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 There is a group of garden plants that, while not everybody's cup of tea, are as the finest claret to those with discernment and a taste for the eccentric. Their sap is an irritant milk and their flowers are not really flowers at all, but inflorescences of the most unusual and delightful shape, colour and form. They are not at all choosy about their soil, although they love being in a spot with lots of sun. At least, most of them do, but as we will discover with there will always be an exception to prove a rule.
We are of course talking about the tribe that is Euphorbias, and most of them are wonderful in their elegance and stature. Some are low ground huggers, some architecturally huge, up to fifteen feet in height. Indeed, there are more than 2,000 varieties of thei special plant, including annuals, biennials, perennials, sub-shrubs and deciduous or evergreen shrubs. Some are even succulents. Definitely a plant for all seasons!
Arguably the finest euphorbia has to be Euphorbia characias. This is virtually a shrub and grows to four feet in height and as much in girth. It is made up of dozens of single, tall thumb thick stems that are covered in whorls of blue gree, narrowly pointed leaves. In early spring, the tips of these stems begin to bend their heads gracefully to form their embryo inflorescences or 'flowers'. As spring advances, these grow longer, intriguing, still delicately pendulant. Come March, they are full length, up to nine inches long, and open thier lime green little faces with deep maroon eyes. These continue to flower for months until the seeds baked by the summer sun, explode with noise of distant gun fire. If you are working nearby, weeding on your hands and knees, you will be showered by the flying seeds. |
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All Euphorbias exude a milky white sap which can be a skin irritant
and should not be ingested. |
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