OXALIS, FAIRY GARDENS AND A BLOOMING ALOE!
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Oxalis (clover) clockwise from upper left: common pink, darker two-toned pink,
'butterfly' oxalis, white St. Patrick oxalis and purple oxalis
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BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH
I know this column is going to upset some of you.
Sorry.
But I love oxalis.
I love the happy little native pink flowers with the clover leaves that cover our lawn and garden in the spring.
Okay, so the common pinks are a bit prolific. And don't look so great when they start to disappear . . . which they always do once the temperatures start to rise in late May.
But other varieties, such as those pictured above - the darker two-tone pink, purple-leafed and white - make neat mounds that just get larger and more colorful over the years.
And there are lots more noninvasive varieties of this wonderful shade plant that's also known as wood sorrel or shamrocks.
Although they're perfect for brightening shady areas, oxalis can take sun too. My purple flowered ones and the darker pinks will last longer into the summer.
I do understand if you are among readers like Darlene who find the little common pink ones entirely TOO invasive in spring and don't want to wait until they disappear in late May.
To Darlene, who wrote asking for get-rid-of-'em advice, I suggested gathering all those nicely-bagged leaves her neighbors are putting out for the garbagemen and dump them on top oxalis in her gardens.
These will:
1. stop oxalis and other weeds (especially if you put 2-3 layers of newspaper over open soil before dumping on the mulch)
2. keep the soil cooler and more moist all summer
3. break down and replenish her soil with composted nutrients more nutritious and better for her soil than anything she can buy.
The common pink oxalis bulbs are like mosquitoes. There's no way you're going to totally eradicate them once they become established.
So the alternative is to
1. learn to live with, and and enjoy, them (which is what I do) until they disappear when it gets hot or
2. in February before they appear, have a very heavy layer of mulch put down on all your beds.
Then just mow down all that appear in the lawn.
Remember, one way to kill roots - ANY roots - is to keep the leaves pulled/mowed off.
Roots must have those leaves to survive.
If you're interested in the noninvasive oxalis varieties (great for shade and winter/spring color), they're available in many area independent nurseries.
Or you can google "Oxalis."
The white oxalis are sold in grocery stores around St. Patrick's Day.
They're great winter perennials for us and can go right into the garden.
These are sometimes called shamrocks and often four-leafed clover leaves will appear.
All oxalis are easy to share. Just dig up the little tubers and transplant.
Oxalis is a must if you want to plant a "Fairy Garden." I first learned about these when asked to do an article for a magazine. They're quite the rage in some areas. The article below is being reprinted from the version in "THE LAZY GARDENER'S GUIDE ON CD."
THE FAIRY GARDEN
One ancient legend goes this way: when Lucifer called for the angels in Heaven to follow him, some did. Others sided with Archangel Michael, electing to stay in Heaven and do good deeds.
A third group of angels announced they weren't interested in doing good or evil deeds. They just wanted to play all day. These angels fell to earth, and became the fairies.
Some ancients believed each plant had its own fairy, who gave it life and vitality, color and beauty. If the fairy was happy, the plant thrived.
It was a common practice to plant a special nook just for the fairies - to help keep them happy! Fairy gardens are still a fun tradition today in many areas.
A fairy garden is a quiet, shady nook, perhaps right on the edge of a sunny, flower-filled bed - spot where fairies can "take a break" during a hot summer afternoon's play. They like the cooling ambiance of ferns, especially the dainty-leafed maidenhair variety and the tiny Korean rockfern.
Fairies are also particularly fond (or so I am told) of clover and oxalis or wood sorrel. Fill the bed with small flowered varieties that bloom in bright shade, like peacock gingers, snowbells, pansies, torenia, toadflax and violets. The delicate bell-shaped native Clematis pitcheri, Johnny jump-ups and 'Moonbeam' coreopsis would do perfectly.
On the sunny edges, it would be fun to have the whimsical bat-face cuphea, tiny daffodils, smallflowered daisies, rainlilies . . . well, you get the idea.
When I think about fairies, or fairy gardens, I feel happy - childhood happy . . . maybe fairies like to have folks thinking about them and good feelings (and healthy, blooming flowers) are their way of saying thanks!
(Above excerpted from THE LAZY GARDENER'S GUIDE ON CD, page 52)
Here's another view of some of my oxalis. This purple mound and two-tone pink oxalis both are over 13 years old. They both survived the Allison flood which kept them under about 5 feet of water for at least 24 hours.
Both do well in shade but the purple one is also pretty special in morning sun. The leaves looks like a huge mound of purple butterflies.
Actually, tho, I took this picture because I was so excited about my aloe vera flower. My aloe vera is probably decades old (I inherited it from my mother's yard) and this is the first time it has ever bloomed!
It might have done so earlier, if I had ever watered it.
But I never do.
"THE LAZY GARDENER'S GUIDE ON CD" - Specifically for Houston Area gardens - WHAT TO DO EACH MONTH - when to fertilize, prune, plantwhat where, best plants for sun, shade, butterflies, hummingbirds,etc. Based on Brenda's quirky 40+ year Houston Chronicle Lazy Gardener column. PDF format, print out only the month you need. $20 total, checks payable to Brenda B. Smith. Mail to: Lazy Gardener's Guide on CD, 14011Greenranch Dr., Houston, TX 77039-2103.
