Description
Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear’s breeches, is a clump-forming perennial that is grown as much for its attractive foliage as for its architecturally bold flower spikes. It is native to the Mediterranean region. Creamy white (sometimes pink) snapdragon-like flowers, each hooded and subtended by spiny reddish-purple bracts, bloom in late spring to midsummer in vertical rows on substantial flower spikes that rise well above the foliage mound to 3-5? tall. Deeply lobed, soft-spiny, glossy, dark green leaves (to 2′ long) form a mound of basal foliage. Foliage is mostly evergreen in warm winter climates, but plants lose their leaves when winter temperatures dip below 20 degrees F.