There’s practically no mediteranean garden – indeed not even a wild mediterranean landscape – without Euphorbias. I love the luminous bright green color and the pretty little flowers of wild Euphorbias appearing all over the place in February and March when there’s not much else. And I have grown to love the graphic look of Euphorbia in the garden. Euphorbias are also great feeders for many types of Hymenoptera and Diptera, promoting biodiversity.
They grow so easily here, and in such great variety (about 2’300 varietes worldwide!). All they need is well-drained and deep soil – whether in full sun or in partial shade, depends on the variety. Most varieties tolerate frost, heat, and drought, and do well in poor, gravelly, limestone or clay soil. As with most drought-tolerant plants they do not appreciate being watered excessively in winter.
Euphorbias mostly flower between the end of winter and the end of spring. The fruits dry out in summer and then let go of their seeds. Each stem has a lifespan of two years during which it grows, then flowers, and then dries out completely. After flowering the stems can be pruned back to keep the plant looking more decorative or to keep it from reseeding.
Euphorbias reseed themselves easily so can become a bit invasive. They have a reputation of not liking to be replanted but I’ve had no trouble at all re-settling Euphorbia Characias from one end of the garden to the other.
Handle with Care
I have no problem handling Euhorbias without gloves, but for some people contact with the latex sap can cause severe skin reactions. Therefore, if in doubt, wear gardening gloves – and do not ever touch your face or eyes (or any mucous membranes) after handling Euphorbias. The sap of some Euphorbias has been used in traditional medicine to treat skin cancers, tumors, and warts since ancient times.
My own collection is pretty small:
Euphorbia characias – Mediterranean Spurge
These were already in place and growing all over the parking area, so when we re-gravelled it, I replanted some of them in better spots and they adapted very well.
Euphorbia myrsinites – Creeping Spurge
A funny looking ground covers resembling a very spiky octopus.
Euphorbia dendroides – Tree Spurge
Planted in the fall of 2023 it’s coming along well and will be a large shrub of 1.5 by 1.5 meters when fully grown.
Euphorbia cyparissias – Cypress Spurge
One variety, named “Clarice Howard”, is left over from the first planting season in the fall of 2022. It seems a bit more delicate than the others and hasn’t made much progress in growing toward its purported full width of 80cm.
I will definitely get some more varieties, especially Euphorbia rigida, whose flowers turn red when fading and variegated green-and-white Euphorbia characias.
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