An Iowa Garden

The Asian genus Pinellia (pie-nel'-ee-ah), and in particular the species P. tripartita (native to southern Japan) are to me inexplicably ignored by gardeners and garden catalogues. Admittedly a couple of the Pinellias are downright invasive, especially P. ternata, and even tripartita is a bit frisky in seeding about, but potting up or moving these new little cuties is easy, and they fill odd shady spots in the garden with plants that are modest in size and bloom for a very long time in late spring to early summer (up to two months). Pinellias are in the arum family (araceae), and close cousins to jack in the pulpits. Pinellia tripartita in particular has "flowers" that look very similar to some of the Asian jack in the pulpits we grow in the garden, with its leaves with their three leaflets being indistinguishable from jacks. Tripartita is available in plain green, but also in varieties with yellow foliage (var. Golden Dragon shown at top), purple spathes (ssp. atropurpurea shown in second picture), and variegated foliage (Silver Dragon, with silver variegation on the leaves, and Dragon Tails, with yellow splashing of the leaves, both grown in our garden but not shown). I am particularly taken with a patch of atropurpurea that we have planted on a sharp slope in a shaded ravine right by some wooden steps, so that you get can look straight at the purple "dragons" as you climb the stairs, and the clump is planted next to variegated hostas and above purple-hooded Arisaema sikokianum, the Japanese jack in the pulpit.
You do need to take a firm attitude with Pinellia tripartita (after all, it reproduces by bulb offsets, and little bulbils that form at the base of the leaves, AND seeds). The main thing is to remove the seed pods unless you want lots of babies. If you obtain this plant, invest an extra couple of dollars and get atropurpurea with its purple spathes, or Golden Dragon (the latter needs more afternoon shade and seems a bit smaller and frailer and doesn't seem to spread about quite as readily, which all may be attributes in this plant).

Our next aroid is Pinellia tripartita 'atropurpurea'... the waxy green leaf, no surprise, has three leaflets, and the inside of the spathe is maroon instead of the usual green. Pinellias are enormously interesting little jack in the pulpit wannabees. Some of them are vigorous seeders to the point of being nuisances, but atropurpurea is relatively well-behaved, though will form a nice colony. It reblooms for a very long time in the early summer, and is just a terrific little plant.
I have this planted on the side of a shaded ravine where you climb some stairs, so that it is more at eye level, so easier to appreciate... though a modest little plant, I will make a special trip across the bridge and up the stairs just to see it blooming.

Your garden wants Pinellia tripartita 'atropurpurea'. You should surprise and please your garden by buying this plant for it. Of course, you could also stop over to my place and I'd send you home with a couple of pots full, as it seeds about somewhat extravagantly; I would call it a little invasive but can't bring myself to malign anything so cute.
Pinellias are, of course, close relatives of jack in the pulpits, and the inflorescence of the former does, indeed, look like a little jack, with a purple lining to the spathe and a long, upright spadix. The foliage also looks like a small jack in the pulpit plant. What I really like about this plant is the fact that it puts out a succession of blooms over several months; a big improvement over the "one and done" jack in the pulpits.
If you don't want a lot of new baby pinellias, it's pretty easy to deadhead... I never seem to remember to do this, so am going to have to go out tomorrow and pot up a bunch more little plants, which will bloom in only a year or so. I should mention the plant itself also multiplies rather rambunctiously, so if your garden is finicky about exuberant plants, maybe a nice watering can would be a better gift for it.

This is Pinellia tripartita Golden Dragon, a yellow-foliaged version... it is daintier, doesn't tolerate direct sun, and seems slower to multiply; the ordinary green tripartita is borderline invasive, atropurpurea (shown yesterday) is a more moderate multiplier, and Golden Dragon is almost frail... nice, though.