Oxalis

[Diane Whitehead]

I was excited to see growth today from my Oxalis 'Ewan McBride' seeds.

I have never grown oxalis from seeds before, so don't know what they should
look like, but these ones don't meet my expectations.  Are they right?

The background is quarter inch graph paper.  The seeds are small, shiny,
red-brown.

[Maggi Young]

Your post reminds me that I have never grown oxalis from seed, Diane....but I can still be of help, i think... I will pass this on to Harold McBride, who, unless I am very much mistaken, is the father of Ewan!

[Maggi Young]

Oh, dear, it has happened again... yes, I AM VERY much mistaken! I asked Harold McBride to comment on this and he has replied ..   "I noted the"  Ewan Mc Bride" in the recent SRGC Seed list - I took it to be a misprint !  ie Gwen Mc Bride .
Gwen Mc Bride is a fertile Hyb from which I have raised many seedlings . If this is not the case I can not claim to be Ewans father
As far as I know !!!! [ I refuse to submit to DNA] ."


Gwen McBride is a fine plant, which I will try to find a photo of... very much worth growing, so it looks as if you are on some kind of winner, Diane!

[Maggi Young]

Here is a close-up of Oxalis 'Gwen McBride' from the old Forum, a photo of Mark Smyth's


This page gives a photo by Magnar Aspaker
http://magnar.aspaker.no/Oxalis%20Gwen%20Mc%20Bride.jpg 

This and other photos are on this SRGC page, too:   http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/35051.html


The oxalis is a beauty but it hasn't the charm of the real Gwen McBride, whom I haven't seen for too many years!

[David Nicholson]

I don't have any Oxalis in my garden a situation that I must remedy. Have I read somewhere that one species is an absolute thug??

[Maggi Young]

LOTS of oxalis species are thugs! Stick with O. adenophylla, O. enneaphylla, O. laciniata and hybrids thereof and you'll be okay! these are all forthe open garden. O. hirta and O. lobata aren't likely to trouble you, only please you!  There may be others that forumists can recommend as behaving in a responsible fashion .....??

[David Nicholson]

Thanks Maggi

[Lesley Cox]

There are approx 800 Oxalis species David. Stick with Maggi's suggestions and some of the others are great as well, but if in doubt - if you don't know the sp - always grow in a pot first to see how it's going to behave. Many are tender and thuggish but are kept in control by frosts. Others are worse than sorrel, convolvulus, Californian thistle.

[David Nicholson]

That's good advice Lesley.

[fermi de Sousa]

David
Oxalis are one of my favourites but some are absolutely diabolical in their abilty to propagate by seed and bulbils! The Bermuda Buttercup, O. pes-caprae is a weed in just about every country in the world and infests wide tracts of land, especially roadsides, in Australia.
I've posted a pic of O. palmifrons  (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=473.0)which is adorable until it turns up 20cm away from where you planted it and it keeps moving!
"Safe" ones here include Oo. massoniana, gracilis, lobata, hirta, versicolor and flava.
The choicer ones like Oo.adenophylla, laciniata and enneaphylla are rare here because they DON'T grow like weeds!
cheers
fermi

[David Nicholson]

Fermi, thanks for that. Enjoy your trip to Prague (and to Aberdeen). Apparently one of the Aberdeen tourist attractions is a girl who wears a blue anorak-you may see her!

[Diane Whitehead]

My oxalis seedlings are still green and growing but look grassy - single narrow
leaves, each about 4 to 5 cm long.

They began growing at the end of April. 

Shouldn't they be making a different sort of leaf by now?

[Lesley Cox]

Some species have almost thread-like leaflets but still usually in 3s or mores (if you see what I mean). Can you do a picture Diane?

[mark smyth]

the tiny brown leaved, yellow flowered, stoloniferous plant is superb

[mark smyth]

not!!