Fall is the best time for planting most spring-blooming bulbs, so if you want to have tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths brightening up your garden after a long winter, now is the time to start thinking about what you want to plant. While these popular bulbs are beautiful, there are all sorts of less common bulbs that are fun to grow, too. For example, you may not have heard of Candy Cane Oxalis before, but this cute plant produces beautiful white- and red-striped flowers that may remind you of a stick of peppermint candy. And unlike tulips and daffodils, this plant blooms in mid- to late summer, so it’s the perfect way to add a touch of Christmas in July to your garden.
If your garden needs some freshening up, look no further than these whimsical candy cane oxalis flowers.
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If you’re looking for a new type of spring flower, consider planting the candy cane oxalis plant. As a sub-shrub, growing candy cane sorrel is an option for adding something new and different in the early spring garden, or even in containers.
Flowers of the candy cane oxalis plant appear white once the trumpets have opened, as the red stripe is on the bottom of the petal. Buds of the candy cane oxalis often close at night and in cool weather to again reveal the candy cane stripes. Attractive, clover-like foliage persists even when the small shrub is not in bloom.
Also called Candy Cane Sorrel, these flowers are marked by their trumpet-shaped flowers with swirling red stripes that line the border of the petals, making them look like sticks of candy cane.
In the early spring, the sorrel shrubs begin blooming the trumpet-shaped candy cane-swirled petals.
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Growing candy cane sorrel is simple. Candy cane oxalis flowers are native to capes of South Africa. This attractive member of the Oxalis family is sometimes forced in greenhouses for ornamental, holiday blooms. When growing candy cane sorrel outside in the garden, the plant will exhibit blooms through most of the spring and sometimes into summer, depending on the location where it grows.
As with most members of the ornamental Oxalis family, the candy cane oxalis plant goes dormant in summer and begins a period of regrowth in fall. Info about candy cane oxalis plant says it is hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 7-9, though it can grow as an annual in lower zones. Candy cane sorrel bulbs (rhizomes) can be planted at any time the ground is not frozen.
These plants are perfect for beginner gardeners or those who don’t like high maintenance gardening.
Growing candy cane sorrel is a simple process. Once candy cane sorrel bulbs are established, occasional watering and fertilization is all that is required when caring for candy cane oxalis.
You may remove dying foliage when the plant dies back for the sake of appearance, but it will wither on its own. Don’t despair that the candy cane oxalis plant is dying; it is just regenerating and will once again reappear in the garden.
As a perennial, candy cane oxalis will be ready to impress your neighbors once again for many springs to come.
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The trumpet-shape flowers are the biggest draw for this adorable plant; each white petal is outlined with stripes of deep red. Especially when the flowers are still tightly closed and haven’t opened much yet, each one looks just like a swirled candy cane. Though they don’t grow very tall, they can still look gorgeous as cut flowers thanks to their unusual two-tone petals.
Especially if you can’t get enough of the holiday season, candy cane oxalis brings some of that same cheer to your garden in the middle of the summer. If you’re someone that happily tunes into a Hallmark Christmas movie marathon in July, this plant will be the perfect addition to your yard.
