{"id":109497,"date":"2026-06-04T16:59:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109497"},"modified":"2026-06-04T16:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:59:37","slug":"euphorbia-copton-ash-in-early-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109497","title":{"rendered":"Euphorbia &#8216;Copton Ash&#8217; in early June"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2sgXsVv\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55314537679_c442aab0bd_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_2590\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">very young Prostanthera cuneata in foreground with a few white flowers.  Small seedling of Eryngium &#8216;Big Blue&#8217; was moved here this morning.  I&#8217;ve had success moving eryngos when small to let the tap root settle in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I really like this bit of planting, and a lot of that has to do with the contributions of Euphorbia &#8216;Copton Ash,&#8217; the dark eucomis, and the tawny leaves of the Arctostaphylos pajaroensis hybrid.  The flowers of Euphorbia &#8216;Miner&#8217;s Merlot,&#8217; just seen on the left above, carry the same russet tones as the manzanita, as does Carex testacea.  &#8216;Copton Ash&#8217; reminds me of a miniature Euphorbia certatocarpa, seen recently and fawned over at Cistus.  There are similar types like &#8216;Dean&#8217;s Hybrid&#8217; and &#8216;Blue Haze&#8217; which haven&#8217;t succeeded for me, and that might be on me.   These euphorbias are not rubbery-leaved like characias but more willowy in habit.  Billowy even.  &#8216;Copton Ash&#8217; doesn&#8217;t self-sow, thank goodness.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2sgYoHb\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55314718620_bae91c5a13_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_2588\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eryngium &#8216;Big Blue&#8217; with more russet from Chionochloa rubra  (wispily in flower but seedlings unlikely)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As a side note, on the subject of reseeding, I&#8217;m getting some light reseeding from supposedly sterile Eryngium &#8216;Big Blue,&#8217; a cross of alpinum and bourgatii, which is <strong><em> totally fine<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2sgX7zE\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55314469248_0644fa4f7c_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_2593\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Euphorbia &#8216;Copton Ash&#8217; to zone 7 with eucomis, Lagurus ovatus aka Bunny Tail Grass, Dianthus cafthusianorum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The circular silver drum was some kind of farm feeder, its bottom drilled and handle removed to make a home for an agave.  (I&#8217;m no stranger to salvage, but in this case finding a large, cheap container was the primary consideration.)  A  local nursery was carrying gallons of Agave ovatifolia &#8216;Vanzie,&#8217; a rare offering for the coast.  I passed it up a few times but ultimately couldn&#8217;t let it go.   Such treasures do not normally make their way to the coast.  It seemed inevitable, meant to be.\u00a0 Returning for &#8216;Vanzie&#8217;  I noticed nearby Yucca &#8216;Silver Anniversary,&#8217; a cross by Plant Delights of filamentosa and pallida.  Intriguing!  Not really wanting a potentially gigantic whale&#8217;s tongue agave in my small garden, I left with the yucca.  What were these plants doing at my local hanging-basket-petunia-calibrachoa nursery?  I posed that question to its owner, and she laughed, &#8220;These are my plants &#8212; I&#8217;m from Arizona.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-photo is-provider-flickr wp-block-embed-flickr\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/2sgXtiE\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55314538964_3d506478a6_c.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_2596\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">yet another euphorbia, E. griffithii behind a compact form of Brachyglottis greyi &#8212; supposedly compact!.  Whether plants are sterile or compact, the only way to really know is growing them yourself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>More soon, AGO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I really like this bit of planting, and a lot of that has to do with the contributions of Euphorbia &#8216;Copton Ash,&#8217; the dark eucomis, and the tawny leaves of the Arctostaphylos pajaroensis hybrid. The flowers of Euphorbia &#8216;Miner&#8217;s Merlot,&#8217; &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=109497\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[550,5119,842,36],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-su5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109497"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109497"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109578,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109497\/revisions\/109578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}