Oxalis versicolor 'Golden Cape'

Oxalis versicolor 'Golden Cape' is a beautiful version with yellow and red flowers of the well-known botanical species known for its curiously striped cherry pink flowers like barley sugar. On its tender green clover foliage appear small unopened, turbinate flowers with a fine red border that outlines the beginning of a spiral on a yellow background for several months. These adorable buds bloom into small yellow flowers. This small bulbous plant native to the southern hemisphere has an inverted vegetative cycle: it flowers during winter in our climates and goes dormant in summer. As it is not very hardy, it is preferable to grow 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 'Golden Cape' is a plant of the Oxalidaceae family. The genus Oxalis has about 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 through bulbs, without being invasive like other Oxalis. The foliage, 10cm tall, is unique. It is composed of finely trilobed, tender green leaves gathered in a palmate arrangement. When sunlight decreases, the leaves fold in on themselves. Flowering normally occurs from October to March, with a peak from December to February. The funnel-shaped flowers, arranged in umbellate clusters, are composed of 5 petals arranged in a spiral, slightly overlapping, yellow on the inside. The reverse of the petals is highlighted by a fine red border, making them look as lovely open as closed. These corollas, like the foliage, open in the sun and close in shade and at night. The plant is deciduous in summer, with its foliage drying up.

Oxalis versicolor 'Golden Cape' can only be grown in the ground in our mildest regions, spared from frost. On the other hand, its cultivation in pots with a moist potting soil during flowering poses no problem. Its winter flowering brings a bit of colour and a touch of spring to the house, at a time of year when blooms are rare. To accompany it, consider forcing some hyacinth or Muscari aucheri bulbs indoors.