Euphorbia Mellifera frost damage
Less of the lass
Posts: 4
Hi. I'm a newbie looking for some advice please. I have a fabulous 1.5m x 3 m Euphorbia Mellifera which has been growing away happily in a sheltered spot in my garden in Glasgow for the last 5 years. I had no idea it was tender - it has survived at least minus 6-8 degrees in previous winters and shrugged off 3 inches of snow in the past.
This year hasn't been as cold, but there have been more prolonged cold spells and snowfall 6 or 7 times. My poor plant is looking really bedraggled - most of the leaves have dropped, but there are fresh leaf tips at the end of 4 foot long otherwise naked stems.
Should I cut it back hard once all danger of frost is past to encourage new growth, or will it eventually sprout new leaves all the way down the stems again? I would hate to lose it - one of the stars of my garden and the honey scent when in flower is amazing.
Posts
It is a bit on the tender side for Glasgow. It must be in a sheltered spot. I would cut off all the old stems in March and let new shoots come up. Give it a mulch to protect the roots. It will not grow new leaves along the bare stems.
going on the weather forecast for the next two weeks i'd leave well alone for the moment, wait until all dangers of a hard frost have gone and then prune if it looks like the ends of the branches are dead, otherwise leave alone and it should sprout back all over.
I wouldn't touch it at all, it's remarkably tougher than you might imagine. I've had one for years, and it's been through -12C and tons of snow at periods over the past 10 years where I am now, in East Anglia, where it can get really cold... winters 2010-11 and 2012-13 were especially bad here.. It will soon start shooting out lower down those stems when it starts to warm up again.. they look shocking during cold spells, and we worry about them too much...
The only thing that killed it was me, as after 8 years or so it got too big and I wanted to start again with a fresh one. They seed about gently, you should see little seedlings pop up in the Spring anywhere in your garden, so you can start another one.
Thanks for the quick responses
I am going to leave it alone until later in Spring and see what happens. If there's no regrowth along the stems by May I'll cut them back at that point. I will keep you posted!