I've heard this as well! Here's a few various pics I shot today. These beautiful plants are getting a bit taller & wider than I'd like, so I was curious about how to prune & shape them, without doing any harm to them

Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' - when grown outdoors in a suitable habitat (like SoCal), this can get to be a very large shrub - as much as 25' tall and 8-10' wide. But you can prune it down to keep size in check. I just pruned my containerized plant when I brought it in for the winter and repotted it. Like any euphorbia, it will emit a sticky, caustic latex when pruned that some folks find very irritating and/or painful. If you are aware of the potential toxicity and are careful to avoid the sap coming into contact with any mucous membranes, you should be fine.

Personally, I find this to be a stunning plant and wish I could grow it outdoors so that it could grow to its impressive size. FWIW, if you DO live in SoCal or somewhere else where these plants are hardy and grow with ease, you should be aware that many succulents and cacti get to be pretty large in time and plan accordingly. Many do not take well to pruning :-)

Thanks so much for your feedback here! Yes the colors are stunning. We do live in So Cal., While taking a walk recently, I noticed a neighbor with some of these plants that were very large. I'll just prune carefully to keep these beauties from growing into large beast!

As much as I love the PNW and would never care to leave, I am exceedingly jealous of SoCal gardeners for their ability to grow the succulents and cacti I love so dearly :-) I used to visit there frequently when my sister still lived at Dana Point and I made her drive around to all the botanical gardens I could find that feature these plants - the Huntington, the Getty Museum, Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm Springs, Lotusland, the Sherman Garden in Corona Del Mar. Not to mention all the nurseries that offer these great plants for sale!! My carry-on baggage always contained an assortment of various poky, prickly take-home specimens!! LOL!

So true-So Cal has an abundance of gorgeous plants & flowers to enjoy. I've yet to visit the Sherman Gardens in Corona Del Mar, just drove by there couple days ago, my mom used to love that place! This past Sunday I was enjoying Rogers Garden in Newport Beach, this place is amazing as well. What does PNW stand for?

Pacific North West = PNW.

Your garden is stunning! The pencil plant sure makes a wonderful touch of orange and additional texture.

Rogers Gardens is nice but a little foo-foo and high priced (location, location, location!!). I prefer the Plant Depot in San Juan Capistrano :-)

Yes it most certainly is high priced; & some foo foo ( I assume you possibly speak of some of it's clientele or their pooches) LOL! I just love to spend a couple hours wandering & admiring. They had some absolutely gorgeous wall hanging succulent planters on display (when I checked out the price- I just snapped a picture & text it to my sister to admire as well). I also love to wander at Armstrong nurseries:)

Aha! PNW Pacific Northwest! Thanks Socks:)

By foo-foo I meant the location of the nursery and their products/prices and the "airs" they put on for their local demographic :-) A nice place but not really a plant lovers nursery!!