Oxalis--TOW
Kelly Irvin (Mon, 10 Nov 2003 19:47:26 PST)

Thanks to Robin for the introduction to Oxalis. Here, in zone 6b, we are
pretty much limited to growing Oxalis in summertime if not windowsill or
greenhouse gardening. I began offering them for sale this past spring,
quite by accident. I've started taking special orders very early each
season which allows my customer base to select from thousands of
different flower bulbs, most of which will not be offered on my regular
season price list. I noticed with this spring's special orders an
exaggerated interest in Oxalis, so I also offered them on my regular
spring list and was glad I did.

When sales ended, I planted the remnants and got to enjoy some very fine
displays. My favorite so far for leaf structure (ovarall, actually) is
O. lasiandra with the freckled, wagon wheel leaf. The flower on O.
depressa is mesmerizing, and holds my top score in the flower department
so far. Photos of a number of the Oxalis I grew may be viewed here:

http://bulbmeister.com/gallery/showgallery.php/…

I have offered some of the same this fall, like O. tetraphylla (deppei)
and O. triangularis (regnellii?), but others as well, like O.
enneaphylla, O. adenophylla, and O. versicolor. I'm curious to grow the
last mentioned potted in my winter house to compare to what I've grown
so far.

I'm baffled by the physiological diversity of this genus, above and
below ground, and would sure like as simple an explanation as possible
as to the common factors that tie them all together into one genus.

Amongst many gardeners Oxalis tends to be rather stigmatised by the
occurrence of a few weedy taxa amongst the many hundreds of species
which constitute the genus. Fortunately there are also a very large
number of desirable species which merit a place in cultivation. The
majority of these are geophytes, predominately native to Africa and
the Americas, and it is these plants that I will introduce in this
weeks TOW.

--
Mr. Kelly M. Irvin
The Bulbmeister
4407 Town Vu Road
Bentonville, AR 72712
479-685-1339

USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6b

E-mail: mailto:bulbmeister@bulbmeister.com
Website: http://www.bulbmeister.com/
Forum: http://www.bulbmeister.com/forum/