Thanks Floral. Yes, It is a euphorbia. So I should divide it and cut it back and then fertilize it with some seaweed/fish emulsion? Maybe I should have done that when I brought them in? They aren't hardy here in zone 6a. There may be Euphorbias that are hardy but this one isn't. People buy them as annuals for outdoor pots. Have you ever tried to root tip cuttings? If I cut it down, wouldn't it be reasonable to try to root them?

Since yours hasn't had any winter break I see no reason to cut it back other than for shape. I've never taken cuttings but they do work. I also can't advise on fertilising in a container since this is a stick it the ground and forget it plant in my region.

Euphorbias are one of my pet plants - I have grown a lot of them - all different varieties. And most are quite a bit more winter hardy than one would imagine. E. characias may not be winter hardy for you in 6b but xmartinii, amygdaloides, epithymoides (cushion spurge) and myrsinites should all over winter for you easily, at least in the ground if not in a container.

For most of these, you will want to cut the flowering stems back as close to the base as possible after the flowers have gone over. They don't rebloom from the same stalk but may produce side shoots that can result in a very gangly, bare and unkempt look. And cutting back the old flowering stems encourages new growth from the base of the plant as well. These will carry next season's flowers.

I'd dig and divide now and at least attempt a replant of part of it outside in the ground to see how it does. Most tend to be very early bloomers and they are popping out all over in my area now. Hard to miss with those stunning acid green-yellow flower bracts!

btw, since container or potting soils contain virtually no nutrients, regular fertilization of these plants (and pretty much anything else grown in a pot) is critical for their optimum performance.

Thanks Floral, I love this particular plant, especially with the blooms on it. Lucky you that they are stick in the ground and forget it plants.

GGal, Thanks. I've tried a couple of varieties in the ground that were supposed to be hardy here and they didn't make it through one winter. I don't remember what I thought was the reason at the time, it was awhile ago. I don't really see them for sale here a lot in the spring either.

So, cut all the stems back to the base, divide it replant it, and leave it alone to settle in before fertilizing? GG, you grow a lot in containers? I've gotten away from it and I think I need to change a few things, because last year was the first time in about 5 years I attempted to grow in pots again, beause the rabbits were driving me crazy. I could do with a little better performance. What are you using for a potting mix and fertilizer? I've tried compost and seaweed/fish emulsion because I grow organic, but in the pots, I don't think this is as effective as I want.

No, don't cut the stems back BEFORE replanting. GG said do it AFTER the flowers have gone over. And even then, I, personally, would not do it until the plant is properly established.

Years ago I grew E. epithymoides (polychroma), cushion spurge, a nice spring bloomer in zone 5 A. It's a tough plant.

Wait, the flowers going over? I bought this plant in flower last spring and all the flowers were already all over it and open. The flowers didn't actually 'go over' for months. I just cut them off when they got tired looking and kept the plant for the foliage. So are you saying I should divide it, put it outside and allow it to bloom before I cut it back to the base? That was not what I was trying to do, because as it is, the plant is not good looking. the bottom of most of the branches are bare and the tips have like 3 growing points each.

I might as well, attempt to just plant it as is outside and buy new plants for my pots this spring.

But I do get what you are saying about waiting for it to become established before cutting it back to the base. I was hoping that this would behave like some annuals and respond to cutting back by pushing out new growth and then flowering. I realize some perennials don't respond that way.

Thanks, laceyvail, I'll look for that one.

Well, I don't think it'll make much difference in the long run. It has already had an unnatural winter from being indoors so treating it like a healthy outdoor specimen may not matter. I was just saying the optimal treatment. If you don't like the look of yours cut it off when you want.

I'll just trim it up to shape it and leave it and plant it outside somewhere. Thanks.

I wouldn't trim it at all cos it will leak latex everywhere. Just stick it in the ground and the older stems will eventually go sere, beige and snap off, leaving space for new growth. Some things are best left to their own devices. But that is what I would do - don't really like to dish out advice to people with very different climates and expectations, tbh, so feel free to ignore.

Thank you Rosaprimula, I'm really happy to get all kinds of advice and then figure out what works for me. I didn't remember the plant leaked latex so that's good to know. These Euphorbias I'm just not all that familiar with because I might have brought them home for pots twice and planted what was supposed to be hardy for me, twice, in the past 15 years. So I always like to consult other gardeners who have more experience with a plant than I do.

RP makes a good point - how euphorbs behave and how I care for them in my zone 9 garden are likely very different from the way they should be approached in your zone 6b. Here are my thoughts and what I would do..........which may or may not be pertinent to your situation.

Euphorbias are a massive genus with a massive amount of variability in appearance, hardiness and growing requirements. Hardy garden euphorbs are generally of two types - fully herbaceous (dying back to the ground in winter) or mostly to entirely evergreen and forming small woody subshrubs. The ones I listed earlier in the thread belong to this second group. These all tend to share a need for very well drained soils, especially in winter. Overly wet soils combined with cold temps could be the reason yours did not overwinter successfully, PM2.

The bracts/flowers do hold their appearance for a long time. As they are such early bloomers, I usually leave them in place until the later spring flowers take over and then I cut them back. Sometimes I am distracted by other activities and let the stems mature as RP described but they often look too 'dead' for my garden tastes so I remove them before they get to that stage. I consider these stems to be biennial - they develop during the season one year but do not flower until the second, then they eventually die back after flowering.

I tend to not worry about the latex as I seem to have almost no reaction to it but it IS caustic if it gets near eyes or mouth, etc., and it is sticky so I do wear gloves.

I do not divide the plants as my experience has not been positive with division. Most seem to have a single basal growth point and a deep root system that doesn't lend itself easily to division. But there are exceptions :-))

Most will self seed freely for me, even the so-called sterile forms of xmartinii (they are not!). One former garden had countless characias/xmartinii hybrids popping up. They can be quite promiscuous :-)

I do grow them in containers (and now exclusively in containers as is the rest of my garden) and I use a variation of the 5-1-1 mix but with added grit to improve drainage and reduce water retention. These are not very thirsty plants by and large. I fertilize with Dyna Gro 9-3-6, as I do all my containers, indoor and out - organics tend to be very inefficient in a container.

PM2, if I were in your shoes, I'd leave the plant alone but plant outside in appropriate conditions to see how it does. Buy a new one for the container :-)

GGal, You may be right about the wet soil in winter. I do have clay soil, that I consider loamy because to me it is easy to dig and I never have standing water anywhere except a couple of puddles at the back at the bottom of the downspout exits and they are gone by the time the rain stops. I also have a bark mulch walkway on the north side of my garage that does get standing water in a heavy rain, but it’s also gone by the time the rain stops. I also have trouble growing salvias and lavender, plants that require good drainage. But I have amended the soil with compost and I’ve added some berms and gravel for drainage on a slope that I designated for anything needing the best drainage. Your lucky you can grow them so easily there.

So I agree with everyone suggesting that I just leave it alone. That’s what I’ll do and I’ll buy a new one for this spring season.

GGal, I usually mix up my own potting soil with peat moss/perlite and some compost. What is in your 5-1-1 mix? Where do you get grit? I’ll take a look at the Dyna Grow. Thanks!