slideshow: beloved garden euphorbias
IHAVE VOICED MY LOVE OF THE GENUS EUPHORBIA before, but not in pictures. What better time than just before Christmas, when we’re confronted with what may be the only one I do not much like, the poinsettia? Try these garden-worthy subjects, like the Euphorbia amygdaloides hybrid ‘Efanthia,’ above, instead:
Click on the first thumbnail to start the show, then toggle from slide to slide, using the arrows beside the captions. Enjoy.
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- My Euphorbia-growing career probably started with Euphorbia myrsinites, the donkeytail spurge, a succulent-like blue-green perennial I’ve let seed into the cracks and crevices here for decades.
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- Euphorbia myrsinites has the sprawling habit of an octopus, but in early spring, the branches that survived the winter push out characteristic acid-yellow Euphorbia blooms at the tips.
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- For just about as long, I’ve also grown Euphorbia polychroma, the cushion spurge, perhaps the most common Euphorbia and a real screamer in the early spring perennial beds.
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- Lately there’s a version with wine-colored foliage called Euphorbia polychroma ‘Bonfire,’ a really handsome thing of mounded habit with a long season of interest. I cut back all the polychromas after bloom to get a new flush of foliar growth for summertime.
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- The first tall hardy Euphorbia I grew was Euphorbia palustris, almost 3 feet high and wide. This one (as the name “palustris” indicates) hails from moister soils, so it can take it a bit wetter than others.
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- The unusual coloration of Euphorbia griffithii ‘Dixter’ made me try this other tall variety a decade or so ago, though it was rated for Zone 6 or warmer (and I am not). It has never flinched, sending up orange blooms on dark-colored stems year after year. It doesn’t clump like palustris or polychroma, but runs somewhat.
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- A detail of the Euphorbia griffithii ‘Dixter’ blooms.
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- I had long wanted to grow the wood spurge, Euphorbia amygdaloides, but until some hybrids like ‘Efanthia’ (above, in late fall) were released recently by Proven Winners it wasn’t something I saw much in my Zone 5 garden centers.
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- The last few years, though, I see ‘Efanthia’ (and a variegated selection called ‘Helena’s Blush,’ not shown) as small plants in the local garden center in spring, labeled as Zone 6 hardy.
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- It’s mostly their foliage I am after…which (if the plants overwinter well) flushes out like this on the variegated ‘Helena’s Blush’…and then eventually pushes upward to form a little shrublike plant…
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- …but I have to hope that in the process it doesn’t fully or partially revert to plain green like this. (A lot of them do, sadly, among the ones that do make it to spring.)
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- I like them in big bowls (this container is 30 inches wide) and though not filled in yet, you can see the typical Euphorbia bloom here. With the wood spurge was Alternanthera rubiginosa (dark purple) and peppermint geranium, far left, shortly after planting.
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- Another year I mixed them with a Callibrachoa, for example. In fall, I plunge the Euphorbia in the empty vegetable garden, in the hopes it would make it to repeat duty the following spring. As I have said, mixed success. Even the ones planted in permanent spots are iffy here.
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- I couldn’t speak about Euphorbia in the garden without mentioning this decidedly non-perennial thing, Euphorbia cotinifolia. With a shrubby or small-tree-like stature, it’s great in an annual pot, and I have sometimes carried it over the winter indoors in a semi-dormant state. Does it at least slightly make you think of the poinsettia — the most popular Euphorbia of all?
One disclaimer about this wonderful genus: The plants exude a sticky white sap or latex when cut or damaged. Some people are allergic to the chemicals in it, which can cause skin rashes or other reactions. Exercise caution, especially in touching your eyes and mouth after working with the spurges.
More:
- My profile of E. palustris
- An exhaustive rundown of the genus from Desert Tropicals
I have a friend who has serious euphorbia problems. She avoids them now.
Another friends has difficulties with the primula family…which is large! She is a flower show judge and encountered several problems before figuring out the source.
I have enjoyed E, Blackbird this summer but I fear losing it this winter.
My favorite Euphorbia is Ascot Rainbow (x martinii). I’m in zone 7B (Raleigh, NC) and it looks beautiful year-round here. Lots of pale yellow color in the warmer part of the year, then takes on a coral hue in the cooler months. Deer haven’t touched it, and I have herds of a dozen or more coming through every night. I have some planted in front of Nandina alba, which echo the color of the pale yellow berries, and another group in front of blue-foliaged grey owl junipers. I was a bit worried about how they’d do in the ground over winter with my heavy clay soil, so I added lots of organic soil to those planting beds, and so far so good (2 winters). One group gets full morning sun, the other gets a few hours of midday sun, and both are vigorous, healthy, lush. I’ve had no problems with dermatitis with them, and my skin is very sensitive to this kind of thing. But then, I always wear gloves in the garden, anyway.
