Oxalis adenophylla

[Mark verna]

When planting oxalis bulbs such as adenophylla should the bulb be crowning and getting sun or should it be totally below soil and gravel.
(My first post as a new member of the forum and a newbie especially when compared to the amazing posts I've seen on here)
Thanks
Mark

[Maggi Young]

Hello Mark, welcome to the  forum!
Here  in Aberdeen  Oxalis adenophylla copes well with  being  just  under the  surface  in a  sunny  spot. It  certainly  wants a  well-drained  spot.  The  corms can be  attractive  to mice so being  right  on the  surface  can be  too much temptation for  them!  If  you  have  a  lot  of  mice  around - and  no hungry  cat - it  might  be  an  idea to plant the  corms  wrapped  in a  loose  basket  of  small gauge chicken wire, such as  is  often  suggested  for  crocus  corms. If  growing them in a  pot then a  grid  of  weld-mesh above the  corms and  just  below the  surface  is  a  good  idea.
Such a  pretty  little  plant with  attractive  foliage  as  well as  those  sweet  flowers. They  seem quite  late into growth  here I think, compared to other  people's plants.

[Mark verna]

Hello Mark, welcome to the  forum!
Here  in Aberdeen  Oxalis adenophylla copes well with  being  just  under the  surface  in a  sunny  spot. It  certainly  wants a  well-drained  spot.  The  corms can be  attractive  to mice so being  right  on the  surface  can be  too much temptation for  them!  If  you  have  a  lot  of  mice  around - and  no hungry  cat - it  might  be  an  idea to plant the  corms  wrapped  in a  loose  basket  of  small gauge chicken wire, such as  is  often  suggested  for  crocus  corms. If  growing them in a  pot then a  grid  of  weld-mesh above the  corms and  just  below the  surface  is  a  good  idea.
Such a  pretty  little  plant with  attractive  foliage  as  well as  those  sweet  flowers. They  seem quite  late into growth  here I think, compared to other  people's plants.

Thanks for the reply , we have a cat so mice not a big issue and I have a couple in small troughs I picked up at a local garden centre but the one I got online delivered today (oxalis lone hecker) was below gravel so wanted to check what's best practice.
I really like the oxalis they are a favourite of mine along with gentiana verna.
Mark

[Maggi Young]

It'll love  a trough!    Just  don't  bury it  too deeply.  Enjoy!

[Jupiter]

Maggi does this advice of planting shallowly apply equally to Oxalis laciniata?

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Jamus,  we  have them just  shallow planted  here.

[Martin Sheader]

I grow a few oxalis is troughs and raised beds, but most we grow in mesh pots plunged in sand in a raised frame. I usually repot in February (any time suitable but better when not in growth). O. adenophylla we plant just below the surface, although be the following autumn the "bulbs" will be mostly exposed. O. laciniata and O. enneaphylla have elongate branching rhizomes. I plant these about 2-3cm down - by autum a few of the rhizomes will have made their way to the surface but most are subsurface, some branching deeper into the compost. O. enneaphylla and O. laciniata rhizomes that are left exposed at the surface tend to dry out or are easily damaged (or even attract aphids) so I tend to cover them with grit when I notice them. In nature I have not seen rhizomes at the surface of any of the 3 species - they are usually about 3-5cm or more below the soil surface.