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I was at Home Depot last night and they have a house brand "Southwest Collection" with beautiful agaves and yuccas and succulents. The Resin Spurge (Euphorbia resinifera) was particularly tempting to me, as it has the column or arm type of growth habit/form that is usually only upwards of zone 9. However, the label on the Resin Spurge said it was hardy to 0 degrees F! Which puts it at Zone 7!
I didn't buy, but later googled Resin Spurge and I could not find anybody who was growing it lower than zone 9, and all online references say it's hardy to 20 degrees F.
I can understand---grudgingly and with resentment---a little fudging and zone pushing, but TWO zones? That's ridiculous...and the plant is ~$25, and in a huge pot, so the work to plant this thing, the total investment, is pretty big, IMO.
I guess my real query is: Does anyone in Zone 7 grow Resin Spurge? And if so, is it truly hardy, meaning it looks good and healthy coming through a 0 degree F episode?
I feel very suspicious that Home Depot is zone pushing to the point of fraud. But I would LOVE to be very wrong about this!
Someone privately told me that Home Depot has nothing to do it, that the blame lies with the grower/contractor. I respectfully and wholly disagree with this. Home Depot has branded it, they put their name on it, it's a house brand. If it was from Monrovia, I would not think Home Depot responsible. It's of "Home Depot". If a designer puts their name on a clothing brand, they're responsible to the consumer for any problems, the consumer does not deal with the overseas factory that makes the clothing for the designer. If someone eats at a restaurant and gets sick, the restaurant is responsible to the consumer, the consumer does not deal with Sysco.
For Home Depot to be be without responsibility to the consumer for misinformation about their branded product is ludicrous. This is a very benign example of fraud or misinformation, and I didn't even buy the plant, so it's a moot point right now, but it's all on a spectrum with more serious levels. And anyone who loves gardening knows how it chafes when you nurture a plant and it dies or deteriorates because it's not suitable for your weather.
I did a quick Google. I see it listed as a container plant, so no problem. Just move it into the garage for the days when temperatures are too low for it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Home Depot does not grow their own plants, but some are not from reputable growers like Monrovia. There are many Chinese growers mass producing plants for places like Home Depot. Look at their bonsai, with glued on pebbles that water can’t penetrate. Ask any garden department worker at HD or Lowe’s for advice some time if you want a good laugh. You should buy from a good nursery that has master gardeners on staff, unless just looking for cheap annuals, or you know enough to avoid plants doomed to fail.
I did a quick Google. I see it listed as a container plant, so no problem. Just move it into the garage for the days when temperatures are too low for it.
It would indeed make a handsome container plant! I wanted it as a landscaping yard plant, however, to help fill a third of an acre yard. I've seen in naturalized in CA and in gardens in AZ, and it's so attractive! If it was a tiny plant for $5, I'd take a chance in my yard just to test, but at $25 for a plant in big container, I'll pass on the experiment.
Verily, if it actually is a column form succulent that performs well lower than zone 9, down to zone 7, then $25 is a ridiculously low price because it would have to be a new hybrid that every cactus and succulent gardener in the lower zones of the southwest would be dying to get their hands on and would pay much more!
Home Depot does not grow their own plants, but some are not from reputable growers like Monrovia. There are many Chinese growers mass producing plants for places like Home Depot. Look at their bonsai, with glued on pebbles that water can’t penetrate. Ask any garden department worker at HD or Lowe’s for advice some time if you want a good laugh. You should buy from a good nursery that has master gardeners on staff, unless just looking for cheap annuals, or you know enough to avoid plants doomed to fail.
Glued-on pebbles on bonsai??? WTH. That's insanity. I'm sad for the little trees!
It would indeed make a handsome container plant! I wanted it as a landscaping yard plant, however, to help fill a third of an acre yard. ...........
How is it propagated? If it is easy to start cuttings, it might be worth buying the $25 plant and striking cuttings.
I've grown plants outside their zone. A lot depends on the conditions in the exact spot that the plant is living in, how long the cold season lasts, and other factors. Perhaps if the low temperature period is short and there is some sunshine, the plant could be placed by an artistic looking heat absorbing boulder.
I've had plants outside their comfort zone that would freeze back. I'd prune them back to the base and they would come back every year. A lot depends upon how much time you want to put into plant care.
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 04-14-2018 at 09:24 AM..
OP - this isn't an answer to your question, but just a little pre-caution to you about potential chemical burns from resiniferatoxin, in the event that you do try to handle and cultivate resin spurge. Handle with caution:
" ..... The hottest hot pepper is no match for the spicy heat of the resin spurge Euphorbia resinifera, a cactus-like plant native to Morocco. The resin spurge produces a chemical called resiniferatoxin or RTX, which is a thousand times hotter on the Scoville scale than pure capsaicin, the chemical that produces heat in hot peppers. Law enforcement-grade pepper spray and the hottest hot pepper, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, both pack a punch of about 1.6 million Scoville heat units.
Pure capsaicin comes in at 16 million Scoville units, while pure resiniferatoxin has 16 billion Scoville heat units.
Both the capsaicin from hot peppers and the resiniferatoxin from the Euphorbia can give you chemical burns or even kill you......."
How is it propagated? If it is easy to start cuttings, it might be worth buying the $25 plant and striking cuttings.
I've grown plants outside their zone. A lot depends on the conditions in the exact spot that the plant is living in, how long the cold season lasts, and other factors. Perhaps if the low temperature period is short and there is some sunshine, the plant could be placed by an artistic looking heat absorbing boulder.
I've had plants outside their comfort zone that would freeze back. I'd prune them back to the base and they would come back every year. A lot depends upon how much time you want to put into plant care.
I have a zone-pusher cactus prickly pear called Santa Rita, it's zone 8. It came through the winter totally intact but some of the pads are split with white scarring, so it's not nearly as attractive as before the winter. I don't know what caused this, too wet with too cold? Maybe I should try rooting some pads front of a boulder, as you say. Cactus that are stressed just look bad forever, that's the problem. If they grew back fresh from roots it would be much better to zone push.
I'm going to wait on the Resin Spurge, as so far I haven't found anybody even in zone 8 growing it, and I personally have never seen it outside of CA or AZ. I grew up in southern CA and Mexico and visit AZ a lot so I have a deep love for the kind of cactus that grow in upwards of zone 9. The Huntington Desert Garden in CA was spellbinding to me as a child! Last week I visited the Desert Botanical Gardens in Tempe and it's incredibly wonderful too...something about those column and barrel shapes really add a magical, otherworldly element. But I'm learning to appreciate the subtle differences in the prickly pear and cholla varieties. I just bought a cholla that is pure white spines that make the plant kind of glow, and also one with golden spines that has a halo when the sun's behind it. That has eased my irritation about the Resin Spurge.
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