Euphorbias (Part 1, Evergreen & Large)

Genus: Euphorbia (Family: Euphorbiaceae), Species covered: amygdaloides, characias, x martinii

Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii (March 2012)

Euphorbias started out as my husband’s “thing” and we even own the RHS Wisley Handbook about this group of plants. While it is a large genus, many of its species are not hardy in the UK, so the handbook is actually of reasonable size (and price). Planted originally solely in response to Simon’s boundless enthusiasm, most of our euphorbia’s have truly earned their keep in the garden as their are hardy, resilient and have long season’s of interest, so there will be several blogs showcasing different subgroups we have in the garden.

Euphorbia characias "Humpty Dumpty" (mid March 2011)

You should be aware that the milky sap is toxic and an irritant, which apparently some people can react very strongly to, so you should wear gloves and long sleeves when planting, pruning and otherwise interacting with these plants, as well as carefully considering whether animals and children might get in contact with them when choosing a planting site. I once ended up with a sap burn on the inside of my arm, which was no worse than a scratch, but sensitivities can vary and you most definitely do not want any sap near your face/eyes. We did worry about our dog crashing through the larger euphorbias and getting covered in sap, but she tends to stay out of the flowerbeds, so this has not been a problem. The sap is apparently also highly toxic to fish, so you should not plant a euphorbia close to an ornamental pond, and it can gum up your secateurs, meaning anvil ones are better than bypass, and all should be cleaned well after pruning.

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae young flower (late February 2011)

While that doesn’t sound much like fun, the large evergreen euphorbias really are very attractive and provide year-long structure, as well as interesting flowers in spring. The handbook would like me to point out that the stems for these species are actually never older than two years, making them biennial-shooted evergreens (there is a group of “proper” evergreen euphorbias as well), but, provided you prune out the dead flowering shoots, I would call them “functionally evergreen”.

As the title of this post indicates, I want to start with the large euphorbias in this group.

Euphorbia characias "Portugese Velvet" (March 2012)

Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii is the most architectural species we have, and it really has grown into a substantial feature, as you can see in the photo at the top. We also have a Euphorbia characias “Humpty Dumpty” and more recently acquired a Euphorbia characias “Portugese Velvet”, which has furry and tactile-looking leaves and will hopefully not grow quite as big (it’s in a raised bed at the moment).

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae (March 2012)

Euphorbia amygdaloides "Purpurea" (March 2012)

We also have a Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae, which is happily colonising a shady corner, and what looks like a Euphorbia amygdaloides“Purpurea” in the front garden. The former tends to pop up as runners over quite a long range and needs to be kept in check, but this is good if you want to propagate the plant. One of my Purpureas went through a phase of looking quite sickly and I’ve removed one last year, but the other one, in a very sunny site, is doing surprisingly well at the moment – apparently they can be quite weak.

Finally, we have a Euphorbia “Efanthia” in the front garden, which appears to be another hybrid of E. amygdaloides.

Euphorbia ("Efanthia" or x martinii, March 2011)

It is common for E. characias and E. amygdaloides to hybridise and these are collectively known as E. x martinii. While I think we may have lost one the unnamed hybrids in my database, we bought a E. x martinii“Ascot Rainbow” last year and it is developing into an attractive feature in the grasses bed.

Euphorbia x martinii "Ascot Rainbow" (October 2011)

If you can put up with the sap and accommodate the exuberant growth, these large, evergreen euphorbias make an attractive garden plant, combining interesting flowers with good structure. They seem to be able to shrug off aphids and rust, and I haven’t seen mine suffer from mildews (yet).

Daffodils

Genus: Narcissus (Family: Amaryllidaceae)

Narcissus (late February 2011)

It is spring, and in this part of the world that means daffodils are popping up in gardens and on the verges of many roads. Apparently there are thousands of cultivars available and this hardy bulbous perennial is a firm favourite of both gardeners and flower growers at this time of year. And who could argue with the sheer exuberance and variety on offer?

