Pruning euphorbia in spring

1euphobiabeforeThe gentle sound of gunfire penetrated my hayfever befuddled brain.  Well, I’m exaggerating of course. But I heard the telltale pop and explosion of a few euphorbia wulfenii flowers today.  So I knew that was a signal to act.

Have you ever heard them? They really do explode. It is most impressive.

I have lots of euphorbias over this garden; they are a brilliant plant. And the wulfennii’s were the very first ones I planted. So I have a soft spot for them. But in the flower arranging and admiring the fetching flower displays department they do not shine for long.

I am now currently showing my affections towards euphorbia polychroma, robbiae, and oblongata.

At the end of every spring I do think the zing of wulfennii has gone and I need to get the flowers off the plants (flowers? bracts?) before they self seed even more prolifically than they do now. 1euphorbiaafter

I do still love their foliage. And they do a stirling job in the garden – particularly under trees.

So I climbed into a pair of long gloves and rolled down my sleeves. This is messy work as the sap can really cause itchy irritation. Not to mention leaking white sap all over your clothes. So it’s a tough job, but I had to get going.

It took over an hour. I started down in the herb garden and potager so I could fling them in the compost bin. And then worked my way up the walnut path, along to the shade garden and the monster plant that is growing unchecked in front of the potting shed.

1euphurbtopruneYou will not be getting any pictures of that ghastly garden area. Seeing the peach leaf curl on the orchard trees is bad enough for one week.

The effect is rather instant. And I am relieved and pleased. But now I need to be hosed down and rolled in sawdust to get off the sap.