Common Name: spurge
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Air Pollution
Culture
Best grown in dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Appreciates some afternoon shade in hot summer climates. However, clumps tend to open up and lose their attractive shape in too much shade. Must have sharply-drained soils. Wet soils, particularly in winter, can be fatal. Plants are tolerant of some poor soils, including rocky-sandy ones. Plants generally prefer a Mediterranean-type climate and may show some stress in hot and humid summers.
Plants are not reliably winter hardy in USDA Zone 5 where they should be sited in protected locations.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Euphorbia is a genus of about 2,000 species of annuals, herbaceous perennials, trees, shrubs and succulents found in temperate, subtropical and tropical areas. All plant parts are toxic and can cause severe discomfort if eaten. The milky sap can cause skin irritation.
Genus name probably honors Euphorbus, physician to the King of Mauretania.
KALIPSO is a bushy, compact euphorbia that typically grows in a rounded mound of moss green foliage to 8-12” tall and 16-18” wide. Yellow “flowers” on red stems bloom above the foliage in April-May. Individual flowers lack petals, but have attractive petal-like pale yellow bracts. Leaves are obovate to elliptical. Broken stems exude a white milky sap that is a skin irritant. KALIPSO, patented in the U. S. as ‘Imprkalip’, is a naturally occurring whole plant mutation selected in Gensingen, Germany in 2002 from a population of euphorbia plants also known as KALIPSO (‘Innkalff'). The new plant is differentiated from its parents by being more compact and by having a less vigorous growth habit. U.S. Plant Patent PP16,948 was issued August 8, 2006.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Use gloves when working with this plant. Some gardeners experience skin rashes from contact with the toxic plant sap of euphorbias. Deer tend to avoid this plant.
Uses
Beds, borders and rock gardens.
Containers.