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bear's breaches are the bane of my gardening existence. i believe our variety in N CA is called Acanthus Mollis. once you have this plant in your garden, you will never get rid of it. even round-up does not work on it. their tubers run underground and when you try to get rid of a plant by digging it up, the tubers break off and voila.. more plants. i got rid of them all 16 years ago, or so i thought, and i'm still fighting them today. an established one can be 3-6' wide and just as tall. the leaves are dark green in springtime and by early summer, the flowers sap the strength of the plant and the leaves wilt and die off for the current year. they grow anywhere.. sun, shade, or mixtures of both.

i have let one stay by the side of the deck.. photo attached of it today. in the fall/winter it gets no sun.. and only partial sun in the spring/summer. the plant doesn't care. nothing stops it from thriving wherever it decides to grow. if you are thinking of planting this, i would suggest that you put it in a half barrel planter. it will stay contained.. have plenty of room to grow and most likely you will eventually not see the container.

here's a website with comments. the positives outweigh the negatives. but you can see other people's reactions to this plant.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/177/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bana,

to do it justice for Acanthus lovers, here it is looking its best mid April, 2011. it is the same plant by the side of the deck shown in previous post.

last shot showing it growing under the buddha bench.. where i do not want it. this is example of my needing to treat it like a weed and pull the leaves out wherever they pop up in the garden. i have to keep them 'weeded' in the iris bed, by the apple tree and also around the maple tree.

here's Jan C's variety...

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1945/#b

bana, Looks like a horrendous plant for you. There again I have trouble keeping it alive. But it sure gives diversity in my scape here in the north. If it did bad like in your yard I'd scream.

Oooo Like that! Spreading doesn't scare me in my clay...I see I am on the edge of the hardiness zone tho. It looks sunny where you have it? It would take more space than I have!

it does take a lot of space. thrives in full sun or partial shade.. which is where i have it. it grows anywhere it darn well wants to. if you love it, try it in a container.. a large one. i wouldn't let being on the fringe of a zone stop me from trying. read the comments in the two 'Daves Garden' links for both varieties to see what other people think about it and which variety might suit you best.

i think jan c's version is different.. not so large and invasive as mine is. i will say it is dramatic and and very beautiful in its best stage. photo #2 is about as big as it will get and has been growing by the deck for a few years. i might try drying the flower spikes and use them somewhere outdoors where a container will be protected from rain.

Wow i'm impressed. It took me several tries to get one that would last more than a year. I did have one growing well and now it's not doing well and didn't put up any spikes of flowers. Love picture #2 mine never got that high or glossy. I'm supposedly in zone 6 now, but for years I was in 5 and the plant wasn't hardy here. I think that the trick is to find a grower who has a variety that does well in your area. Plants that were brought in from warmer zones often struggle here since our winters can be cold and unforgiving.

16paws Acanthus hungaricus is supposedly good to 5b.

With our mild winters and a tendency for plants to go invasive here...I don't think I need one even though it is a beautiful plant...both Bana's & Jan's.
One person said they were kind of like a fancy thistle...that would really make them invasive here!

I want some....going to google for plant dealers.

Invasive? Good!..... I got lots of room, if it doesn't fry in this heat.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zone9alady,

quote:

Originally posted by zone9alady:
I want some....going to google for plant dealers.

Invasive? Good!..... I got lots of room, if it doesn't fry in this heat.

i've had one request for me to send some.. you can have some tubers too if you want. don't know how they will transplant but they're free and worth a try. don't know when i'll get around to digging them up.. i have to be in the mood to do anything in the garden. pm me your address if you want to try some from CA.

gaKaren - when Bana offered me some sprouts and then explained how invasive they were for her.......there was no way. Now you say they are akin to thistles........Uh uh! I just think that big one of Bana's is gorgeous...just don't need anything else that wants to take over the property...I have enough of that kind of thing already.

ve

Pity it's such a thug cause it's a nice looking plant. Won't grow at all in my zone apparently - too cold and too high.

