I picked up Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow from mamajack (Walters) as a small start last year. Beautiful shot of red throughout winter. Just pruned last night.


A. polychroma Bonfire and dulcis Chameleon both do OK but they get very leggy by late summer. Neither seem to appreciate pruning in late spring early summer but particularly Chameleon seems to resent it. There's a large amount of sap flow at this time and I'm wondering if that may have something to do with it. I'm sure being at the edge of their hardiness doesn't help either.

P.S. Be wary because Debra is a terrible enabler.

Debbie, I love your euphorbias and would love to try growing it myself.

Can you recommend a good one to start with? I've seen them at nurseries and think they're beautiful, but it's hard to make a choice when I know so little about them.

I'm a little north of you and it gets really hot and humid here in the summer.

Charam and Redwing are two cv. names for the same plant.

Oh, that helps a lot.

Would this be a good plant to start off with?

As far as I know it's properly Euphorbia 'Charam' aka Redwing (a trade name). Try googling "charam redwing".

Here's the RHS DB link: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/horticu...

Verry niiiice

Thanks Evan!

"Trade names" are so confusing.

I'm not sure how many of you have read this but my article has some information: I hope it's okay to post that on ATP?

We've tried so many over the years and in our zone E. x martinii or any of the cultivars derived from this one have all proven to be the hardiest, most vigorous, etc. We have had a few which have been 'attacked' by an unknown pest which no one has been able to identify? A perfectly healthy plant will be exhibiting symptoms of wilting which we assumed might be lack of water. Additional water was supplied but the plant would continue to suffer. Upon closer inspection (and eventual death) we noticed signs of what looked like borers? It's happened several times but overall it doesn't create a huge problem, considering the ratio of what we've lost compared to the success of others.

Last year we tried 'Tiny Tim' for the first time and we were really pleased with it. Extremely vigorous and the shorter, bushier habit is great for the front of the border. Not surprising it's proven to be one we'd recommend, another cultivar from E. x martinii. It's only been in the gardens a year so I'll be curious to see if it's "dwarf" description holds true. 'Shorty' was described as having a "compact" habit but it's taller than most in the gardens?

Found another landscape shot from 2010 - from left to right:
E. x martinii, 'Shorty', 'Rudolph', 'Bonfire' with a suffering planting of E. 'Glacier Blue' in the background.

Evan, I forgot to comment on your photos! The plant behind 'Ascot Rainbow' in the first photo, name? It's on the tip of my tongue but just can't remember! Your winter shot looks discouraging, it looks similar to what we found several years ago with that huge load of snow. Don't give up on it, they're pretty darned resilient and even though you might sacrifice the blooms this year it should bounce back quickly after pruning. Most years I try to prune ours after flowering but the flowers last so long it's usually June/July before I whack them back. Always tough cutting a 3' plant down to 6"-12" but I keep telling myself it's good for the plant.

This is an example of one I waited way TOO long to prune back.

Tee, one piece of advice with 'Chameleon' - give it a location with as much sun as possible. It's been kind of finicky for us and I was almost ready to toss it last year. It must have "heard" me because last summer, after 3 years, it behaved much better than any other year! The burgundy foliage is beautiful with the fresh foliage in spring but it fades quickly to a dirty mahogany by mid summer unless it gets full sun exposure. FYI, it's also self sows! Not a problem for me because sometimes the mother plant suffers so the seedlings are welcome replacements.

Speaking of sun exposure, when we first started planting a lot of these Euphorbias I believed the planting recommendations on the ID tags and planted them with a little protection from the hot sun (i.e. partial/bright shade). I've since learned from our experience with those in the gardens that they really do perform better in full sun and I always recommend a sunnier location for planting.

Thanks, Debbie, that's good to know since I had planted Chameleon on the west side of the house ... it will get sun full-on and unobstructed for at least six hours or more.

I, too, first planted them in the shade. But now all of them are getting more sun and looking good.

I also have the "graveyard" Euphorbia, E.cypariassias 'Fen's Ruby' but I have it contained as it can be quite the little spreader from what I understand. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if it did take over part of the yard ... but just part.

rcn48 said:"Trade names" are so confusing.

