Arthropodium cirratum or Renga Renga Lily is originally from New Zealand. Grown for its foliage as well as its purple and yellow flowers which appear during spring to summer.
Perhaps the perfect plant for dry shade as the Renga Renga Lily seems to thrive beneath deciduous trees.
It will do well beneath evergreens as well, however it does not perform well beneath conifers, however not much does.
Will grow to nearly 1m. In colder climates Arthropodium cirratum can be grown in a container and overwintered indoors.
Care and cultivation
Arthropodium cirratum prefers a warm sheltered spot in fertile well drained soil. It will grow well beneath deciduous trees, however it does not survive heavy frosts and freezes.
After a few ears it will form a good solid clump, lots of stroppy foliage and masses of white flowers in summer that are sure to attract attention.
The only real problem is that like many shade growers it does attract snails, however this seems limited to the fresh new foliage, I guess the slugs find the old foliage a little tough. The usual snail baits seen to work well.
Really a USDA zone 11 plant.
Varieties
Other Arthropodiums are also worth looking for including
- Arthropodium cirrarum ‘Matapouri Bay’ a select cultivar.
- Arthropodium milleflorum ‘mountain blue’, lower growing and with very attractive smokey green blue foliage, Small white flowers. A little more frost tolerant than others and also regarded as drought tolerant.
- Arthropodium striatum also known as the ‘Chocolate Lily’, very different and grown for the flowers that are said to smell like ‘chocolate’. Foliage is not a great feature.
Propagation
Easy by division of established clumps in early spring, also easy by seed sown into trays in spring and kept moist.
