![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() With the cornucopia of plant material we are now introducing, some material is questionable and aside from the investment may well create future problems as we now discover that these “adventuresome” plants have become weeds requiring much labor and or herbicides to remove them from our aging landscape.ĭan Hinkley of the Heron people often used adventurous and other such descriptive s such as “ likes to travel”. My topic will be about bad judgment and improper placement as that is the type of guy I am. We are fortunate that they adapt well to their new homes and with good judgment and proper placement they can be a joy. Africa and Chile have become the new resource for plant introductions. Many are closely related to our own native American plants and are well adapted to our gardens. So many Chinese and Japanese plants are begging to be introduced into our American gardens. Those glaciers did not affect Asia as much. He speculated that the glacial editing we had in North America and Europe wiped out many specie of plants. Some 150 years ago, when American horticulture was still in its infancy Asa Gray of the Arnold Arboretum made note of the similarities of American plants and those of Asia. Oxalis versicolor may be trigger the collector’s compulsion to seek out other species.“The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” Thomas Jefferson. For the best effect, the corms should be planted tightly as possible in a pot. Bulbs would rot in our cold and wet winters, and one would be advised to grow in pots under lights (winter sunlight do not equal the summer sunlight this Oxalis would have enjoyed in South Africa). 5, 1791).Īlthough nursery catalogs list Oxalis versicolor as being hardy as north as Zone 7, this hardiness rating should be viewed with suspicion. Oxalis versicolor in William Curtis’s The Botanical Garden, or Flower-Garden Displayed (Vol. Curtis did lament the loss of brilliancy when the flowers open, preferring them closed as they do in the pic above. William Curtis called it “one of the most beautiful of the many species cultivated in gardens” first discovered by the Scottish botanist and plant explorer Francis Masson in 1774. It was one of the earliest South African Oxalis introduced to cultivation, having been featured in Volume 5 of the Botanical Magazine or Flower-Garden displayed (1791). One of the showiest species belongs to Oxalis versicolor commonly known as candy cane sorrel for its swirled red and white buds. The majority of bulbous Oxalis in South Africa which do not have the conquering tendencies as Oxalis pes-caprae make attractive winter pot subjects, disappearing conveniently during summer where they should be kept dry until September. As with cultivated plants, it takes only one or two villains to tar what would have been an attractive and well behaved group for gardens. stricta (common yellow woodsorrel) challenge the most persistent and patient minds. Oxalis strikes fear and loathing in gardener for its weedy nature in gardens – in Mediterranean gardens, Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup) is the chief bane while in temperate gardens, Oxalis corniculata (creeping woodsorrel) and O. ![]() “Beautiful Gardens” – Christopher Bailey.5-10-5: Horticulturist, Garden Designer, Nursery Owner Helen O’Donnell of Bunker Farm.“We are a landscape of all we have seen.”. ![]()
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