Well, if you remove the flower heads before the seeds mature, it cuts down on self-sowing. At least that works with my Donkey Spurge.

One thing I learned from personal experience -- be EXTREMELY careful not to get the milky sap in your mouth, nose, and especially eyes. It burns badly -- bad enough that you would probably end up in the emergency room to get some relief. I didn't actually end up going to the ER, just rinsing my eye out for a long, long time and using OTC products, but believe me, had I had better insurance that would have paid for it, I would have.

I just cut my polychroma back by half this morning. I don't make an effort to cut it back before it goes to seed. Self sowing has not been an issue with the several clumps of it I have. In fact I love the spring show it gives and would welcome a little self sowing.

Cutting back keeps it from flopping later and makes it a nice soft attractive clump of bluish green in the summer garden.

I have 2 Cushion Spurge plants. One came back readily this year, but is quite spindly and isn't fully and bushy. I want it to be a more compact plant. The second one seems to be struggling to come back. I planted these last year, so they are still fairly young plants. I also cut them back last fall. Any suggestions on helping these two plants?

Although I am usually leery of this website as it often promotes a lot of misinformation, this article is pretty accurate and very helpful to understandhow and when to prune euphorbias. Do pay attention to the comments about the milky sap - it can be quite caustic and many folks will have an unpleasant reaction to it. Avoid any contact with your face and hands.

The one that has flowers is probably 1/4 as full and I am wondering how to get as full as yours ... I also have one thay has barely two sprigs coming up

wendy, the plants in my pics have been in the ground for 4 years. So give yours, a little time. Other than that, how is your drainage? I do have one polychroma in a less than ideal for drainage bed that has done poorly. Water sometimes lies there for short times in spring and heavy rains. Other than that, I can't think of any other reason that after 4 years the plant is spindly and tiny in comparison and with all my other polychromas.