The berries shine brightly and will add considerable luster to your shade garden late in the growing season.
Be aware that this plant contains oxalate crystals and is very toxic to people and animals if consumed.
Eating it can cause extreme pain and swelling of the mouth and digestive tract.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Jack-in-the-Pulpit Care
Jack-in-the-pulpit needs shade, an adequate water supply, and nutrients.
If these three elements are provided, the plant is largely carefree.
The three-part compound leaf of bog onion may remind you ofpoison ivy(Toxicodendron radicans).
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
The leaf structure also resembles that oftrilliumwhich shares the same native habitat.
Light
Some shade is an absolute must for Jack-in-the-pulpit.
The plant performs well evenin deep shade.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Avoid too much direct sunlight at all costs.
Water
Evenly moist soil is another must for growing Jack-in-the-pulpit.
attempt to provide the moist, boggy environment that gives the plant one of its common namesbog onion.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
During the growing season, it likes moderate conditions that avoid temperature extremes.
Fertilizer
Fertilizing withcompostis sufficient in most cases.
Commercial growers often neglect to even specify the subspecies:Arisaema triphyllum.subs.pusillum,Arisaema triphyllum.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
subs.stewardsonii, orArisaema triphyllumsubs.quinatum.
This means keeping them damp in sphagnum moss, in a refrigerator, for at least 60 days.
Germination should take two to three weeks.
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Continue growing seedlings in the flat for two years before transplanting them into individual pots or into the garden.
Started from seed, Jack-in-the-pulpit will require as much as five years before they reach flowering maturity.
This decaying material is essential to providing the plant with the nutrients and soil moisture it needs.
How to Get Jack-in-the-Pulpit to Bloom
Be patient.
This plant may take as much as four or five years before it is mature enough to bloom.
verify your Jack-in-the-pulpit plants are getting enough water and are properly mulched to maintain soil moisture.
Jack-in-the-pulpit looks good when surrounded by a mass of low-growing shady ground cover such as(Impatiens walleriana).
They can also work well beneath shade-loving viburnum shrubs, provided you keep them well watered.
In ideal conditions, Jack-in-the-pulpit will form small colonies and gradually spread to fill shady spaces.
The red berries, however, are eaten by birds and the flowers will attract a variety of pollinators.
