Nick wrote:

|I've grown Colocasias
| permanently outside for 10 years so they are borderline hardy as
| opposed to very tender.

Well, I live and learn! Is that C. esculenta?

Yes, there are several of us who have had varying degrees of success
with it as a permanent border plant, although it's fair to say that
some have found them very slow to resume growth in spring. It remains
partially evergreen here so there's no problem with getting it going.
I think some of the weaker growing coloured forms need some winter
warmth, but it seems that esculenta proper copes is the south and the
smaller variant 'Fallax' is really quite hardy.

On 25/8/08 19:48, in article
, "Dave
Poole" wrote:

On Aug 17, 11:07 pm, Sacha wrote in response to Nick

Colocasia? Or is it Alocasia? We grow them in a large greenhouse for the
decorative leaves, not the tubers. If they're what I think they are they
make poi in Hawaii which is most certainly an acquired taste.

It would be Colocasia - like the ones that you grow. Most tubers
have to be slow roasted to rid them of the oxalic acid and despite all
of that the flavour (if you could call it that) is at best 'pappy'.
The 'greens' are an acquired taste too - one that I have no wish to
acquire! They are better as ornamentals since we have far nicer
tasting veg in this country. I could still do with 'Black Magic'
BTW, although its getting a bit late in the year.

They're looking *wonderful*. I'm not as mad on those exotics as you are but
I do have a very soft spot for that one. I was told once that Colocasia
leaves go up and Alocasia leaves go down. What do you say about this,
David? It sounds a bit too simplistic to me but we do have both growing in
the small double here, as you know.

snip
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The message
from Dave Poole contains these words:
Nick wrote:

|I've grown Colocasias
| permanently outside for 10 years so they are borderline hardy as
| opposed to very tender.

Well, I live and learn! Is that C. esculenta?

Yes, there are several of us who have had varying degrees of success
with it as a permanent border plant, although it's fair to say that
some have found them very slow to resume growth in spring. It remains
partially evergreen here so there's no problem with getting it going.
I think some of the weaker growing coloured forms need some winter
warmth, but it seems that esculenta proper copes is the south and the
smaller variant 'Fallax' is really quite hardy.

I have similar observations on runner beans. Some of last year's have
volunteered, but despite being in a sheltered, warm spot, their late
start means they haven't produced any flowers yet.

Ones grown (very late!) from beans have pods ready for picking, being
around 1½ Maclarens.

I shall (if I get a round tuit) uproot the vines this autumn, store the
roots in sand over winter, and in the early spring, start them inside,
in pots.

Instead of a single vine as you get from planting the beans, you get two
or three, sometimes more.

The following years you get a bundle. Unfortunately, I've always let
indolence and frost influence that practice, and had to start all over
again.

--
Rusty
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Sacha wrote:

I was told once that Colocasia
leaves go up and Alocasia leaves go down. What do you say about this,
David? It sounds a bit too simplistic to me but we do have both growing in
the small double here, as you know.

It's the other way around, but really only applies to the green leaved
Alocasias such as macrorrhiza, odora, gageana etc. In these the leaf
blade tends to be ascending with the tip uppermost. Other Alocasias
such as the 'Kris plants' {veitchii, amazonica, sanderae etc) with
bold silver veins on a very dark green or purplish leaf, have the
blade hanging down.

To confuse matters, one of my big Colocasias produced mainly ascending
leaf blades for the first few months. The best way is to look at the
area of the leaf where the stalk is attached to the blade. If the
lobes of the leaf are fused above the point where the stem joins the
blade, then it is a Colocasia, if not it is Alocasia.