Growing Shamrock Or Oxalis Plants.
Normally grown as a indoor plant they will also grow outdoors to in sheltered positions.Also a great plant for growing under glasshouse benches. Normally propagated from division or small bulbs,seed.They are best started on a window sill with a John Innes soil based compost.Then in May the can be placed outside,best kept in the pots so that you can move them to a more sheltered position in the winter.As a general rule they need light shade unless you are growing a species with cut leaf edges or a foliage colour other than green in which case they will need a slightly more sunny position.But remember they have very delicate leaves so a position in very strong sun will not suit them either.
Best time to propagate in the UK is in January and February inside.
Shamrock plants that you see in your local garden centres are actually wood sorrel,oxalis,plants that grow from bulbs with leaves that grow in groups of three.Inexperienced houseplant growers will mistake the plant’s dormancy for a dead plant,but like any other bulb plant,oxalis foliage dies back for the winter months and sprouts again in the spring.Oxalis is native to South America and South Africa.With hundreds of oxalis species,and flowers in colours including white,pink,red,purple,orange and yellow,there’s a shamrock plant for every gardener and houseplant enthusiast.
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