Here's what someone else said about Grecian Pattern Plant on another forum:

'Acanthus mollis is it's botanical name, and it is classified as a weed. To get rid of this plant, you have to dig up the entire area it's growing in, down about 1-1.5 feet, and either just toss out the soil, or carefully sift through it, removing all the tubers and plant bits. If you miss just one bit of root, it'll be back soon. Round up is a waste of time.'

I have one also but it has never bloomed or spread. It looks sick or dead most of the year except for early Spring when it puts out some fresh leaves. I got mine from the Fort Worth Botanic Garden plant sale three years ago and it is on my SP list for this fall. Cheryl

Wow - we love our Pattern Plants.
Granted, they so not look great in the heat of the summer, but the rest of the year, they are lovely.
One of them had 9 bloom stalks last year.
Cut the flower spikes and the old leaves.
In the next month, they will perk up. Mine are already putting out new leaves.

OK best thing to do with Grecian Pattern Plants is make sure you have it planted on the East side here in Texas as it does like sun but NOT the later afternoon HOT sun I've had mine here for 3 years and its bloomed every year and the plant averages probably 18 - 20 leaves per year its probably 2 feet across and 18 inches high but with the flower stock it hits about 3 1/2 ft tall. Grecian Pattern plants are not really native to Texas so its not used to the Texas sun when I lived in CA we had GPP all over.

I agree. I had mine in under an Oak tree where it got morning sun. It did ok in the shade too. I got blooms as tall as me. (5'5") . I tried them out here but they do not like my new soil that I have now. I have improved my soil. Maybe I should try it again. I

I think that the are troublesome weeds in areas of California and the PNW. Our summers hit them back a bit and teach them manners. I loved them too. I planned late growing things that filled in their summer void.

Oh and another thing please folks dont go to a plant expert here in Texas reason being they don't really know much about the plant here in Texas its relatively a new plant for Texas... I Used to work at Lowes and the plant specialist there (Very knowledgeable) had no clue about the plant...

I planted this plant 30 years ago. It was available from the more knowledgable nurseries. Designers were using it all over Austin.

My Grecian Pattern plant is in full shade. Does it need morning sun to bloom? Mine has never bloomed.

Mine either had morning sun or a sliver of afternoon sun. Also they were under deciduous Water Oaks. So they got winter sun and they bloomed after the trees leafed out. I don't know if that winter sun made a difference.

Mine, several years old and possibly planted in a bird dropping, is gorgeous. No one has mentioned this...mine goes dormant several times a year. Comes back and grows more beautiful than the last time. It is flowering now. Texas.

Mine went dormant due to Texas summer heat and drought and the blistering cold ( well cold for me but not all winters: just the bad ones).`