The time has come to deal with the Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' in my cutting garden. It's a colorful attention-grabber but it's out of control and my efforts to prune it into submission have only made things worse.
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| Photo taken yesterday |
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| You can barely tell that it's growing out of a strawberry pot |
It started as a small plant in what was originally a vegetable garden.
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| This photo was taken early in 2012 after I'd planted my first vegetable garden in the raised planters that came with the property we acquired in December 2010 |
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| In March 2014, it was still relatively small |
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| By the time I converted the vegetable garden into a floral cutting garden, the plant's size was already beginning to concern me (Photo taken March 29, 2018) |
Several months after the photo taken in March 2018, I pruned the Euphorbia back to reduce its size for the first time.
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| Before and after shots are shown on the left and right respectively. The cuttings I left at the edge of the driveway for neighbors disappeared quickly. |
The pruned plant responded by growing taller and bushier. I've cut it back at least once a year since then but it's just gotten larger and larger. This year, it's flowering too.
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| Photo taken yesterday |
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| The tip of virtually every pencil stem bears a flower. I believe this is the first time it's flowered. |
I've already planted cuttings here and there throughout my garden over the years, some of which are also growing into beasts. A mature plant can reach 8-10 feet tall, which isn't something I want to see in my cutting garden. Much as I appreciate the plant's cheerful color, I think it's time for it to go. Another giveaway is pending.
In other news, we got rain as predicted on Monday, almost three-quarters of an inch in fact. It brought our seasonal total, calculated from October 1, 2021 (the official start of our "water year"), to 7.7 inches. That's not a lot, and it's well short of the 15 inches Los Angeles "normally" receives, but on the other hand, it's nearly twice the amount we received during the prior water year.
My 50 and 160 gallon rain tanks are full and my 265-gallon tank is three-quarters full. As the latter tank is fed by rain sheeting off the smallest roof surface, I collected overflow from the rain gutters and the rain chain in a plastic garbage can and plastic trugs, moving what I collected to the largest tank as those containers filled. New water use restrictions are pending as our local water supplier moves to "stage 2" of its Water Shortage Contingency Plan in response to an executive order from California's Governor requiring stricter conservation. The rainwater I've collected provides me a little flexibility in caring for my garden but the truth is that it won't last long. Our rainy season generally comes to an end in early April and, with the exception of a wayward tropical storm in summer, we won't see any more rain in Southern California until October at earliest.
All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Goodness! I didn't realize the beautiful monster is growing in a strawberry pot... I guess it's time for it go. Any chance it could grow among the ivy on the slope? (maybe just in my mind's eyes).
ReplyDeleteThe back slope, especially the upper portion covered in ivy and honeysuckle, is shady and probably wouldn't bring out the deeper coral color that makes 'Sticks' shine. Moreover, that area's so steep, it'd be difficult to plant there and, if it actually grew 8-10 feet tall, I can imagine it eventually toppling over. While there's another stretch of ivy in the flat area along the fuzzy property line, much of that area belongs to the neighbors so that would be pushing my luck, although the idea of using it as a fence is interesting ;) I've got a couple of large 'Sticks' in the street-side succulent, which may be the best spot for it, even if I have to watch its size there too!
Deletehooray for rain! I didn't realize the raised beds came with the house -- that's handy! And you've made such good use of them. It's so ironic that even with record low rainfall we still have to keep an eye out for plants getting out of control like that euphorb. The weedy palms that bust retaining walls, the bougs, tree of heaven, so many plants want to take over the world in SoCal, and do so with very little input!
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhat reassuring that at least some of the plants here take our dry conditions and increasingly hot summers in stride, Denise. I'm often shocked at how dry portions of my garden are even after a decent rainstorm like this last one. I clearly need to continue regular doses of both compost and mulch.
DeleteWhoa! It will be interesting to see how you get it out of that strawberry pot, Kris. I imagine it has rooted into the soil below? Good luck and I hope you have some heavy duty elbow-length gardening gloves!
ReplyDeleteI think it's very unlikely that the strawberry pot is going to come out of the process intact, Horticat! I'll be suited up to avoid exposure to the Euphorbia's milky sap, that's for certain.
DeleteI tried to grow this and was unsuccessful.
ReplyDeleteI expect it's too cold and wet to grow the Euphorbia up your way, Phillip, except perhaps as a greenhouse plant. They can grow to frightening heights here.