I grow Efanthia and Helena’s Blush under lights in my basement ‘greenhouse’, since my outdoor gardens exist between zones 3 & 4 depending on the winter. They do fill out quite nicely when planted outside in the garden for the summer. I either dig up the whole plant or take cuttings depending on the size of the plant in the garden. They grow well under lights for the winter but I had Helena’s Blush develop mealy bugs and after a couple of washings under the fauce “she” survived and is now thriving in my outdoor garden.
Hi, Arlene. Their foliage is beautiful, isn’t it? Barely hardy here, though with lots of snow cover this winter I did better than usual. Hadn’t thought of the indoor treatment!
I have an Efanthia that I adore. Have you ever tried to divide or propagate it? I would love a mass planting of this, I also want babies for when the parent dies of old age. How would you get it to multiply?
Bluestone Perrenials has a nice selection including Efanthia,’ and ‘Bonfire’. They also have Tiny Tim, I like that one too. Got to order some!
Through ten years operating a greenhouse/garden center, the only thing that ever gave me a rash was lantana. Hubby gets one from bouganvillea. Love your Euphorbias. Miss the eight foot high poinsettia shrubs in our yard in Hawai’i, but can’t learn to love the potted ones at Christmas.
Oh that may have to go somewhere in my garden! Thanks for answering my question.
@Terryk: ‘Efanthia’ stays pretty colorful, but like many evergreen things will start to stiffen and look less full — you know, like a Rhododendron — in the worst cold.
A friend of mine got some of the sap of Euphorbia myrsinites in her eye – that event sent her to the hospital to have her eye flushed. Being the trooper that she is, she kept it in her garden and, when offering a clump to me, just suggested that I not stick any in my eye. I have not.
I love your Euphorbia amygdaloides hybrid ‘Efanthia’! It sure says Christmas. Does it look like that now?
I went to a England a few years back and met a group of gardeners from Gardenbuddies.com. It was a cyclamen show and hellebore time when I went.
One of the UK gardeners that came to our ‘meet’ was covered wtih a rash on her face from Euphorbia. Evidently she forgot to keep her hands away from her face. But it was a great time even in spite of the rash.
I had such a severe reaction to a euphorbia that a friend had given me, I had to have my husband dig it out of my garden. I had been weeding in the summer. I had gloves on, but must have scratched my legs (was wearing shorts), the rash persisted for at least two months.
Last month I noticed a lovely plant in a local nursery. I reached over to read the tag. My hand barely brushed the leaves. It was a euphobia. I reacted even to that. I also have an allergic reaction to poison oak.
Lovely to look act, but not to touch.
Val, I can’t go near euphorbias for the sap! I planted and then promptly tore out a bunch of donkey tail spurge because not only did it *kill* me but it multiplied exponentially. I am susceptible to dermatitis from juniper, euphorbia, poison ivy and giant hogweed and have experienced them all. The last is by far the worst. So I would say if you’re at all concerned either don’t plant them or be careful to wear gloves while working around them and launder those gloves right away.
It’s interesting to hear about the skin reactions. It is any chrysanthemum that I must
be careful about. First time I noticed this was when I planted a dozen or so fall mums
and ended up with blistery rash on my face. Now I wear gloves all the time in the garden…and try to remember to avoid touching my face. However, an itchy nose can
trump this kind of a rule!
Euphorbias are a favourite. That is a terrific example in your opening page today!
Lovely.
Now you all have me reading on dermatitis causes in the garden. Angelica, alstroemeria, chrysanthemum as Margi mentioned…this Texas A&M article covers quite a few. Seems like the topic for a whole other post I ought to write. :)
Thanks–I am just cautious and weird, too, I suppose. I don’t really like thorns or anything “prickly” either.
I find the same irritation with false cypress, and I get a reaction to English ivy, which invades my yard from all directions! It was as bad as poisin ivy.
I love Effie too! That’s what I call my Efanthia plants. She gets darker and prettier the colder it gets. Nice to see she made the “cover” of your blog post.
Oops–I guess I should have read the entire post!
I love these, but I worry a bit about planting things that can cause skin irritation, which some are the Euphorbias are reputed to cause. Does anyone have experience of this?
@Val: In perhaps 20 years I have never had a rash — but then again, I have never had poison ivy, either. Most of my friends have no reaction to the garden-variety Euphorbias, but one person I know did, and now she wears gloves when she works with them. Funny that the only plant that give me a rash is certain junipers, if the skin on my forearms gets roughed up when handling the needles (such as if pruning an old plant). Nothing serious, just splotches and itchy as I recall.
Margaret, a very timely post indeed! I have always enjoyed the garden euphorbias, but it has been my experience (gardening in the Central Valley of California here) that they are quite short lived. Maybe you have better luck with them?
One of my favorite euphorbias, but not one of the types above, is Euphorbia flanaganii, commonly known as the Medusa euphorbia. This would be one for pot culture in your area (as it is in mine also) – but it’s really spectacular. If you don’t already have it, you should give it a try!