[Arid_gardener] Crown of Thorns

[Tyler Storey]

Hi Connie,

For the short term, putting a shade cover, perhaps shade cloth, would be a
good idea to keep your plants alive.

 

Three things you may be seeing with these plants.  First, the Crown of
Thorns (Euphorbia milii) does pretty well here, but I would hesitate to
plant them in full sun.  In Phoenix, full sun means a lot of sun.  If the
plants are in a location where they get full sun, plus a gravel mulch, plus
heat from a sidewalk or wall, or any combination of these, that can be very
tough on a plant.  I would be inclined to put Crown of Thorns in a lightly
filtered shade location, preferably with a fine organic mulch instead.  

 

Second, it's not unheard of for these plants to go dormant and temporarily
lose their leaves in the Summer - especially if they have a very hot sunny
exposure.  

 

And, third, this is a tough time of year to plant any plant, especially with
the persistent heat we've been having.  You might recall if the plants were
in shade or part shade in the nursery where you bought them.  If they were,
then the transition from nice comfortable nursery to early-September full
sun in the ground might have been more than they could handle.  When buying
a plant from a nursery, even one that can take full sun, it's worth
transitioning it gradually from the lightly shaded nursery setting to it's
final destination in the ground, especially if you're planting before the
cool-weather planting season.  

 

For now, do try shading them, and then as the weather cools a bit and Sun
intensity drops, see if there is a place in your landscape where you can
move them where they would get light or dappled shade.  You might also see
if they will do well where they are once they've had a chance to settle in,
but, again, I think this plant does better with very light dappled shade.

 

Thanks much,

Tyler

 

 <mailto:tyler at tylerstorey.com> tyler at tylerstorey.com

 <http://tylerstorey.com> http://tylerstorey.com

602-738-2978

  _____  

From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of Connie Verno
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 3:08 PM
To: Arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Crown of Thorns

 

I just planted 2 of these plants in full sun because the nursery said they
would take full sun, and now the leaves are turning brown and dying.  Should
I cover them with sun screen?  What else can I do for them?

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