One of those nice surprises that an older garden can offer: two different Oxalis plants that keep popping up where they must have been planted a long time ago.
Oxalis is a South American native that has been naturalized in many regions, including Southern France, Portugal and Spain. Depending on which source you look at, it is supposedly not drought tolerant, needing moist and preferably acidic soil. Or it’s quite easy to grow in any light soil and able to tolerate summer drought as well.
Whatever – since I didn’t plant it I don’t care and just notice that it seems to do just fine in my garden. It shows up during the rainy season in spring and again in the fall. Oxalis articulata blooms in spring, from April to June, Oxalis triangularis between the end of September and December (hardy to -4).
They spread via rhizomes but so far haven’t become invasive at all – probably being kept in check by the summer drought.
I haven’t tried yet but Oxalis leaves, flowers and rhizomes are supposed to be edible, raw or cooked. Leaves will taste a bit like sorrel due to the oxalic acid they contain, making it also inadvisable to eat too much of them. Rhizomes taste sweet and flowers can be used to decorate salads.
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