I'm not sure how many of you have read this but my article has some information: http://davesgarden.com/guides/... I hope it's okay to post that on ATP?

We've tried so many over the years and in our zone E. x martinii or any of the cultivars derived from this one have all proven to be the hardiest, most vigorous, etc. We have had a few which have been 'attacked' by an unknown pest which no one has been able to identify? A perfectly healthy plant will be exhibiting symptoms of wilting which we assumed might be lack of water. Additional water was supplied but the plant would continue to suffer. Upon closer inspection (and eventual death) we noticed signs of what looked like borers? It's happened several times but overall it doesn't create a huge problem, considering the ratio of what we've lost compared to the success of others.

Last year we tried 'Tiny Tim' for the first time and we were really pleased with it. Extremely vigorous and the shorter, bushier habit is great for the front of the border. Not surprising it's proven to be one we'd recommend, another cultivar from E. x martinii. It's only been in the gardens a year so I'll be curious to see if it's "dwarf" description holds true. 'Shorty' was described as having a "compact" habit but it's taller than most in the gardens?

Found another landscape shot from 2010 - from left to right:
E. x martinii, 'Shorty', 'Rudolph', 'Bonfire' with a suffering planting of E. 'Glacier Blue' in the background.

WOW!! These are so beautiful . I really love the blue ones. Thank you for the link to the article, love the Euphorbia cotinifolia . When you say dwarf, how dwarf is dwarf? Are all these Euphorbias evergreen? I found that 'Almost Eden' has several of these for sale but they are all zone 9-11. Do you know anyone who has the hardy ones?

Debbie, the plant in question is Ajania pacifica. Your demonstration photo is VERY informative. Bloom is on old growth? We had very little snow this year except the 12" dump in late October so this past winter isn't at all typical.

Evan, yes blooms on old growth. However, if you cut them back early enough it still might send out a few blooming spikes but they won't be nearly as spectacular as those on last year's growth.

Tee, we planted 'Fens Ruby' years ago hoping it would spread but unfortunately the weeds were more vigorous and 'won' that spot. I love seeing the drifts of E. cyparissias growing along the highways. I know it's considered a noxious weed but so pretty when it's in full bloom. Like any aggressive groundcover, there's a right place for the right plant, unfortunately a manicured garden sometimes isn't the right place.

Susan, I had that Euphorbia cotinifolia for about four years and it was one my favorites in the container plantings. Unfortunately it's not hardy here so we'd have to cut it back (severely!) every fall and bring it inside for the winter. Two years ago we had an unexpected, early frost and the poor thing didn't make it. I'm still looking for another one!

Re: "dwarf" - like I mentioned in a previous post I don't trust the dwarf descriptions. I suppose if most of the Euphorbias will grow up to 3', then anything under 12" would be considered dwarf? I haven't looked for any new Euphorbias this year so I don't know who might have a good selection. Plant Delights has a limited selection http://www.plantdelights.com/ as well as Lazy S Farm http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plan... Odd that everyone seems to like the "blues", for some reason when we were selling them we couldn't give them away?

That color combination you have is just addictive. The Ajania in the background of my pic are cuttings from the plant on the left and will be moved this spring. Has anyone tried Jessie?

Do you give them fertilizer?

Oops, Evan forgot to thank you for ID on the Ajania. I really did have it on the tip of my tongue but when I typed it into Plant Database search nothing showed so I thought my memory was wrong? Our patch is slowly dwindling but it holds sentimental value regardless. We used cuttings in the floral arrangements for our wedding reception.

'Jessie'....arghhh, not too fond of it. It's still alive but it grows to over 4' and doesn't form a bushy form, tall and straggly. Of course, to give the plant some credit, I've never taken the time to prune it back either. I don't remember what the species is but it never looked much different to me than E. griffithi 'Dixter' and I like 'Dixter' much better. Alas, another one we've lost over the years which is odd because E. griffithi 'Excalibur' continues to perform well?

Tarev, we rarely fertilize anything in the gardens. We're always asked what we use for fertilizer and we always tell everyone... water is the best fertilizer.

Thank you Debbie!

I just have to hide my little Euphorbia indoors tonight...so windy here, might get uprooted..