If you're asking about acanthus, I have had some in a pot for a few years now, and I love it. I have a feeling it would be larger if I'd put it in the ground, but it's doing so well in the pot I hate to move it. The leaves are fairly large, much larger than most hosta leaves, for instance, and the clump itself is a couple of feet wide and about a foot tall. It's the flower stalk that rises to a great height, as far as I can tell. Mine has been about 3-4 feet tall, and as I said I suspect if I'd put it in the ground it would be even taller.

The flowers themselves are interesting but not as striking as I had expected. I first saw this plant growing in an extremely large pot (probably 5 feet or more in diameter) in a greenhouse public garden in Minnesota. The whole plant, which was blooming at the time, was enormous and a real attention-getter. I wrote down its name and determined to have it someday. There are several varieties of acanthus, and the one I eventually bought probably was not the same one I saw in Minnesota. I found it at Habersham Gardens and paid about $8 for it, which was a shockingly high amount for me to pay for a single small perennial plant (not even a vine!!)

I put it in a pot because I had read it is tender (and that was reinforced by seeing it as a greenhouse plant in Minnesota), and thought I might want to bring it in over the winter, but it made it through the first year's early frosts without even wilting, so I left it outside. It's in a semi-shady spot that gets an hour or two of filtered morning sun, then an hour or two of very late afternoon direct sun. Sometimes it wilts a little in the extreme heat of summer, but perks right back up when watered. It's not evergreen, as it seemed at first it would be, but does die down to the ground during winter. Then the leaves quickly regenerate in very early spring. Mine is in full leaf now and has been for some time. It will send up the flower stalk later in the summer, but I can't remember what month.

I've seen only one other acanthus plant in Georgia, in a distant neighbor's front yard. They, too, put it in a pot, but theirs is in full sun and frankly, doesn't seem to be growing as large as mine, or doing as well. Of course that could be for any number of reasons I am unaware of, not necessarily just the fact that it is in full sun.

Sorry for going on so long about it, but it is a nice plant . . . and you asked!!

Thanks for that input WestEnder. I got mine at Randy's in Lawrenceville. I was looking for for something that had height and I thought the foliage was interesting. Mine gets some morning sun and that's it. From what I've heard today sounds like I just need to continue being patient with it. I hope it will bloom this year, but if not, I'll see what happens next year. Did yours bloom the first year?

Hi GardeningGGirl,
I have an acanthus mollis that I've had for about 5 yrs. I planted it where it could spread as I was told it could be invasive. Well, thank goodness it hasn't spread because everything around it has grown so there's no room for it to spread. But it never has a problem overwintering and in fact is semi-evergreen. It's blooming now , at least one stalk is, it has 3-4 stalks. Watch for the seeds later in the season...I've never saved my seeds but will this year and try to get some of them to germinate. I will try to remember to get a picture of it tomorrow and post it. BTW, it get's veryy little, if any sun. Slugs don't seem to bother it nor does it seem to have any pests at all.

Donna

Thanks Donna.

Hey, I was at Home Depot on Friday and they had some Bear's Breeches.

I have a bear's breech planted in the shade. Our nasty hot summer sun here in Fayetteville, GA is too much for it, but it does great with shade with filtered light. It DID take a couple of years to get going (low rainfall those years) but now is gangbusters. The flowers do get taller,but the leaves are what is cool about this plant. P. S. Found some at Pike's in Peachtree City the other day.

Thanks Nuttshell. You are in my area so that's helpful. Mine is getting filtered morning sun. I'm going to be patient with it.

Finally got the pix...I forget how to post pix so I will have to link.
Donna

Here is a link that might be useful: http://photobucket.com/albums/y233/hydrangeanut/misc%20garden%20pix/#

Thanks for the pictures. I do like the foliage. And I'm anxious to see it bloom.

Interesting. I planted a few of these a year ago in a partly shaded spot. They have done nothing so far and have remained fairly small and unremarkable. I was considering taking them out but hearing that they can take awhile maybe I'll leave them.

Do any of you think it would help if I pull them up, ammend the soil a bit and re-plant them? I planted them in straight unammended clay.

Have grown it in a very shady woodland setting for years. Some years it blooms. Always gets melted by the cold but has so far rebounded. A wonderful plant. I tried Acanthus spinosa but it failed. A. mollis has done pretty well. I have discovered that if you transplant it and leave even the tinyest part of root you get another plant.

Mine are looking fairly healthy. Still not much height. Actually, one of them kind of died down but came back pretty quickly. I hope it doesn't take several years for them to perform.