Oxalis my old Friend - Part 1

There is no denying that some oxalis have escaped away from their country of origin and caused global concern to a lot of gardeners.

Oxalis are within the family Oxalidaceae, and is represented by over eight hundred plus tuberous, bulbous and rhizomatous species. In the main they hail from South America and South Africa.

Excluding the notorious global weeds of O. corniculata, which came from North America where it is known as Creeping Sorrel; and the little vivacious O. latifolia, better known as the Red garden Sorrel of Mexico, this still leaves us with a lot of potential to try growing.

Most readers, sorry for generalising, most readers are either familiar through AGS or IBS with this fascinating largely underplanted Genus. Oxalis plants like O. deppei and O enneaphylla and even O. braziliensis are now fairly commonly available and grown.

When first overcoming my fear of Oxalis, I started with the tuberous root ones from South Africa. At this stage of my life, I didn’t know that their growing requirements varied tremendously; as some came from winter rain fall areas and others from summer rainfall regions.

But luckily for me I had discovered my soilless growing medium, consisting mainly of course potting sand with a little peat and fine hammer milled bark. It was of course the exquisite drainage of this which allowed for my early mistakes.

More often than not, the foliage of any good garden plant is as important as the flowering. Here, Oxalis does not fail to please.

When in doubt, plant your Oxalis in small collenders, in situ; to see if they have weed potential in your climate. For depending on your climate one man’s joy is another’s sorrow. It pays to be cautious.

For the forty or fifty Oxalis I still grow; I had to cut down on the numbers grown when we moved states; the following are very tolerant of rainfall and should perform well with you:

Some whites: