Dianella nigra

Dianella nigra

Lilium 'Robert Swanson'

Lilium 'Robert Swanson'

Acanthus sennii

Ethiopian Acanthus
Size
ex 1.5L pots
Availability: Sold Out
£9.99
Quick Overview
  • Still rare in cultivation
  • Unusual red flowers
  • Attractive spiky foliage
  • Hardy herbaceous perennial
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Acanthus sennii is a stunning and relatively rare red-flowering Acanthus from the Ethiopian highlands where it grows at elevations of 1700-3200m. It has very attractive silvery-green foliage and dark purplish-black stems. The edges of the leaves are ruffled and stiff like a holly but much larger and even more spiky and with its clouded patterning and fierce spines it is a striking foliage plant in more ways than one! Young growth is softer and is coloured a very pleasing shade of greyish-pink with purple edges; the more mature leaves often closing around this new growth as protection from the sun. The brilliant vermillion-red flowers are borne in late summer or - more usually - early autumn and the inflorescence is a very spiky raceme from which the red ruffled petals emerge like tongues.

For a plant from tropical Africa, Acanthus sennii is surprisingly hardy in the British climate. It loses its leaves as the cold weather sets in and is best treated like a herbaceous perennial, chopping back the top growth and protecting the basal crown with a thick mulch from which the new growth will sprout vigourously in Spring.

Acanthus sennii likes a sunny aspect and a well-drained soil that has been prepared with the addition of sharp sand and shingle. It grows quite shrubby and tall so a sheltered position is ideal or its growth will flop down with the wind, although such an occurance is not altogether unpleasing to the eye.

Highly recommended.


Additional Information

Order Lamiales
Family Acanthaceae
Sub-Family Acanthoideae
Synonyms Acanthus arboreus var. ruber, Acanthus sennii var. lanatus
Geographical Origin Ethiopia: in Afro-montane highlands at elevations from 1700-3200m
Cultivation Full sun, Sheltered aspect. Well drained sandy soil. Avoid water-logging in the winter
Eventual Height 1.6m
Eventual Spread 1.4m
Hardiness Deciduous herbaceous perennial in the UK climate. Cut growth back after the leaves fall and mulch well
Acanthus sennii
Ethiopian Acanthus
Size
ex 1.5L pots
Availability: Sold Out
£9.99
You could receive 20 Palm Points for writing a review for this product.
Add to My Wishlist Add to Compare Email to a Friend
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