Quackin Grass Nursery

Arum italicum 'Belldene' (formerly “Grimshaw's form”) (ex: Seneca Hill Perennials) – Broadly ruffled arrow-shaped leaves with some dark green veining and deep green leaf margins with all other tissue white make for a striking cultivar. This is a beauty originally from John Grimshaw and now named for his parents' homestead, Belldene. Ellen Hornig of Seneca Hill Perennials says that this is a similar selection to 'White Winter' but “somewhat more compact and with better leaf substance”. Green stems flaunt plump red seed clusters in autumn without the dress of leaves. Fruiting is very reminiscent of Jack-in-the-Pulput which is, after all, a relative.

Arum italicum is a Mediterranean plant. The foliage will emerge in our fall cycle and where warm enough will remain through the winter season dying off in the spring.

'Belldene' will make a beautiful potted plant in the cool greenhouse up north and a fantastic woodland garden plant farther south. Be sure to keep potted specimens moist during the growth cycle but kept dryish during summer dormancy. Site in open shade planted in fertile soil that drains well. If kept too wet they will rot. Division.