I bought a gorgeous Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow last fall knowing full well that it will be too hot for this one during the summer months here. I know from experience if I leave it outside it will melt. Rather than treating it like a winter annual, I am considering bringing it inside to the air conditioning for the next 6 months. It is just an experiment and it will be interesting to see what happens. Since I have never had one last more than one season, what do you do with these plants when they finish blooming? Mine is finished, should I be cutting it back now?
Thanks!
Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow
I tend to avoid cutting back because the sap can cause a rash on the skin (all euphorbia can do that). I have this same variety, and will post some pics when I return from vacation. Mine looks good, going on year 2. It hasn't bloomed yet this year.
Good point, I forgot about the sap. You are fortunate to have cool nights in Oregon, it is our steamy hot nights that some plants like Euphorbias can't take.
Here are the pics I promised.
One more
Just beautiful, I love this plant. I did bring mine inside where it is air conditioned and,so far, it is holding on. There are three new shoots from the base. It gets dry quickly in the house though and a lot of leaves have fallen off, I am having to water it every day. Maybe I just need to put it in a larger container. Will the flower heads eventually just fall off?
You eventually have to deadhead down to the tops of the leaves (just for looks). (leave foliage intact). Careful for the sap though!
I've raised this plant...and other hybrid phorbs...for several years now. I have it placed in the landscape to receive pm shade, but it gets lots of full hot morning and non sun...even in Texas summer...this year has been particularly humid, which is not characteristic. The Ascot Rainbow is shining. I trimmed away blooms to redirect the plant's growth in April and time to do it again. I have not found that any of the hybrids naturally remove their own blooms...so I do it for them.
I did lose several when I brought them into the greenhouse for the summer...they sustained the greenhouse, but dwindled when I put them back outside...
This is a Beautiful addition to the Texas garden...takes the heat, drought-tolerant, and glows in and among darker green foliage...sounds like it would do well in SC landscape as well...
I planted Ascot Rainbow for the first time this year.
I put it in one of the few places which gets sun in my yard, right next to the highway frontage.
You guys are making me nervous that it will get cooked in the sun.
I figured it would be nice tough plant for that situation. I may regret it.
We'll see...
It is my understanding that is is not the sun as much as the humidity that will get it. They melt during the summer around here, hence my experiment with it indoors. So far it has lost a lot of leaves but new growth is starting from the base. We had a nice rainstorm yesterday so I put it outside for a drink. There are parts of SC where this plant would thrive in the ground, just not along the muggy coast.
Hmm, that's not what I wanted to hear...
My non-variegated euphorbias have done fine w/ our humidity in past,
but I don't have tons of experience with them (since I have so little sun).
I just have a couple plants, but they looked great last year.
Is it a problem specifically with the heavily variegated cultivars, or with the entire species?
In addition to excessive humidity, we have a problem because our nights stay in the 80's during the summer, the poor plants never get a rest. A lot of plants, like some euphorbias, just turn to mush and disappear. There are Zone 9 spots where these plants thrive but they are on the west coast - places where the nights are cool. I am hoping my air conditioning mimics these conditions.
This message was edited May 18, 2012 3:34 PM