I thought i'd make one last post for the month of November.
Jamus I too love the classical beauty of Acanthus mollis. They grew wild here at one point, relics of an earlier owner. Sadly I made the choice to get rid of them (and, literally, hundreds of the common blue agapanthus) once it became apparent that it was the easiest way of keeping a rapidly proliferating snail population in check.
Not to mention dozens of self seeded cherry plums, pittosporums, willow hakeas, the rampant sydney acacia and others. And persistent weeds like common yellow oxalis (thousands), tradescantia and onion weed. Still fighting robinia runners 7 years on....
On only a quarter of an acre! A tanglewood, at the time.
I found a lovely treasure arriving hime at dusk last night. I had always wondered what this strange non-flowering bulb under the mulberry was. I believe its a hymenocallis harrisiana, related to the peruvian sacred lily. It has short glaucous foliage - so unlike the others i am familiar with.
It is already fading. The first photo was taken last night, the second this morning.
jacqui.