Thursday, November 14, 2013

Euphorbia ‘Blackbird’ is my favorite plant in the garden, this week…

While picking up more of Clifford's fallen leaves my eye was drawn to the Euphorbia 'Blackbird', behind the agaves.

I bought two small 4” plants last spring at Xera Plants (no, not all of those plants are mine)...

Planted them and promptly forgot about them. How could I forget about a plant with such beautiful color?

Ah heck, you know how it goes. So this is the other one, it doesn’t get nearly the sun and is much smaller than the one in the back garden.

Its color is about the same though, which is interesting, this is the one in the back garden, the one that caught my eye. It gets a lot more sun (and rain, as you can see by these photos).

The Xera description: "For drama in spring nothing beats Euphorbia. This selection has deep maroon leaves and in early spring clouds of burgundy-tinted chartreuse flowers. A clumping shrubby evergreen perennial to 2’ tall and a little wider. Full sun and well drained soil with a light summer water. An excellent perennial that is good looking year round. Drought tolerant when established and excellently adapted to our climate. Mix with mid-spring bulbs for a fantastic effect." Here’s an image of the flowers taken from a Bloomday post on May of 2012 - that particular plant was dug and tossed shortly after, the aphid infestation just got too nasty.

That’s my main issue with this plant in general, the aphids love it! The stats:
  • hardy in USDA zones 6a-10b
  • stays compact at 12-18” tall and 12-18” wide
  • drought tolerant once established, and likes the sun
  • as with all euphorbia the sap is toxic and an irritant, keep off your skin and away from your eyes

What's your favorite plant in the garden this week?

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

28 comments:

  1. Very nice! Does it self-sow like so many other euphorbias?

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    1. Good question! I've never seen a seedling and I've left the flowers in place long after I should have, the color changes are spectacular.

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  2. Gorgeous! And your euphorbia ain't bad either.

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  3. It's beutiful, and the one that tempts me to try again with euphorbias. (I had an earlier, scarring experience.) Maybe I'll screw up my courage this coming spring.

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    1. Do it! Seriously I've had no issues with this one seeding around (assuming that was your bad experience).

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  4. You're making me sad for my 'Blackbird'. It lasted two years in my garden before being zapped by winter last year. It's very marginal here in Zone 5b/6a. We had a Zone 7 winter the first year I had it and it came through beautifully. It was one of my very favorite plants. But last year's normal winter was too much for it, in spite of my heavy mulching. I haven't even seen it sold around here since I bought it at Walmart, of all places, over two years ago. Such a gorgeous plant.

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    1. Now I'm wishing it was a re-seeder so I could send you some babies!

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  5. This one actually survived last winter in my garden although it appears to have diminished in size somewhat (the usual Euphorbia behavior around here). Kept it's color though which is what I was hoping for.

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    1. Yay for that amazing color! Come to think of it when I picture your garden color is the first thing that comes to mind.

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    2. AnonymousMay 19, 2014

      Would it survive in a northern climate,like Iowa?

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  6. I have some dark Euphorbias that I love too, that might be Blackbird, I'll have to check. My favorite this week is one that was your favoe back in September -- variegated Fatshedera lizei. You can see my post here: http://bonneylassie.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-favorite-plant-in-garden-right-now.html

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    1. Thanks for joining in the "fav" post yet again Alison.

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  7. Shrubby Euphorbias do add a lot of drama to the garden in the spring, and the blooms last a long time too which makes it even more desirable. Your Blackbird has done well and hopefully it will continue to thrive for you. We've tried this one several times before but for some strange reason we could never get it to live longer than just one season in our garden. I think we ought to try again.

    We did our plant of the week one day early :) Alternative Eden

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    1. Yes you should try again! Oh and you've reminded me of another 'blackbird' I lost. It was in a container and I thought getting enough water from the sky. Nope. Poor thing turned crispy!

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  8. Love the colours of the picture with the flowers

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  9. I can see why that's your favorite this week. It looks great with the Agaves! Stunning color, yes, and the blooms are pretty, too. I only have one Euphorbia in my garden--Cushion Spurge (E. epithymoides). It's a very reliable plant and looks stunning in late spring. I guess my favorite plant this week is the Swiss Chard that I'm using as an ornamental in my front porch planters--still alive after multiple freezes!

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    1. Ah I used to have (and love) E. epithymoides, but I let the plants around it get to big and it lost the battle. I should find another! Swiss chard is so vibrant, I had no idea it was also so tough.

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    2. Use neem oil and the aphids will stay away. Spray under leaves and on stems. Hope this helps. I have them in my garden no issues. Beautiful plants.

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  10. Too bad the sap isn't toxic to the aphids. It's very attractive but somehow hasn't ended up in my garden (yet).

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    1. I know! I've said the same thing. Why can they go to town on the poor plant and not suffer at all? It just ain't right...

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  11. I like the dark colored Euphorbs, I have some that reseed a lot but I like that. I don't think they have such great peachy colors in the flowers though.

    For my plant favorite this week I am featuring Elaeagnus x ebbingei 'Gilt Edge'..

    http://weedingonthewildside.blogspot.com/2013/11/favorite-plant-pick-and-foliage-follow.html

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    1. Ah a new plant to discover...off to read your post!

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  12. I can see why it's a favorite, that thing is beautiful!

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  13. lovely plant survived last winter, don't know if I should cut it back this year?

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    1. I usually just cut back the old flowers, being careful to avoid any new growth.

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