Snow in the garden

With the official winter only a few days away, the weather is finally becoming a little cool.  Only in the mornings though - the days are fine and sunny and by mid-morning even a light sweater quickly becomes too warm.

One of the delights of autumn is that the gardens in this area suddenly sport bushes that are covered in 'snow'.  This plant growing beside my letter box is the delightful Snow Flake - Euphorbria leucocephala - not to be confused with the succulent plant from South Africa, also known as 'Snowflake', which is Euphorbia horrida.

Our Snow Flake is related to the better known poinsettia and originates in South America. It is happier growing in warmer climes and not at all frost hardy.  Elsewhere it is known as Snows of Kilimanjaro, Little Christmas Flower, Pascuita, or Snow Bush.

Apart from being breathtakingly beautiful, its other feature is the poisonous white sap in the stems. 

According to the Queensland Government's Poisons Information Centre, the plant's irritant sap can potentially cause skin blisters and rashes.  And apparently if the sap or any part of the plant is ingested, symptoms may include vomiting and diarrhoea or a burning sensation in the mouth and throat.

As the pleasure of this plant is in its showiness from a distance, and the 'flowers' do not lend themselves to picking for the house, the risk of growing it is not great.

I like the Snow Flake because it is hardy and it self-seeds easily.  And it brings the only kind of snow we are ever likely to see around here. 

Comments

[Tjilpi]

Nice to see that you're back...
It's near to snowing here...below zero some mornings...ice has to be scraped off windscreens...

[Sonia]

Snow Flake is gorgeous!

[Tjilpi]

Jude, I know you've got snow in the backyard; but you've gone off the boil.

Baby due soon??

[Lesley de Voil]

Hi Jude
Yes, one thing about the snowflake plant is that it, like the bauhinias, pointsetttia, and even the jacaranda, does best when stressed - a long, dry summer produces the most prolific show of flowers.
Well, I guess with climate change, we look like getting more of the latter.
Funny, isn't it? notice that these are all South American natives.
Since it produces a large cap of flowers on slender stems, it does best when supported by other plants in an informal hedge planting.

[Jude]

Hi Lesley, Yes, true about the long dry summers - and Bougainvillea is another South American import in the same category. I have noticed that the majority of the tropical and sub-tropical fruits we grow originated from South America as well. Unfortunately, for fruit production ample rain is essential.

[Tjilpi]

Doesn't Bougainvillea come from Bougainville? Named after the Frenchman who discovered both it, and the island?

I guess I should have Googled or Wikipedia'd before saying that; but that was always my belief.

I'm now going to check if I'm rite or rong...

[Tjilpi]

As Pablo would say

Dangnabit!

[Pablo]

Yeah, dagnabit!