This afternoon, unlike the weekend, is sunny but not actually all that warm. The weekend was icy cold with rain and wind and Monday morning I awoke to what looked like frost but was either frozen ice crystals or strangely transparent hail.
Euphorbia rigida
The first Euphorbia to open its inflorescence is E. rigida. I really don’t understand the name of this variety because of all the Euphorbias I’ve seen this one sprawls the most! But I like it for its strange habit and the colour it adds to the garden so early in the season.
E. rigida
In my post for GBBD (Garden bloggers Bloom day) it wasn’t showing the characteristic orange true flowers, now it is fully open and showing its cheerful colour to the world.
A closer look
The true flower is orange
Creating my own garden of the Hesperides 
Christina, is this the same plant in the photos on my blog? seen in the antiques dealer’s garden in Viterbo ?
I’m not sure which image you mean. But from what I could see they aren’t the same plants. Christina
Very zesty! Perhaps the name was sarcastically given? 🙂
Perhaps you’re right! Christina
That is a super flower, nestling amongst the colourful bracts, a real splash of colour at this time of year.
A lovely plant – one I have not heard of before
A great plant for drought areas. Christina
Very attractive–I like the coloring.
I just love euphorbias – such an interesting plant. I think I overwatered mine, but I need to try again. Yours is stunning. Love those bright colors!
It doesn’t need any water at all! Christina
This looks rather more like a curiosity than a beauty. The recent very cold winters have been taking a toll on euphorbias that dared to stray on to clay. Christina visited Lazio this weekend -what weather. Coming back in May to look at gardens. Do you open yours?
Yes, they do prefer free draining soil. I don’t open the garden but you would be very welcome to visit. The weather last weekend was a terrible, now it is lovely and sunny again. Christina
I don’t see euphorbia here very much. It is a beautiful plant with interesting architecture and color. Perhaps there is one in my future!
They are very easy plants, I’m sure there is one that would do well in your garden. Christina
I have a Euphorbia, which looks the same, that was given to me as I was starting the garden. I planted it in a few really tough spots and it has continued to thrive – untouched. I am scared of it, I read soon after that it could give severe skin irrritations, so I avoid it like the plague. Am I overreacting? I’ve noticed you use them happily.
The sap, a thick white, milky substance can burn the skin in sunshine, so I’m very careful when I cut back old flowering stems, but otherwise it doesn’t cause any problems. Christina
I would be quite happy to wear gloves to cut it but I thought it might irritate if bare legs touched it by accident. I am starting to admire it as it receives no care and no water.
No it is only the latex sap which causes problems and that only in conjunction with sunlight, the stronger the sun the worse the burn. Christina
Thanks for that, I’ll keep an eye out but I’m not sure if it gets hot enough here for it to ooze sap, so I should be safe enough.
Wow I love how this flowers and is a sea of orange and yellow…we are still covered in white.
I just enjoy the fact that it is a plant that doesn’t require any attention. Christina
I’m always tempted by these when I seen them in nurseries…but I have a feeling the sprawling would drive me crazy…do they re-sprout from the roots if cut back hard?
I haven’t tried cutting back very hard, but I do tidy the plant up by cutting off the year’s flowering stems to leave the fresh new growth. It also seeds itself very happily around the garden. Christina
Well….l hello yellow! Loving that color and texture Christina!
What a beguiling plant, and I love those bursts of orange in the flowers.
I didn’t remember the orange colour just the very early acid colour. Christina
lovely, quite lovely, I never knew euphorbias until a couple of years ago and now I am quite beguiled by them. Frances
I’ve just bought my first euphorbia. Can’t remember which one though. I think they’re gorgeous plants, I have no idea why it has taken me so long to get round to buying one. We had a sunny and relatively warmish day yesterday but it’s sooooo cold again today. I’m desperate to feel some proper warmth on my skin. The weather for most of Feb has been coming across to us from the continent rather than the Atlantic. It has been so cold but on the other hand it hasn’t rained for 3 weeks so the ground has dried out nicely after all this winter’s rain.
There are so many beautiful and useful Euphorbias, I’m sure you’ll find it attractive for most of the year. Our weather has also been cold at night for the last 6 weeks, but today was very spring-like and a pleasure to be outside. Christina
I just love Euphorbia. It’s one of my favourite plants. I think it looks really tropical and unusual. I have a small plant that grew from seed a few years ago and can’t wait for the day that it is massive!! No idea which variety mine is but it looks similar, if not the same.