I was working outside on this cool and overcast day when I had an epiphany that required sharing.
There are two “family plants” in my safe-keeping. The first is a pink peony we call ‘ The Pearson Peony’ and another house plant we call ‘ The Gran Plant’ which is a Christmas Candle plant/ Euphorbia tithymaloides.
I am anxious about keeping these alive to share with family.
I had trimmed my Gran Plant down last fall to share with an Aunt Gail and cousin, Jamie. These two new plants are already leggy, so I cut them back again.
This is what caused the epiphany. My Gran always kept cuttings of this plant in a squatty green wine bottle. I thought she was rooting it to share. Now , thirty years after her death I realize that she was not cutting it to share her Euphorbia, she was cutting it to shape it.
Wow! FLOW is slow.
I would like to add that this Christmas Candle plant is also called Devi’s Backbone and Red Bird plant because of its red flowers…which I have NEVER seen.
Help me out plant people. What else am I doing wrong?
SLOW FLOW needs to know.
P.S. Gail and Jamie. Its sap is poisonous to dogs.
floweralley 
They bloom here. I think that is the trick.
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Bummer. I have several outside in different levels of sun to see if that helps.
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I would guess the more sun the better, the ones I saw flowering here – recently are planted near asphalt and concrete.
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I will cook some and expect flowers. Thank you Queen.
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Thank you Flow for these tips, 🙂 keeping the plant in shape and using for cuttings too.. Double win xx
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Yes. My Gran was super smart.
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🙂 Grans Rock!….
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Most euphorbias flower when the days shorten. Artificial light fools them into ‘thinking’ that the days are still long. So in the fall, you must put it somewhere that doesn’t get light all night. Maybe make a tent of black fabric for it in a room you don’t use at night?
Commercial growers of poinsettias cover their plants for 14 to 16 hours of complete darkness daily for 6 weeks to bring them into bloom, usually timed for sale in mid-Nov.
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Omg Eliza. I will treat it like a poinsettia! Thank you for this tip.
I live experiments.
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I enjoyed learning about your family plants.
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Thanks Susan. I come from a long line of plant people. These are the treasures we pass along.
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