Saturday, August 07, 2010

Bear's Breeches


Bear's Breeches
Acanthus mollis
(a-KANTH-us) (MAW-liss)

To me this is a lovely perennial but to a lot of gardeners (especially in warmer climates) it is an invasive pest. I find the huge foliage and tall flower stalks to be architecturally beautiful and haven’t had any problems with rapid spreading of the plants. This plant grows in both sunny and shady areas and is not particular to soil type. It can often colonize a rough or bad area in the garden and is handy for that purpose. The leaves and flowers stalks do have thorns so be careful when working around Acanthus in the garden.

4 comments:

Indrani said...

Lovely capture, Such a wonderful natural pattern.

EG CameraGirl said...

Beautiful! If it weren't raining right now I'd go outdoors and check how mine is doing. LOL

Roan said...

I haven't seen this flower before. Love the name! It's lovely.

David said...

Wow! Very cool photo.
The acanthus family is full of nice, unknown members.
David (Tropical Texana ~ Houston)