Award-winning Diamond Frost a top choice for gardens

Diamond Frost euphorbia has taken the country by storm. At every gardening program, its merits are touted. Gardeners who keep abreast of trends in horticulture have made sure that Diamond Frost is in their garden. Personal experience has validated the plant’s garden worthiness.
•Diamond Frost
The scientific name of this plant is Euphorbia hypericifolia cv. Inneuphdia. Boy, I’m really glad that Proven Winners, the growers and distributors of this plant, gave it the trade name of Diamond Frost. The plant is a cousin of the poinsettia, but you’d never know it judging by appearances. The plant produces delicate, gray-green foliage with tiny white blossoms that are held above the foliage, much like baby’s breath. Growing to a mature height of 12 to 18 inches, it produces a frothy drift of white blooms that complements the front of any border.
•Culture
Diamond Frost is both heat and drought tolerant, and it blooms constantly during the summer. Given full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil, it will bloom from spring until freezing temperature cuts it down in the winter.
Plant Diamond Frost in the landscape about 10 to 12 inches apart for a mound of frothy blossoms. Since the blooms are so tiny, they are the perfect companion to almost any other plant that grows in the garden. They are also the perfect choice to round out a container garden or hanging basket and give it a delicate touch. You may have seen them during the Christmas season combined in containers with poinsettias. They made the poinsettias seem to be nested in a bed of white frost.
While Diamond Frost is a perennial in Zone 10, we must grow it as an annual or move it indoors during cold weather. If moved to the greenhouse or to a sunny window, it should continue to bloom throughout the winter. Come spring, cut it back, move it outside, and expect another season of bloom.
•Other Euphorbias
Euphorbias as a group are interesting because of their atypical flower form. What appear to be the flower petals are actually parts of the leaf structure (bracts), and it is these bracts that give the plants their color. While the flowers themselves are small and fleeting, the colorful bracts hold their color for many months.
Several other members of the Euphorbia family are familiar to many of us. The most popular container plant in history, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), is a member of the family. Castor bean (Ricinus communis) is the most deadly spurge. The invasive Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum) is another all-too-familiar member of the family. The Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia millii) is a beautiful addition to the clan. The colorfully leaved crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) are some of my personal favorites.
•Sources
Diamond Frost is available at garden centers in the area. Bonnie of Bonnie’s Garden, a licensed grower for Proven Winners, has been growing these plants in her greenhouse all winter. See her plants at the Farmer’s Market in Fort Walton Beach on Saturday mornings throughout the spring and summer. Wherever you find these plants, don’t hesitate to add them to your collection.
Marie Harrison is a Master Gardener Volunteer with the University of Florida IFAS Extension in Okaloosa County. Her books, “Gardening in the Coastal South,” “Southern Gardening, an Environmentally Sensitive Approach,” and “Groundcovers for the South” are now available. Visit her at her Web site www.mariesgarden.com to read gardening hints and other information of interest to gardeners.