Euphorbia bordered, or euphorbia bordered (Euphorbia marginata) Is an annual plant of the Euphorbiaceae family, which grows in the wild in North America, mainly on the slopes of the mountains. Reproducing by self-seeding, at home it covers vast areas, forming picturesque endless fields.
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Euphorbia bordered forms low-branched shoots 60–80 cm high, densely covered with light green leaves. In August, when small, almost imperceptible white flowers open at the tops of the shoots, the edges of the apical leaves become silvery-white, so that the tip of the shoot resembles an outlandish flower. At a cursory glance at the flower bed, the edged milkweed bushes resemble snow balls.
Growing
The soil... To grow it in the garden, you need warm, sunny places, sheltered from the winds. The plant is absolutely undemanding to the soil factor. Both scanty stony and sandy substrates are suitable for him. Although, of course, on fertile and loose soil, the spurge feels much more comfortable
Watering... Waterlogging of the soil for euphorbia can be detrimental. Therefore, wet depressions with a high level of groundwater standing should be avoided when choosing a site for planting. But the plant safely tolerates drought and does not need frequent watering. This is one of those cases where it is better to water not enough than to overflow.
Reproduction
Once sown in favorable conditions, Euphorbia often reproduces by self-sowing, without requiring any agrotechnical measures. Euphorbia fringed also tolerates a light shadow, but with a total lack of light, it will look weak and pale.
Euphorbia, bordered by seeds, multiplies, they are sown for seedlings in early April, seedlings appear in 10-12 days. Seedlings dive into pots with a diameter of 6-7 cm. The strongest and hardiest plants can be obtained by sowing milkweed bordered before winter.
Seedlings are planted in open ground in early June, when the danger of return frosts has passed. Plants are planted with a distance of 25-30 cm between them. Young plants are fed 2-3 times with complex fertilizers, and watered only in very dry weather.
Euphorbia is planted most often in the background of mixborders, so that in the first half of summer it is decorated with beautifully flowering annuals. But closer to autumn, it becomes one of the best flower garden decorations.
The vegetative way of reproduction of euphorbia is not particularly difficult. The cuttings are cut and placed in warm water to stop the milky juice preventing rooting. Then the planting material is dried in air (in the shade, of course) at a temperature of about +22 ... + 25 ° C and planted in a mixture of sand and peat. Rooting takes place after 2-3 weeks.
A distinctive feature of milkweed is the presence of milky sap, which stands out on the breaks and cuts of branches and leaves. This juice is poisonous and can significantly burn the skin, therefore, when working with it, you must definitely use garden gloves.
Use in garden design
In flower beds and in mixborders, plantings of bordered euphorbia are used to separate plants with poorly combined colors. It can also be used as a curb along garden paths and flower beds.
Its shoots stand perfectly in the cut, but before placing them in a vase, you need to hold the cut place a little in hot water to remove the abundant milky juice. In the cut, edged euphorbia looks good in compositions from crops such as mallow, delphiniums, asters, dahlias.
If one of the neighbors already has this type of milkweed, then it is enough to ask for a couple of seeds in the fall or one or two cuttings in the summer. Its pleasant silvery-green foliage with a clean white border has not left anyone indifferent, and its dense, maintenance-free bushes are ideal for busy people or for decorating hard-to-reach corners of the garden.
"Ural gardener" No. 45, 2017
Photo by Rita Brilliantova and from the Greeninfo.ru forum
