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Hardy Euphorbias - Part 1 - Page 3

© Marge Talt

It may be a normal trait and it may be the partial shade my plant lives in, but the foliage loses its deep purple tone when the plant starts blooming, however, the flower stems are nearly black - quite neat. I have seen catalog photographs depicting the flowers as a startling, bright, chartreuse-yellow or even orange. Well, the flowers on my plant were much more subdued. This photograph shows them as they are fading a bit, so they were a little brighter, but not much.

It stays fairly small, reaching about fifteen inches (38 cm) tall, with a nice rounded shape that it keeps while in flower. Flower stems extend the height somewhat. It seems to be deciduous; I thought I'd lost it last winter, although it's rated hardy to USDA zone 5, but it sprang to life this spring and grew apace. Nursery catalogs say sun, but mine is in light shade for most of the day (which may affect the foliage and flower color). I've got it in a bed with very sandy soil and good drainage.

It's too early for me to predict longevity or seeding habits (it does seem to be forming seed pods). It appears that, like most euphorbs, the bloom stalks will need to be removed as they brown off. If you like purple foliage as much as I do, give this one a try. I am thinking that it would be more effective backed by Artemisia x 'Powis Castle'than the green foliage that's behind it. Since renovating this bed is on my list, I may just give that a try.

E. characias and its subspecies, wulfenii were the species who were responsible for my euphorb lust in the first place. Many years ago, I saw a marvelous plant at Chelsea Physic Garden and found it was this species. For years after this, I searched US nursery catalogs in vain; it simply wasn't listed. Then, I saw the seeds in the RHS seed exchange list and sent for them. Luckily, two or three germinated and I managed to get one plant. A year or so later, I found it in a mailorder catalog and ordered three. Of these, at least one was wulfenii.

The evergreen foliage has a lovely blue-gray tint, especially the new growth; it becomes a bit more green as the flowering stems get older. The stems all seem to have a reddish cast that intensifies and wanes with the seasons; most noticeable on new growth. E. characias characias is the tougher of the two and has managed to survive in my garden for over ten years. I've seen hardiness ratings only to USDA zone 8, but even if the older plants get killed in a very severe winter in my cold part of zone 7, there are always seedlings hiding somewhere to replace them.

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