Last week I talked about winter-blooming plants like the Sarcacocca and the week before about Hellebores as being good plants for winter interest. While the Sarcacoccas don't have a spectacular flower like the Hellebores do, the fragrance of their little white flowers can be enjoyed throughout the garden. But the Hellebores aren't generally fragrant, so sometimes we need to trade one for another.
A third, but equally nice, winter plant is the Euphorbia or Spurge. You will see these striking plants in a lot of local gardens starting in early January when they start forming a flower-like spike. Euphorbias belong to a large genus of plants that belong to the family Euphorbiaceae. There are about 2000 species with more than 600 hybrids and cultivars.
Poinsettia is a type of non-succulent Euphorbia and the milky sap you will find when you cut into a poinsettia is typical of the genus. They can reach about 2 feet in height and will easily spread.
I have the almond-leaved Euphorbia amygdaloides or wood spurge in my garden. This one is considered to be a succulent and grows up to 2 feet tall. It thrives in full sun and is tolerant of drought but also does great in the semi-shady areas in my garden. It is also deer resistant, making it a good choice if you have deer or elk issues. The flowers of the wood spurge are actually bracts that form from the tops of the leaf clusters. While the leaves are green, the bracts turn a chartreuse or yellow color and will bloom long into the hotter summer months. I cut mine back about the end of July.
There are a few caveats to Euphorbia, though. First is that milky sap. It can extremely irritating to skin and eyes so wear long sleeves, long pants, and gloves when working around this plant, especially when you are pruning it. Don’t plant it where pets or children tend to walk or play.
The second caveat is that wood spurge may get to be invasive. A couple of years ago, I was so overrun with wood spurge that I dug it all out. It spreads by rhizomes so, apparently, I didn’t get them all dug up because I had a recurrence of the Euphorbia the following January, just not as much.
But I watched a segment of the BBC’s coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show last May and they showed lovely large swaths of Euphorbia just like mine. I decided maybe they weren’t so bad. While I still dig out the ones that have “volunteered” in locations I don’t want them, I leave a large group in the back parts of the gardens where they can spread as much as they like and do no harm.
So, when you are wondering what you can add to your garden for some winter interest, remember the word “SHE” – Sarcacocca – Hellebores – Euphorbia – and SHE will mend those winter blues.
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