form of vulgaris. I was sent a piece of tuber a couple of years ago and it is now nearly up to flowering size. I have just checked and it is through the soil and so hopefully has survived the winter

Although I have never seen a white vulgaris in the wild many of the red ones I have seen have been over 1.5  metres tall and the stems are 30cm thick.

Draculculus vulgaris grows from a large tuber with many dormant buds around the edges( these can be cut of for propagation). Some of these become active each year and it gradually clumps up. Although it is a plant used to hot dry summers and on the whole frost free winters I have had a clump in the garden for fifteen years.

[meanie]

My D.vulgaris has caught me out by poking their heads through the surface of the pot. They were baby tubers which was all that survived the winter of 2009/10. Will it be ok to pot them on into larger, more permanent, pots now? I want to grow them in pots again, as it always flowered in the pot (as it did in the ground) and is easier to protect like this (they just get moved up to the courtyard area and live under the Fattsia for the winter).

[emma T]

My D.vulgaris has caught me out by poking their heads through the surface of the pot. They were baby tubers which was all that survived the winter of 2009/10. Will it be ok to pot them on into larger, more permanent, pots now? I want to grow them in pots again, as it always flowered in the pot (as it did in the ground) and is easier to protect like this (they just get moved up to the courtyard area and live under the Fattsia for the winter).

Id say yes to the repotting.

[Melvyn Jope]

I grow the white form of Dracunculus vulgaris from seed collected by John Fielding in Kamares Crete. It is planted in a sunny border and clearly survived last winters low temperatures as it is in flower now, I dont think it smells quite as bad as the regular form.

[Maggi Young]

I haven't seen that white form "in the flesh"... it is rather stylish.

[Lesley Cox]

Oh yes, better than many a wedding hat and I do like the white flecks on the foliage.