Re: Acanthus

My experience with A. mollis is that it self seeds and by autumn  there are plenty
of seedlings to start new plants.  I potted up several seedlings I found in the
wild and planted them the following spring in my garden in Crete.  They flowered
in the second year.  By the fourth year they did tend to pop up in other places in
the garden.  I also noticed that wherever I planted them in shaded areas the
foliage was darker and larger than the plants in full sun.  Also-they are great
snail bait.  The snails go straight for them and ignore other plants, so that
might be another reason to grow one!
Karen V./Greece

Bridget Lamp wrote:

> We grow both A. mollis and A. spinosus here at the UC Botanical Garden.  A.
> mollis spreads around.  Has anyone tried A. mollis in a container?  I'm not
> sure how long it would last in a container, but maybe this can resolve your
> space issue and prevent the tubers from spreading.  I'm not familiar with
> the other species.
>
> I'm curious to know what you decide.
> Good luck!
> Bridget
>
> *******************************************
> Bridget Lamp
> Horticulturist/Museum Scientist
> Mediterranean and Eastern North America
> University of California Botanical Garden
> 200 Centennial Drive
> Berkeley, Ca 94720
> (510) 642-3812
> *******************************************
>
> At 05:32 AM 7/3/03 -0400, Einionygarddwr@aol.com wrote:
> >This is a Mediterranean genus that I have yet to try in my own garden. I'm
> >now toying with the idea of trying one or two, with the proviso that they are
> >neither overly spiny (so farewell then, A.spinosus) nor overly invasive (so
> >that's A. caroli-alexandri out of the question - "dangerously invasive"
> >[GST]). I
> >don't really have the space for something such as A.mollis, impressive though
> >it is, which seems to leave me with the reputedly very free-flowering
> >A.hungaricus (syns. Aa.balcanicus and longifolius) and Aa. dioscoridis and
> >hirsutus,
> >both short-growing plants.
> >
> >Does anyone have any experience of these particular species? Any particular
> >comments? They should be reasonably hardy in this coastal part of Wales -
> >average minimum winter temps about -4 to -5C. All advice gratefully received.
> >
> >Einion Hughes,
> >Rhyl,
> >North Wales,
> >UK.
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