What do I do with exotic arrival?
Q This amazing plant popped up unexpectedly in a patio container. What is it and how do I care for it?
Alison Jeanes, Llanberis
A I suspect a tuberous-rooted taro, dasheen or coco-yam (Colocasia esculenta) has appeared in your flower pot. Widely grown for its edible tubers in tropical Asia and other hot countries, it makes a handsome summer bedding or conservatory perennial with leaves that command a double take.
The mystery is how it came to be growing in your pot! However, rather than growing it for tubers, which I do not advise as you may react adversely to eating them, I suggest you retain it for its ornamental qualities.
For now, because nights are threatening frost, move it into a gently heated greenhouse or conservatory. If you don’t have one, overwinter it in a spare room or display it in the living room and enjoy its splendid leaves. Every year or so, move it into a larger pot of ericaceous compost.
When it is in the largest pot you can manage, top-dress it each spring by removing 6in (15cm) of root-matted compost and replacing it with fresh.
Remember it needs a minimum temperature of 15ºC (58ºF).
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