Wildly Successful: Acanthus mollis

The acanthus motif on Corinthian columns at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

In the fifth century BC, a Greek artist carved elegant leaves in the stone capitol at the top of a column, using a species of Acanthus as the model. His design became popular as the Corinthian style of column; if you peer up at neoclassical columns on buildings in modern cities, you may still see acanthus leaves at the top. The plants themselves are not always as honored in our gardens, often popping up in odd corners, seemingly unappreciated and untended. But when acanthus is healthy and well placed, it is a strikingly elegant plant.

Acanthus mollis is native to rocky woodlands across southern Europe, from Portugal to Italy, Sicily, the former Yugoslavia, and northwestern Africa. The plants we see in our gardens are mostly A. mollis var. latifolius, a native of Spain and Portugal with leaves reaching two feet across on stems four feet tall; the stately flower stalks average five to six feet tall.

Acanthus makes a bold statement in a small space and can be splendid in larger spaces with other strongly architectural plan...