The Glacier Blue Spurge, otherwise known as the Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 or European Beech ‘Dawyck Purple’, Common Beech ‘Dawyck Purple’, is a rather well known tree plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this tree will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its blue-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Glacier Blue Spurge is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Glacier Blue Spurge Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
In order to take proper care of your Glacier Blue Spurge you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Glacier Blue Spurge grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
- Light: Keep your Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 in an environment where it can receive partial shade to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Glacier Blue Spurge in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Glacier Blue Spurge is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Glacier Blue Spurge belongs to the Fagaceae family, the genus Fagus and the species Sylvatica, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027.
As with other Fagus’s, the Glacier Blue Spurge is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Glacier Blue Spurge is a plant native to the Eastern Europe.
You might be wondering why your Glacier Blue Spurge’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 will be most used to the heat zones in the 4 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4b, 4a, 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a and the ideal climate zone is between 2, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Glacier Blue Spurge is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Glacier Blue Spurge? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 can grow up to 25′ – 50′ (7.5m – 15m) in 25′ – 50′ (7.5m – 15m) and 6′ – 15′ (180cm – 4.5m) in 6′ – 15′ (180cm – 4.5m).
Water
In terms of watering, the Glacier Blue Spurge is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Glacier Blue Spurge in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Glacier Blue Spurge since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Glacier Blue Spurge prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of clay, loam, chalk, and sand.
This is why most experts agree that the Glacier Blue Spurge requires soil with high organic matter, loam (silt), sand, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Glacier Blue Spurge requires partial shade to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this tree will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Glacier Blue Spurge will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Glacier Blue Spurge to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
In particular, this tree is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Glacier Blue Spurge produces some beautiful white, or green, gold/yellow and insignificant flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Glacier Blue Spurge have a beautiful blue-green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a alternate organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 to be around (3-6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Glacier Blue Spurge is well known for its tolerance to animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Glacier Blue Spurge? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Euphorbia Characias ‘Glacier Blue’ Plant Patent #19,027 owners agree that this tree will look great in most mediterranean, cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
In particular, the Glacier Blue Spurge’s best location within your garden is in hedges and screens, others use it for landscaping in a container,
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Glacier Blue Spurge in your garden or home.