Delete3/4" is a boon, I'd say, so late in the season. It is hard for me to imagine going 7 months with no rain. But I've always lived in a place with a 45" average annual rain/snowfall, and of course, our plants all require it. We do get dry years and it stresses every plant, except those lucky enough to be near a water source that doesn't dry up. We hope it is a temporary situation, as a 3-year drought would damage many trees here.
ReplyDeleteI will miss that sticks-on-fire, but I agree that it is taking up too much space there. They need to cultivate a dwarf version!
I actually thought that growing the Euphorbia in a pot (which I never water) would keep the plant small, Eliza. Perhaps it did for a time but now it's clearly out of control. I've got numerous stands of it in different places already - maybe too many places.
DeleteI don't imagine you will have any trouble finding a new home for that beautiful plant! Congrats on the late rain. We've had an unusually dry spring as well - again. Things are definitely changing faster than even the most upbeat models had predicted. I'm filled with dread for this summer.
ReplyDeleteCuttings of the Euphorbia always go quickly when I put them on the street. Maybe I should put the whole pot on the street (!!!) but, as Horticat suggested, I expect the pot is rooted into the ground below and will break when moved, if it isn't cracked already at its base.
DeleteUsually it has not been this case, but we received more rain down in RB than up on the hill: my home weather station reported 1.46” of rain on March 28-29. Coincidentally last Friday, I severely cut back two ‘Sticks on Fire’ planted in 2010 in the curbside garden. Since then, it has been propagated to 3 other places in my garden, to many neighbors’ gardens on my street, as well as to other people who pick-up the cuttings left in a barrel. It also has been given to Valmonte Farm & Garden to sell. The winter color is exceptional, but its does grow rapidly once established.
ReplyDeleteI can see you removing yours in that location. You can have another 1/2 wine barrel for your dahlias!
Yes, I've eyed the spot occupied by the Euphorbia as a possible location of an additional half-barrel so we're operating on the same wavelength, Kay. As a practical matter, that area may not be quite wide enough, especially if I want to leave the Aeonium ' Kiwi' surrounding the strawberry poi in place. However, I can play musical chairs and move one large terracotta pot there and put the half-barrel where the terracotta pot was, which will still increase my overall space for dahlias.
DeleteGosh, if I lived closer and in the right climate, I'd take a start: What a fun plant! I'm glad you've been able to collect and save some water. Sorry to hear about more water restrictions. I think we are slowly closing in on lessening our drought here. It would be nice to have a normal summer, but I don't even know what "normal" is anymore. Seems we either have floods or severe droughts now. Both are terrible for our ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteOur climate change patterns are similar, Beth - California just started with a different set of norms. While we're in what's now being described as a "mega-drought," we can expect episodes of flooding related to periodic "atmospheric rivers." Adding the increased frequency of wildfires - and the mudslides that then accompany those heavy rain events - it's a recipe for natural disasters becoming our new normal.
DeleteYou had a very nice looking veggie patch back then (no surprise).
ReplyDeleteI get so annoyed seeing the water running like a river off my neighbor's lawn and down the gutter. I politely mentioned it once, and the response was "so what?" At least they stopped watering 7 days a week.
I have a neighbor that waters 4x a week, including a slope covered in drought tolerant rosemary. They don't even turn off their irrigation system when it's pouring. It'll be interesting to see if and how the water company handles enforcement. It says it can levy fines of $100 per violation and even install flow restrictors or discontinue service. I'll be happy if they just go after the big-time abusers who reportedly used a million gallons of water when the 2015 restrictions were in place. Water prices have already increased significantly for everybody but that doesn't seem to change some peoples' behavior much.
DeleteI don't think you'll have any problems finding a new home for your 'Sticks on Fire'. In fact, I'd love it if you could save a few cuttings for me. I have two in pots, but they look bad and I want to start over with fresh material.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, the 'Sticks on Fire' cuttings went very fast this weekend. I stuck 4 plastic pots stuffed with cuttings out around 11am and they were all gone a few hours later. Next time you're down this way, remind me and I'll cut some for you. Although my "mother plant" is now gone, I have others planted in the ground that will benefit from being cut back at intervals.
DeleteI hope you weren't covered with euphorbia goo by the time you finished getting rid of that beast! Rain... wow, I am so happy for you!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to dodge the milky sap of that Euphorbia but I did my best, Loree. It was a bear removing that plant.
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