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I have been adding species of Acanthus to the herbaceous border in an attempt to add mass and texture to the effect.
A. spinosus has finer, more prickly leaves than A.mollis though the two hybridise in cultivation and although this one looks right,
it may be part of the swarm of confusion that delights in the name of the Spinosissima Group. It has flowered easily and keeps a good rosette of leaves through the winter which add appreciably to its value in the garden. The compact flower spikes are produced more freely than any of the forms of A. mollis that I grow. They add considerably to its value in the herbaceous border. Writing in 'The Plantsman' in 1980, Martyn Rix said: "After A. mollis this is the most frequent species in cultivation. Its leaves are very variable in shape and number of spines, but it always has strong spines on the otherwise smooth or slightly hairy leaves. The flowers are in long spikes, with purplish bracts, and a white corolla. It may be distinguished from other species by its very strongly 3-veined bracts. As a wild plant it is found in the eastern Mediterranean region, from Italy and Jugoslavia to Crete, Rhodes and the southwewst corner of Turkey. It is lower growing than A. mollis and will eventually make a low spreading mound of fiendishly sharp spikes." |
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| 25th May 2013 | ||
