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Products > Euphorbia characias 'Bruce's Dwarf'
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| Category: Perennial |
| Family: Euphorbiaceae (Spurges) |
| Origin: Mediterranean (Europe) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Chartreuse |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Height: 2-3 feet |
| Width: 2-3 feet |
| Exposure: Cool Sun/Light Shade |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Deer Tolerant: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
| May be Poisonous (More Info): Yes |
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Euphorbia characias 'Bruce's Dwarf' (Bruce's Dwarf Euphorbia) - A relatively short lived evergreen perennial to 18 to 30 inches tall by as wide with long stems semi-upright stems rising from the plant base holding spirally arranged gray-green 3 to 5 inch long narrow leaves. The gray-green foliage is attractive year-round and in spring and summer the large clusters of chartreuse cup-shaped flower bracts blooms held above the foliage at the stem tips are amazingly showy. Plant in full sun to light shade in a dry moderately well drained soil and water sparingly to occasionally - this is a drought tolerant plant in coastal California. In garden conditions it does an excellent job of seeding itself out, so beware that this plant is likely to spread about but seedlings are easy to pull so one can leave where they like and remove where they don't. It is hardy to around 14 °F and tolerant of seaside conditions and saline soils. Cutting spent flowering stems back at the base of the plant freshens the plant up and prolongs its lifespan, which is generally from 3 to 5 years, but avoid contacting the sticky white latex that bleeds freely from cut stems as it can be irritating to some (definitely don't want to get it in the eyes or eat it) and is also hard to wash off skin and clothes. This is a very attractive and pest free plant for mediterranean climate gardens. The species, Euphorbia characias is native to Southern Europe, Turkey. The name for the genus is derived from Euphorbus, the Greek physician of King Juba II of Numidia and later of Mauritania. In 12 B.C. King Juba named a cactus-like plant he found in the Atlas Mountains after his physician and later Carl Linnaeus assigned the name Euphorbia to the entire genus. The specific epithet was the Greek name used by Dioscorides for the plant, which was long medically used for compounds it contains. The cultivar 'Bruce's Dwarf' is a plant given to us in the late 1980s by local Santa Barbara horticulturist and garden writer, Bruce Van Dyke (1922-2016), as seedlings from plants that were growing in his garden. It is fairly close to the type specimen of Euphorbia characias, which is a smaller version of the familiar Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii and remains much more dense. It seems to be a similar variety called Euphorbia characias 'Dumpty' that is widely cultivated in England. We have grown this plant continuously since 1990 from seed we collect after getting it established in our own garden.
Information displayed on this page about Euphorbia characias 'Bruce's Dwarf' is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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