Latest BX
Mary Sue Ittner (Fri, 30 Jun 2006 06:51:33 PDT)

Hi,

I dashed off that note to Dell and see I meant to write ground not group
when writing about Oxalis purpurea. I don't know if all forms of this would
naturalize (read get out of control) in all Mediterranean climates as I
understood from my friend Lily from the Mendocino Botanical Gardens that
the deer preferred a particularly pretty form there while leaving alone
another one so the one she really liked did not increase, but this white
one has increased rapidly in my garden. I thought I had put it where I
didn't care if it expanded, but then I decided I wanted some other plants
in that area too and was sorry. It is however very pretty and long blooming
as long as it is in a sunny spot, but I will probably always be restraining
it so wished I had kept it in a pot. I had dug out some that came with my
garden in a shady spot that expanded well in those conditions, but did not
bloom. Not all South African Oxalis species naturalize however. Some you
plant out and never see again, but the same species can be quite wonderful
in a container. I suppose I should have put a warning next to the Oxalis
offerings about the addiction possibilities.

Mary Sue