Anyone growing acanthus mollis here? I have it planted in shade and it's growing nicely, but 2 years later I still have no blooms. Does it take a long time to get established and bloom?

We have not planted that one.

All acanthus take a long time to bloom. Give it another couple of years. Maybe this year. They need to get good size first. Even for nurseries they are very slow growers, 18 months is recommended before sale. But they're beautiful.

Thanks, Polly. This is my first time growing this beauty and I can't wait to see it bloom!

I've had one for a couple of years now that I received from a friend in Ohio. It's not big enough to bloom yet, but the friend who gave it to me said hers has never bloomed (after several years in the garden). I have mine in partial shade where it receives morning sun. Its in a dry location though, so I'm thinking it may take quite a while to reach blooming size.

Thanks, Neal. Guess greater patience is needed here than I possess!

Angie

My A. mollis reached 3'x4' in it's 2nd year. This year it reached about the same size. One peculiarity is the plant seems to take a breather in late June and July followed by a huge burst of new growth starting in mid August. No flowers yet and from what I've discovered it's likely not going to regardless of size. I mulch heavily in winter but according to the MO Botanical Garden site late Spring frost can "...impair or eliminate..." flowering for the season.
http://www.missouribotanicalga...

Beautiful. Has it started to spread?

Not yet. I doubt it will ever spread here Tee. It's probably just too far out of it's comfort zone but I'll keep tabs.

That's a lovely plant, Evan. I like your model, too! A good gardening friend of mine always has a tennis ball in his pics, for relative size.

I opted for Acanthus mollis' sister, Acanthus spinosus. (yeah, okay - it was on Brent & Becky's 50% off sale!) I might have it in too dark of a place, we'll see - but for it's first year it has settled in nicely.

eclayne said:Not yet. I doubt it will ever spread here Tee. It's probably just too far out of it's comfort zone but I'll keep tabs.

I wouldn't mind if it did spread. I had it in CA. I really enjoy it.

Sheryl, is yours anything like this one?

I have read about the A. mollis getting out of hand and being extremely difficult to eradicate.

This is a pic of my A. spinosus so far - you can see the leaves are "spinier" (what was my first hint, huh?) but from what I've seen out on Google, the blooms are nearly identical, although this link describes them as shorter: http://www.gardensandplants.co...



I think I'm going to have extras, lol ... so let me know if you're interested.

Tee, that holds true for my A. mollis as well. As I understand it, propagation from root cuttings is easy. If you'd like some pieces, let me know.

My spinosis finally bloomed this year, and wow did it get oohed and aahed over.

The leaves are just beautiful, although actually a little prickery.

Who's your model, Evan? Lovely lady.

That's my mother Polly and the Acanthus is one of her favorites. Occasionally I convince her to pose with something, for scale you see.

But we don't know how tall she is!

5'-1" per her doc. She's gets upset that she's gotten shorter.

She's lovely, and you tell her we said so. She has that beautiful porcelain complexion all us ladies want.

Let's guess, Sheryl. I think she looks about 5'5".

Oops, cross posted. Boy, was I off.

I agree about Mom. Great model.