Narcissus (March 2012)

There are two main ways in which I have significantly reduced the likelihood of repeat flowering: by accidentally spearing the bulbs during their dormancy and by cutting back the green too early after the flowers have finished. But as long as you deadhead and then leave them to die down naturally, they should come back the following year. And in terms of planting out, apparently even if you get the depth wrong, the bulbs are actually able to re-position themselves. But let’s not be ridiculous about it – 2-3 times the height of the bulb is usually a good bet.

Since many of the daffodils in my garden came from unnamed mixtures, let’s just enjoy the pictures:

Narcissus (March 2011)

Narcissus (possibly 'Binkie', March 2011)

Narcissus (possibly 'Ice Follies', March 2011)

Narcissus 'Rip van Winkle'

Hellebores

Helleborus orientalis (March 2011)

Genus: Helleborus (Family: Ranunculaceae) Species covered: orientalis, niger, argutifolius, lividus, foetidus and Helleborus x sternii

Helleborus orientalis hybrids 'Harvington Apricots' (late February 2011)

I took a long time to make friends with Helleborus orientalis. When we were renting, I got fed up with the general bleakness of winter one year in January, so I dragged Simon off to the Garden Centre and just about the only thing in bud/flower at the time were the hellebores, so we got a couple and planted them into terracotta pots. They looked ok for the first year, but then suffered from blackspot and never really took off again. One survived long enough to move with us and eventually ended up in the garden, where it has gone from strength to strength, seeding itself around liberally. (Must weed…)

Helleborus niger (March 2012)

Helleborus orientalis (March 2012)

On the strength of this success, I got a few more, which are now in their second year and coming on nicely. I also have a couple of Helleborus niger, which tend to suffer a little with blackspot, but are doing well this year after I actually remembered to remove the diseased leaves before the new ones came up.

Helleborus foetidus 'Wester Flisk Group' (March 2011)

But my real breakthrough with hellebores occured when I came across the species with architectural leaves, of which I now host H. argutifolius, H. foetidus, H. lividus and the Helleborus x sternii hybrid. Our garden is North facing, so there is no shortage of shady corners, and the soil is pretty decent as well, although it can get a little soggy. For the last few years, in the depths of winter, these have been an absolute delight, providing decent green structure and flowering profusely. However, they did not like the last, rather mucky winter, so I’ve had to cut them all back to the ground as the leaves were blotchy and the flowers (which came up far too early, as we had a late, hard frost) were starting to mould. We’ll see whether they make a comeback, they are currently looking promising.

Helleborus x sternii (March 2011)

Anyway, other than the dreaded blackspot, they are pretty reliable performers and require only minimal tidying. It is easy enough to stay on top of the seedlings, and I’m still hoping for an exciting new cross to pop up, but it will take a while yet before most of the plants are big enough to flower.

Helleborus x sternii making a comeback (March 2012)

Helleborus argutifolius (I think, late February 2011)

Spring! A Good Time to Make a Start in the Garden

Welcome to my brand new blog. As I’ve explained on the About page, I’ve been meaning to turn my loose collection of photographs and plant labels into a plant portfolio for over a year now, but I also want to document the seasons in my own garden and capture my experiences and observations with different plants. I live in the West Country of the UK, where the weather is milder than in other parts of the UK, but also wetter and windier – we are just a few miles from the sea, so the weather is often changeable. At the moment, we are in a stable high pressure area and it is surprisingly warm and sunny, which means there is a lot of beautiful early blossom, but we are not far away from having to water new transplants and the rhubarb as we are used to a lot more rain at the end of March!

I like finding and trying out different plants, as well as exploring the differences between cultivars of the same species, and different species of the same genus. There are a few nurseries and plant fairs where more unusual cultivars can be found, so while I have a lot of the staples in my garden, there are also a few less common varieties to keep things interesting.

I will keep the technical information to a minimum, as you can get that from garden and reference books, and focus instead on my own uses of the plants, as well as documenting their life cycles in photos. And if I’m missing something, hopefully I can remember to take the pictures this year and update the posts, so it may be worth checking back if something seems incomplete.