Oxalis compressa 'Double Trouble'

Oxalis compressa 'Double Trouble' is a delightful little frost-tender bulbous plant that is mainly grown in pots, where it flowers for many weeks in spring and summer. This variety is distinguished by its very double, golden yellow flowers that emerge from peachy pink buds. Its foliage forms a lovely tuft of fresh green, composed of soft clover-like leaves.  

Oxalis compressa 'Double Trouble', or Oxalis, is a plant from the Oxalidaceae family. The genus Oxalis comprises around 500 species, most of which are perennial bulbous plants native to South Africa and South America. In the wild, in the northwest to southwest of the Cape, the wild ancestor of this 'Double Trouble' variety grows in pockets of soil between rocks. It slowly colonizes its environment by bulb propagation, without being invasive like other Oxalis. The foliage, 10cm (4in) tall, is decorative. It consists of trilobed leaves, with a fresh green colour and a fine velvety texture, arranged in a palmate shape. When sunlight decreases, the leaves fold in on themselves. Flowering normally occurs from October to March in nature, with a peak from December to February. In our climate, it occurs between April and August. The floral buds, pinkish orange in colour, are arranged in umbel-like clusters. They open into double flowers composed of numerous golden yellow petals, sometimes touched with peachy pink. Like the foliage, these corollas open in the sunlight and close in shade and at night. The plant is deciduous in summer. 

Oxalis 'Double Trouble' can only be grown in the ground in our mildest regions, unaffected by frost. However, growing it in pots with a moist substrate throughout the flowering period poses no problem. Its flowering brings joy and cheerfulness to the house or terrace. To accompany it, one can choose, for example, pansies, violets, other Oxalis, petunias, and other Calibrachoas.