Colorful Flowers With a Fancy Name

One of my favorite plants is described as having ‘chartreuse-colored’ flowers.

Just saying the word, ‘chartreuse’ sounds fancy, doesn’t it?

So what color is chartreuse anyway?

Well, I looked up the definition and found this definition from Wikepedia:

– “a color halfway between green and yellow that resembles a French liqueur called Chartreuse.”

The only reason that I know what color chartreuse is, is because of the flowers produced by this favorite plant of mine…

Colorful Flowers

They are pretty, aren’t they?

What I find quite funny about this plant is that while the color of its flowers have a fancy French name – the common name of this plant is somewhat derogatory.

Beautiful Colorful Flowers of Euphorbia biglandulosa

This succulent plant with the fancy-colored flowers is known as a ‘gopher plant’.

In late winter and early spring, chartreuse-colored flowers appear in zone 9a, providing a welcome splash of color.

As the flowers age, they take on a different appearance that I like as well…

They do great in full sun or light shade.  Gopher plants don’t need any special care.  Just provide well-drained soil and supplemental water.  The only thing to be careful of is not too overwater them – no more then once a week during the warm months.

Once they are done flowering, prune back the old stems.  Gopher plants (Euphorbia biglandulosa), grow approximately 2 ft. wide and 1 ft. high.

I like planting them nearby boulders or in groups of three.

I often recommend this plant to clients, but I don’t call it ‘gopher plant’ because let’s face it; would you want to add a plant called that without having seen it first?

Instead, I refer to it as “an attractive succulent with chartreuse-colored” flowers.

Which would you prefer to have in your garden; a gopher plant OR a succulent with chartreuse-colored flowers?

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."