Euphorbia spurges

[Laurasanford111]

Hi all

I have bought this plant yesterday I keep seeing it in cut flower bouquets and as I am doing cut flowers in raised beds this year I thought I needed it. Anyway I read that it likes sand and compost mix, do I have to grow it in pots? Or can it go straight into ground? I am going to pop it next to a large pink hydrangea I have. If I am popping straight into the beds, how do I ensure it has the right soil mix if that makes sense? Thankyou

I have three of them planted in deep shade under a large tree. I'm not sure what soil I have but I can't recall the gardener using anything more than the multipurpose compost I purchased.

They are doing well.
I've just planted three more this week under another pine tree in what seems like clay soil. I added more multipurpose so will see how they do. These ones won't be in deep shade like the others.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable is along soon.

Please be careful if you are using it as cut flowers. The 'sap' is pretty toxic and you should wear gloves when cutting. Do not run your eyes if you get any on your hands.

which euphorbia? There are about forty in cultivation , and they like different conditions ….label? Picture?

It likes good drainage so if you haven’t got well drained soil add some grit when planting. My best patch is growing through gravel.

As PP says, be really careful if cutting it. The sap is milky and if it gets on your skin when it’s sunny it reacts with the light and will cause nasty blisters.

Seconding the request for the variety name.

When I pick euphorbia, I scald the stems in boiling water. It seals the sap and they last longer/are less awkward to handle. The ones I use for cut flowers are wulfenii, the really gorgeous lime green.

Even the Christmas poinsettia is a Euphorbia. We do need to know which one to give cultivation advice

TBF, in this context I think 'spurge' narrows down the field - you wouldn't call a poinsettia a spurge.

Hi all thanks for your help so far, it's this one- pic attached

There are lots of varieties.

I've got 3 sorts - 2 evergreen that are huge and wouldn't survive in a pot. They are in just in the border - bit clay soil - damp in winter - but they seem fine.

Another one in a shady damp border - that it shouldn't like but seem happy enough.

A deciduous lime green one that dies back completely in winter that seems a bit unhappier in my clay soil....

I think they are fairly tough to be honest - but potentially big so need a huge pot or in the border.

From the picture, that looks as if it could be a variety of martini, which don't get very big. Does this sound right: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/90192/euphorbia-martini/details.

If so, then, do what the RHS says.

(And if it is martini, I would think it'd be fine in the ground so long as your soil isn't very heavy; if it is, I'd just dig in some sand and try it - IME they are fairly hardy.)

OK, it cuts down the range by one species.

(Googling poinsettia, phrases like " a spurge""member of the spurge family" abound

Oh, come, that isn't fair! I don't think anyone would call euphorbia globosa a spurge, or euphorbia mayurnathanii. There are lots of euphorbias that are not commonly thought of as spurges. If you google 'member of the spurge family' next to the name, of course, it's likely you'll get a result, but I do think for most people 'spurge' would help narrow down the range of euphorbias meant to be under discussion?

No, I deliberately set to one side the “cactus-like” ones. (I didn’t think most people would be familiar with them ). But the main point I was making is that Euphorbias are very different in their preferred conditions. That applies even to the ones with “spurge” in their common name, but not many people are familiar with different species of spurge, whereas most people know poinsettia, and it served a point in showing the genus is very varied.

Ok, I was nit-picking.

I take your point entirely.

Spurge can be quite invasive. I made the mistake of planting some one year, then spent the next ten getting rid of it as it took over my borders.

@Yellownotblue same 😞 it’s not even the one I thought I had planted. Considering a major job to remove…

Euphorbia martini has a red eye. From that leathery foliage it looks more like E. amygdaloides. In which case it will grow anywhere.

Not all euphorbias are spreaders, though a few are. Please be careful of the sap though. I take all sorts of stupid risks in the garden, but never with euphorbia.

RHS says only some martini have the eye. But you might well be right it's amygdaloides!