Oxalis versicolor 'Autumn Pink' (Automne Rose)

Oxalis versicolor 'Autumn Pink'  is a delicious version with pink flowers of the well-known botanical species known for its striped flowers like barley sugars. Its small flowers follow one another for several months on foliage that resembles clover. Unopened and turbinate, their dark pink fine border outlines the beginning of a spiral on a soft pink background. These adorable buds bloom into small pale pink flowers. This small bulbous plant native to the southern hemisphere has an inverted vegetative cycle: it blooms during winter in mild climates and goes dormant in summer. Planted in late winter or spring, it will bloom from July to October. As it is not very hardy, it is preferable to cultivate it in a pot and bring it indoors as soon as temperatures approach 0°C. It will brighten up your interior during the coldest months!

Oxalis versicolor 'Autumn Pink' is a plant of the Oxalidaceae family. The genus Oxalis includes around 500 species, most of which are perennial bulbous plants native to South Africa and South America. In nature, in the southern Cape region, the botanical species grows in pockets of soil on cliffs and rocks. It slowly colonizes its environment by propagating bulbs, without being invasive like other Oxalis. The foliage, 10cm (4in) tall, is unique. It consists of finely trilobed leaves, of a tender green-grey colour, gathered in a palmate shape. When sunlight decreases, the palms fold in on themselves. Flowering normally occurs from October to March, with a peak from December to February. The funnel-shaped flowers, gathered in umbellate clusters, are composed of 5 petals arranged in a helix, slightly overlapping, light pink on the inside. The reverse of the petals is highlighted by a fine dark pink border, making them appear as lovely when open as when closed. These corollas, like the foliage, open in the sun and close in the shade and at night. The plant is normally deciduous in summer, with its foliage drying up. Plants that have bloomed in summer will go into rest in winter, in a dry state.

Oxalis versicolor 'Autumn Pink' can only be cultivated in open ground in our mildest regions, spared from frost. On the other hand, its cultivation in pots in a soil kept moist during flowering poses no problem. Its winter flowering allows for a touch of colour and a breath of spring in the house, at a time of year when blooms are rare. To accompany it, consider for example forcing some hyacinth or Muscari aucheri bulbs indoors.