Medusa Head

I bought this Euphorbia a few months ago at the local Cactus and Succulent Society show and sale. It’s called a Medusa Head (Euphorbia flanaganii). I knew I had to have one when I saw my friend Barry’s potted up in an old clay mortar (he drilled a hole in the bottom for drainage).

It’s the sort of plant you can only picture as a houseplant. It seems too weird to come from nature, and yet it does… Somewhere in South Africa these are growing wild.

I would love to see that landscape. Wouldn’t you?

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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4 thoughts on “Medusa Head

  1. I have a question. Loved your books! Both of them.

    For the first time this year i had a container garden. Now, the season is ending and my plants are dying. I’ve checked the books but i can seem figure out what i should do with the potting soil in the containers at the end of the season. Compost? save for next year? Please help.

    thanks,

    jessica

  2. Thanks Jessica. Check out page 53 of Grow Great Grub. An entire page dedicated to the topic of reusing potting soil. It has to be amended but I definitely reuse it. Would be horribly expensive if we repurchased new every year!

  3. Hi Gayla,

    I read your page often and love it. I cant wait to come to your part of the world one day and visit your garden. I am in South Africa and was actually born in Namaqualand – thats the place where the landscape for your medusa head is. It is a strange and beautiful part of the world. If you ever come to SA there is a nursery in a town called Van Rynsdorp where you can get the largest variety of endemic (or otherwise) succulents similar to these. I bought a few up to Joburg with me the last time I went there (3 years ago) and am pleased to say that they are all doing very well here. I’m glad to see they are in Canada too.

    best regards
    Caro

  4. Thanks Caro: I’m sure the garden shops there are incredible… or would be to me. Must be lots of plants available there that we can’t easily find for purchase here.

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