A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Cushion Spurge - "Bonfire" Euphorbia polychroma

Hi there! I bought about 10 pots of Cushion Spurge ("Bonfire" Euphorbia polychroma) last summer and have some questions about it:

(1) I've read that it's herbaceous, but this spring it looked like bare twigs, so I assumed it was deciduous. I believe something ate a good amount of the plants in our flowerbed this past winter, so now I'm wondering if something ate the Cushion Spurge also. (Ex. we have euonymus that has always looked the same year round, but this spring after the snow melted, the euonymus looked like it had been cut straight across a few inches off the ground -- all that was left were small clusters of bare twigs). Although, I also read that Cushion Spurge is poisonous?

(2) When I bought the Cushion Spurge last summer, it was a very vibrant red. That's why I bought it. Now it is more green with some tings of a dull, dark red. Does the plant look less red because of the time of year? (Ex. will it get more intense red in August?) Is there some kind of fertilizer or nutrient I can apply to make the plant more red?

(3) I read that the plant grows in a mounded form, but mine is twiggy on the bottom half. Ex. my plants are probably about 15" high, and the bottom half has no foliage. Any suggestions?

Thanks very much!

I cut my euphorbia down to the ground in early spring (because it gets leggy in late summer and persists even through winter) and it quickly sprouts new foliage. New foliage is a greenish color that gets more burgangy and red as the seasons progress.