I have the common pink oxalis in my rose bed and DH hates them. Are they worth growing in pots or should I chuck them, as they are quite invasive here in zone 8?

I have a different problem of to cold for pot survival. If you like them as a ground cover in your pots I would use them I have a wild one that has dark leaves yellow bloom that I use in my pots. Personally if they look pretty as a ground cover in the garden I use them.

My city has a bad termite problem. so I tend to use as many plant material as ground cover. vs wood. It could be a way of making your DH feels better about the plant. Tell him it is this plant or a couple thousand for an exterminator.

Had a neighbor's foot go through her kitchen floor she now understands my suggestion of using green ground cover.

Thanks, Cinta. I potted them up separately for now. I'll look around to see where I can use it as ground cover. I love using vinca, especially the variegated one, for ground greenery.

"Common Oxalis" would depend on where you are. The common Oxalis where I used to live was only O. stricta, a tap-rooted plant I developed a deep hatred for in OH. That one is also common where I am now, but luckily, so is O. crassipes, an adorable bulb plant that I see around often, used for edging & ground cover. If only the whole "lawn" was Oxalis bulbs! We would not have had to buy a new mower a couple weeks ago with what should have been anniversary celebration funds.

But anyway... there is no way I would allow Vinca anywhere near my flower beds, where it would climb all over the other plants (and has been evicted from my Mom's garden for doing just that - luckily it pulls up very easily while the ground is moist) but Oxalis bulbs are so easy to get along with. They do an excellent job of covering the ground in shade or sun, under taller shrubs or in other bare areas, and grow thickly enough to help prevent grass from trying to creep into non-mowed areas, though if needed shearing won't bother Oxalis at all, but to cause the foliage to be a bit smaller & shorter if done often enough. If you need the spot later, just dig up the bulbs. I don't have any problem with them spreading at all, quite the opposite of them taking time to adjust after being moved.

Edited to add - and unlike most other bulbs, Oxalis bloom for a long time in the spring, and again in the fall if the weather hits just right.

Thanks for your input Tiffany. I have to check the database to see which one I was gifted.

Happy to swap anecdotes!

I get the Oxalis stricta here, blooms happily in Spring. I do like its yellow blooms, but it does volunteer quickly to other containers, so if I don't want them there, I pull them out.

But our super hot and dry conditions later tempers its growth, then it comes back when the cooler weather and rains return. It does add some life to the dull winter landscape.

The kind I have are the pink ones, that came in a pot of something. I'd seen them in the front border, but I don't know how they got into the back rose border, except, that they may have been in a pot with my Mandevilla Alice Dupont that I planted in the ground and covered with straw for the winter. It's returning from the roots for the 2nd year. Yea!