Spring is Mother Nature's annual do-over, and in the past month and a half, the dormant herbaceous and woody perennials in my gardens have awakened with fresh faces, one by one.
Especially pretty this spring is a euphorbia plant introduced here about three years ago. A hybrid, E. polychroma"Bonfire" is one of the plants commonly called spurges in this genus of more than 2,000 species, which also includes succulents, cactus impersonators such as crown of thorns (E. milii) and one that is familiar to everyone, the poinsettia (E. pulcherrima). Spurges reside in the Euphorbiaceae family, one of the most odd and varied plant groupings on Earth. What all euphorbias have in common is their tiny clusters of flowers known as a cyathium.
Bonfire's foliage starts out green and then changes to a maroon-red color, and its blooms are featured in bright-yellow bracts that seem to float atop the mound of foliage. These bracts might be mistaken as the plant's blooms, but they actually are modified leaves, just as poinsettias' red "blooms" are leaves and the tiny golden "cups" at their centers — cyathia — are its flowers.
One other lovely but leggy euphorbia hybrid in my gardens is E. x martini"Ascot Rainbow." I only just realized that if I want its gray-green, yellow-edged foliage to mound, I need to prune it back after it has finished blooming — advice that holds true for most spurges that get a floppy look to them in the summer. This 18-inch-tall beauty has real eye appeal as its chartreuse-yellow flowers have red tips at their centers.
The other spurge in my gardens is an unidentified specimen picked up at a plant exchange many years ago, though I fear it is leafy spurge (E. esula), which the Missouri Department of Conservation refers to as "scourge" because of its extreme invasive ramblings. In my gardens, it is contained in one edged plot, and I just pull it up where its unwelcome, but its very narrow-leaved blue-green foliage and green-yellow blooms make a reasonably pretty background filler around the irises in that bed at this time of year.
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Leafy spurge was first recorded to the United States in Massachusetts in 1827, spreading itself with explosive seed dispersal and through an extensive root system. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it is listed as a noxious weed in 35 states and is an especially widespread nuisance in the Northwest. It tolerates a wide variety of conditions, and according to the Conservation Department, it is especially aggressive in dry conditions.
All euphorbias exude a milky sap that in many cases is poisonous and can cause extreme irritation to the skin and eyes. Some species have been used in folk medicine, and the plant was named after a Greek physician, Euphobus. Its common name, spurge, derives from Old French espurgier, which means "to purge," suggesting its use as a purgative.
Use care when planting euphorbias, either the two I mentioned earlier or the lovely specimens below.
E. amygdaloides "Efanthia" has deep-green leaves and reddish new growth. The entire plant takes on a deep purple color in cool weather. Its flower heads are yellow-green, and the 20-inch plant is evergreen.
E. hybrida "Blackbird" also is an evergreen spurge. Developed in England, it makes a mound of dark-purple foliage that is described as nearly black. Its chartreuse-yellow blooms are very showy in contrast. It grows 18 to 20 inches in height and won the Plantarium Gold Medal from the Netherlands.
E. characias"Glacier Blue" features gray-blue foliage edged in a creamy white, mounding from 16 to 20 inches. Its cream-colored bracts are centered with a green eye, and it is evergreen in warm winter climates.
E. amygdaloides "Helena's Blush" is a wood spurge hybrid with green and white variegated foliage that gets fuchsia highlights in cold temperatures. It grows to 20 inches and blooms with chartreuse flowers.
E. x martini "Rudolph" also is known as Martin's spurge. It grows taller than the others mentioned, growing to 30 or more inches in height. Also evergreen, its leathery leaves are dark green with bright red tips. Flowers are lime-green.
E. griffithii "Fireglow," or Griffith's spurge, is said to be one of the easiest and most reliable spurges. It grows 2 to 3 feet in height with dark-green leaves and fiery red bracts. New growth is a bronzy red.