That second pic of bana's reminds me of that HUGE thing that Whis4ey over in Ireland grows. It starts with a "G" (I think)...Muddy probably remembers it's name! But it's leaves get so big you can use them for umbrellas in a tropical storm! For those of you who haven't ever seen any of his posts...he has a Japanese Garden that he built from scratch over there!...absolutely beautiful...in summer with all his blooms or in winter covered in snow. He has a big pond with a bridge & a "tea room" on the other side of the pond.

That was a Gunnera manicata, I bought one to plant near the pond and the heat fried it. I love those kind of plants. HUGE!

Where is Whis4ey anyway? Haven't seen him in ages!


Bana....I'll send you a PM.

never heard of Whis4ey before, but my sleuthing found his website.. thanks to ga.karen mentioning him.

http://www.fujiyamagarden.com/

Bana, you are a wonderful detective! I had forgotten about his web site! Yes, he is a great fella. I'm not sure, but I think he may have some health issues now...as he is getting older like many of us.

zone9, yes, you got it! That plant just amazes me!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,

i went to his profile to pull up his latest posts.. and there weren't any. but his website was listed there. that's how i found it.

bana: I so envy you. I have been trying to grow Acanthus for a few years. Nothing but leaves. And they are surely not invasive in my area. Just love the majestic flower stems and the beautiful leaves. Mine are under attack by either slugs or those bugs with lobster pincers, forgot the name.

bana, I also live in N CA and have a bear's breeches. And, just like you, I have tried to get rid of it several times in different ways--none were successful. It has been growing in my yard for over 35 years (I didn't plant it). I am constantly cutting it back and digging up the tubers. I saw some potted ones at the local nursery and mentioned that they should be labeled as very agressive, but they just shrugged it off. I'm pretty sure my neighbors probably have them, also, thanks to mine. Oh well, I'll just continue to cut it back and try to enjoy the flowers.

welcome, Kelko. this is the first time i've seen you here.

i'm guessing this plant is a california nuisance plant that is not as prolific in other areas of the country. i've had two requests to send some tubers.. hope they will transplant successfully.

and yes, i'm pretty sure your neighbor has some. maybe you got yours from them? my neighbor is battling his crop of them too.

trygardening.. sorry your attempts aren't successful. maybe the change of seasons has something to do with it. our area is rain in winter and usually 70's in summer.. 80's and occasionally 90's are what we call a hot spell. so thats the conditions mine grow in.

are the pincher bugs earwigs? haven't seen any around here lately but we do get snails & slugs that love the leaves.

The spreading is dangerous, I dont like it that that much.

you could visit us at http://NMLandscaping.com/

Hmmm...I tried to grow it but it died over the winter. Our winters are too cold. I've seen it behave quite nicely in the walled church garden near my NYC job. It's a warmer zone.

sorry to hear that it's a nono for you. I have the same problem with a few other plants I got at a Master Gardener sale. No wonder those ladies had these plants to spare for the sale!

I for one, am looking forward to trying this invasive plant. I've read everyone's warnings and just to let everyone know, I NEED an invasive plant for soil erosion. If this stuff spreads, like so many have said, I welcome it. I have had terrible luck with plants that are supposed to be invasive. I've planted them and watered them to get them established. They die down for the winter and usually DON'T come back. I love the foliage on this plant and have BEGGED bana for a tuber. She has wonderfully said that she would send me one. I do hope that it is invasive for me, like so many others have warned it is. I have 33 acres and plenty of places for it.

thanks for jogging my memory, barb. i haven't forgotten.. honest. i am such a procrastinator. have been so all of my life and its too late to change now. right?

i definitely will send you some tubers and hope they will work for you. the big plant by the deck is dying down now enough that i can get to it to dig up some pretty huge tubers. i would caution against over watering tho.. this plant thrives in drought conditions. i am no gardening expert but would suggest letting it dry out a tiny bit between waterings. i'll send enough that you can have different test areas.. you can overwater some and underwater others.

my 18 year old grandson will be here saturday, visiting from back east. he's my gardening buddy when he's in town. i'll hand him a shovel and put him to work on your behalf.