Acanthus 'Morning Candle'

Acanthus 'Morning Candle' is a splendid free-flowering selection of bear's breech, from Holland's Dirk de Winter of New Generation Plants, that is reportedly a hybrid of Acanthus spinosus and Acanthus mollis. Unfortunately, most growers wouldn't know true Acanthus spinosus if it stuck 'em in the rear. We think this is more likely an Acanthus hungaricus x Acanthus mollis hybrid. For us, the 3' wide clump of deeply-scalloped green leaves has performed extremely well despite several weeks above 100 degrees F. The compact, deer-resistant clumps are topped, starting in early May (NC), with up to a dozen, 4'+ tall flower spikes of purple and white hooded flowers...very nice! We've found Acanthus 'Morning Candle' to still be free-flowering, despite all the recent EU austerity measures.