Put on a blooming good display

UNLIKE gladioli or camellia, or delphinium or myrtle, the name ‘spurge’ is hardly likely to set anyone’s imagination alight.

Even the botanical name, Euphorbia, is dismissive and off-putting, yet a variety or two of this much maligned plant has been the most distinguished foliage item in my garden since late November.

During the December and January, the variety “Silver Swan” (and the larger E wulfenii characias in a nearby garden) proved outstanding in their colouring, architectural stance, and unflinching posture in the face of winds, biting cold and driving rain. But then the Euphorbias have always been some of the toughest, most distinguished of foliage plants, and collecting them has long been a fashionable pursuit among those who like to grow hardy border plants.