Euphorbias Dropping like Flies

14 years ago

I have several varieties of perennial euphorbias, and they have been dying right and left beginning around the end of the summer. I've lost serveral E. amygdaloides 'Purpurea', as well as E. x martini 'Tiny Tim', E. 'Bonfire', E. characias 'Shorty', E 'Blackbird', and E. 'Helena's Blush'.

I've tried spraying with a fungicide at the first sign of a problem, but this has been to no avail. It seems that once the problem starts, there's no stopping it.

What is happening? and is there any way to stop it? Thanks

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

5 years ago

Once established, wulfenii needs no supplemental irrigation. We get virtually no rainfall from May through September here and there are free seeding stands of this plant in area gardens that never get watered!!

Excessive watering or overly wet soils will lead to root rots with these kind of hardy euphorbs that they are unlikely to recover from. I would cut out all the fully brown stems, stop any further watering and hope for the best.

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Comments (8)

nckvilledudes
14 years ago
Don't have much to go on since you gave no symptomology, but my first thought is that they are getting too much water and probably rotting out. Euphoribias prefer great drainage and will not respond well to standing water or just too much water.
garry_z7a_md
Original Author
14 years ago
Stems and leaves start wilting from the top of the plant down, and the leaves are changing color and falling off. I figured water was the issue as well as the humidity, but didn't know if there was anything that i could do to stop the spread. They all receive pretty good drainage...especially the characias. I have others that are untouched and look great still. Luckily the humidity is starting to let up around here, but this has been an especially wet growing season here in the east.
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davidrt28 (zone 7)
14 years ago
If you are in one of the parts of Maryland that has had a very wet August & September, they were probably drowning.

In the final analysis some Euphorbias, especially the more Mediterranean ones like E. characias, simply must be grown on raised beds and/or in sandy/rocky soil to survive long term in the zn 6b/7 parts of the Mid-Atlantic where they can be cultivated at all. Sooner or later a wet spell will get them. This isn't as much a problem in Seattle where there will never be a wet August, and the winters are usually much milder. Even there (and in NW Europe) they are known to need well-draining soil. Here they need very well-draining soil although you might get them persisting for a couple years in a level clay.

BTW I think I once reported 'Tasmanian Tiger' didn't seem very cold hardy. Well, it's hardiness seems to be improving with age. I think this spurge just takes longer to get established because the variegation weakens it.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://water.weather.gov/index.php?layer[]=0amp;layer[]=1&layer[]=4&timetype=RECENT&loctype=STATE&units=engl&timeframe=last90days&product=observed&loc=stateMD
davidrt28 (zone 7)
14 years ago
my 'Tasmanian Tiger' is not only on a raised bed, but protected by a wide roof overhang. This microclimate also allows me to grow a couple California natives which would otherwise be ungrowable on the East Coast.

Garry when you say well draining do you just mean native soil that is sloping? In a really wet summer, even a sloped area can stay too moist for a Euphorbia characias if the soil were clay.
Michael Tomczak
5 years ago

I am a relatively new gardener in the south of France. I set out to plant local drought tolerant plants and this summer, which was wildly hot, I got carried away and over watered my euphorbia wulfenii. today is started to die back and the the soil around the crown is damp. the same age plant next to it is fine (for now) but is it a goner? Is there something I can do or just stop watering it, leave it alone and see how it responds over winter and next spring? I'm really sad about it...... thanks. Michael
Michael Tomczak
5 years ago
Thanks for that gardengal48! I'll take your advice and hang up my watering can for the summer. lesson learned.
davidrt28 (zone 7)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Would not have expected to have a reason to reference my own "deadliest summer" thread, but this was the first summer wet enough to kill some Euphorbias in my garden since 2011. Didn't mention it there because for me, it's such an insignificant plant. They self-seed in the drier parts of my garden, and in fact, this spring, I killed off a whole bunch of them. Other than a couple that seemed to have an improved flowering head.

In fact the heavy rains killed off the original plant from Joy Creek - got it in the first order I'd ever placed from them, back in 2006 or 2007. It was declining anyhow.

Normally, however, they are quite tolerant to wet spells in my climate (coastal mid-Atlantic USA) - which is a pretty wet climate! Provided they have very well-drained soil and full sun to help 'dry off'. You must have REALLY over-watered them! Tsk tsk! They are almost native to your area, so can normally put up with a lot of summer dryness. As GG said.

I wouldn't count them out btw. This is basically an elegant weed we're talking about. Some plants like Rhododendrons are more or less dead once root rot reaches an advanced stage, but yours might recover. They might look bad for the rest of the season, but put on healthy new growth next spring. Unlike a true shrub, a sub-shrub is regenerating stems throughout its life.