OXALIS.

                                           Oxalis.

                                                               Family Oxalidaceae.

Oxalis enneaphylla album, Edinburgh Bot. Gardens 2001.

Oxalis enneaphylla album seed SRGC Oxalis enneaphylla is found growing in Southern Patagonia from Tierra del Fuego to the central Santa Cruz, Chile and the Falkland Islands. It prefers stony or sandy soils, but must be well drained. Unfortunately I raised this from seed and promptly lost it right after it flowered.

Oxalis enneaphylla Wisley above and below.

Oxalis 'Ione Hecker' Edrom Nursery 2001. A hybrid between Oxalis lacinata and Oxalis enneaphylla flowering late spring to summer, it has dark Purple-blue flowers with a darker centre. Oxalis 'Ione Hecker' was selected by Mrs Hecker as the best of a batch of seedlings raised by E. B. Anderson, and another was named in the same batch as Oxalis 'Hemswell Knight". 

Oxalis enneaphylla x 'Anne Christie'

 Oxalis enneaphylla, collected Patagonia growing in the Edrom Nursery garden 2001.

Oxalis 'Gwen McBride' also in the garden of Edrom Nursery 2001, Oxalis 'Gwen McBride' is a seedling raised by Harold McBride.

Oxalis lacinata 'Julia Johnson', in the Glass House at Wisley above and below.

Oxalis lacinata 'Seven Bells' in the Glass House of Wisley 

Oxalis lacinata hybrid, sorry can't read the label and I did not write this one down, but a very dark Oxalis, Vale Cottage Garden Glass House. 

Oxalis enneaphylla  'Sheffield Swan' was originally collected in the Falkland Islands by Captain Peter Erskine VMH who named it for his former ship HMS Sheffield, it was growing in the Glass House at Vale Cottage Garden, but not in flower.

Oxalis lacinata 'Pink' Vale Cottage Garden in the Glass House.

Oxalis lacinata x Vale Cottage Garden in the Glass House.

Oxalis lactea  syn. O. magellanica (apologies slide scan) photo taken in Tasmania 'Walls of Jerusalem' growing in a moist position on a old rotting log, covered in moss. An Australian native Oxalis.

Oxalis purpurea 'Garnet' growing in a large mass 1 meter x 1 meter in the garden in Sherbrooke.

Oxalis truncatum from the Beefy Boys Nursery above and below.

Oxalis versicolor 'Barbers Pole' late Autumn flowering, South African easy in a well drained position.

Oxalis perdicaria syn. Oxalis lobata a very easy Oxalis to grow, from Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile. Likes a sunny, protected position in the garden.

Oxalis flava a pink flowering form, from Fermi

Oxalis hirta pink flowers.

Oxalis hirta magenta.

Oxalis Craige Lidgerwood above and below. A chance seedling found by Stephen Ryan from Dicksonia Nursery, Stephen sells a large collection of Oxalis from his Nursery in Mt Macedon Victoria. Plants and photos from Jon. Dicksonia Rare Plants Nursery

Oxalis Hirta with an unknown mauve oxalis flowering in the mix above and below a close up of the seedling grown and flowered by Jon.

Oxalis flava, grown and flowered by Fermi.

Oxalis brasiliensis as the name implies from Brazil needs to be grown in a frost free area, It sets many bulblets around parent bulb, needs to be contained in the pot.

Oxalis kaajvoegensis from one of our founding members Wilma, Fermi Photo and plant.

Oxalis massoniana just coming into flower, we are colder here so every thing comes out a little later.

Oxalis massoniana is rare in the wild, it is known only from Van Rhyus Pass Sth Africa. A barren rocky mountain plateau. It was first introduced into cultivation from New Zealand 2000 into England, but I remember the Maxwells growing it a lot earlier than that. Another easy Oxalis.

Oxalis goniorhiza winter flowering South African Oxalis, damp marshy places above and below, very similar to Oxalis Barbers Pole, much later flowering.

Growing Oxalis, they are one lot of bulbs that I like to grow in pots as they have a tendency to set seed copiously and thousands of small bulblets around the parent bulb, they also produce runners under ground spreading when you have allocated them a small area you think they will stay put, but it will not be the case they will travel under rocks. You need to be very aware of that when growing Oxalis. Like Alliums that you have never grown before, if bulbils are formed in the flower heads or if on lifting after the first year  a mass of bulblets are found around the parent bulb you need to throw them out at once or be very careful with them, keeping them contained in pots. 

Oxalis, like Allium are mostly worth growing especially Oxalis, as they flower early Autumn and into winter providing valuable flowers for that time of the year. I grow my Oxalis in terra cotta pots as the South African Oxalis love the heat and warmth and are ideal for the Australian Climate. A good potting mix is fine for growing Oxalis in, with a bit of grit added so that you have a free draining mix, feed regularly with a granular fertiliser 3 to 4 times a year.

What ever Oxalis you are growing look after them as they are not allowed into Australia any more, so we need to keep them growing as some of the more difficult ones could disappear in cultivation.

 Oxalis adenophylla, Oxalis enneaphylla and lacinata all from South American are extremely difficult to grow and can not be imported sadly into Australia, so if you do have these last three Oxalis you are very lucky indeed and I am extremely envious of you as they are so beautiful in leaf and in flower.

Thank you to Jon and Fermi for their photos.

Oxalis lasiandra or Palm tree oxalis found growing under a shrub in Lynn's garden of Lynn's rare plants. It took us no time to find its name in Pacific Bulb Society web site. It is found in Mexico, State of Oaxuca under Acacia and Quercus forests  at 1,700 to 2,160 meters. It seems to be doing quite well in a terra cotta pot out in the open, but before our cold winters start, I thought I would put it at the back of the Glass House to protect it a bit from the occasional snow that we get.

I will be updating the Oxalis page every so often as it is one of our most frequently looked at pages and we have a very good grower here in Victoria, from whom I hope to get a few of his photos to put on here. Rather than start a whole new blog with bits and pieces every where




An oxalis web site is Oxalis-garden.dk