There are Christmas plants, Valentine’s plants, Easter plants. And now there’s a Halloween plant. Yet the plant itself is nothing new. On the contrary, it’s so old-fashioned that it’s perhaps still new to most gardeners. It’s the Chinese lantern (Alkekengi officinarum, syn. Physalis alkekengi franchettii), an old-fashioned perennial that your grandmother probably knew very well.
Someone had the brilliant idea of potting this plant, solidifying it with raffia since it has no tonus on its own, and offering it for sale as a Halloween plant under the name “Livin’ Lantern”. What a brilliant idea! The papyrus lanterns covering the berries are bright orange, just the right color for the season. They look like little pumpkins! What’s more, the “lanterns” dry very well, so even the worst black thumb will succeed with this plant, because it’s as pretty dead as it is alive! The only flaw I found with this idea was that the plants I’d seen in a local supermarket looked awful: the transporter must have shuffled them around quite a bit! No doubt there are better examples in the region.
A Pretty Temporary Plant
The suggestion is to use the “Livin’ Lantern” as a houseplant, which isn’t wild on the part of the promoters. Because the plant can’t survive without a cold winter. If you keep it in the house in winter, it may stay alive for months, but will eventually die, because it’s a perennial that needs a cold winter to survive. So, if the plant dies, you’re forced to buy another one the following autumn.
However, you should know that the Chinese lantern is in fact perfectly hardy. After Halloween, when its role as a seasonal element is over, you can simply plant it in the ground. This zone 3 (USDA 3-9) plant has no fear of frost and will regrow in spring without a hitch. Can it survive in a pot on a balcony or terrace? That remains to be seen. As far as I know, no one has ever used it in a pot outside all year round, at least in colder regions.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Before planting the Chinese lantern in the ground, you should be aware that this plant is extremely invasive, running everywhere like quackgrass. The pot you put in the ground this autumn is likely to take over your entire plot within a few years. It would therefore be wise not to put it in a flowerbed, but rather in a rather wild corner where you would never want to make a sophisticated arrangement. Or plant it in its pot: the pot will act as a barrier against trailing rhizomes, so your plant will stay in place from one year to the next.
Poisonous Fruit?
Legend has it that the small green fruit of the lantern is poisonous, but this is only half the truth. The Chinese lantern is a very close relative of the ground cherry (Physalis pruinosa and others) which, under a green or beige shell, hides a delicious sweet fruit. You’ve probably seen them in restaurants, as they’re often used as a garnish for desserts. However, the Chinese lantern is a hardy variant of the annual ground cherry: its fruit is edible… once it’s yellow. The immature fruits of both ground cherries and Chinese lanterns are slightly toxic.
Larry Hodgson published thousands of articles and 65 books over the course of his career, in both French and English. His son, Mathieu, has made it his mission to make his father’s writings accessible to the public. This text was originally published in Le Soleil on October 9, 2005.
Invasive non native Planted it 30 years ago still see it growing in areas of my garden. If you leave even a millimeter behind it will generate a whole new plant. It is an ugly plant until the fall and does not give back in any way to the insects, birds etc. Its definitely a do not plant this invasive plant.
Good to know!
I grew this as well and it really spread. We had to dig down at least 1 1/2 feet to fully get rid of the roots. Some even came through our older ashphalt. That was 40 years ago and I will never plant it again. Containing it in a pot is a fun colourful idea though for the season.
I grew this once from seed as an ornamental. Was great the first year. After that it ran rampant all over. It took me years to eradicate the last of it. Plant it at your peril!