I have this really neat crown of thorns plant. When I was a VERY young girl newly married the first time, my then husband and I decided to get a few house plants. We got the usual philodendron and spider plant and then came across what we thought was cactus but later identified it as a crown of thorns. That little plant grew slowly and sometimes a bit weakly over a 20 year period, through one husband into another really great and forever hubby, and one day it was about 5 feet tall. Just about that time we made the decision to move to Florida and didn't know what to do with our house plants, especially that one. So Harlan contacted a friend of his who had a house overflowing with indoor plants. She fell in love with it and agreed to adopt the crown of thorns. Of course after all those years together, I just couldn't let it go without taking a little piece to Florida with me.

Well, that little piece has grown to about 3 feet in height and almost the same in width. I planted it in our front garden where it gets lots of sun and it's blooming its little head off. What a beauty. It's latin name (here we go again) is Euphorbia milii. It's a woody perennial or "subshrub" that is best grown in the tropical south or indoors. It produces leaves that are about 1 1/2 inches long and round, and clustered pairs of bracts in colors ranging from red to orange and pink. What I didn't know, besides the latin name, is that it has a high salt tolerance. How great for it and us living on the gulf in Florida. Now, I have heard stories through the years that there is some symbolism to the crown of thorns that Jesus wore on the cross. It's certainly possible, but I can't substantiate that. What I do know for sure is that this little guy has a real hunger for life and is even happier here than he ever was in his indoor environment up north. I'll bet you can even see the smile on his face yourself if you look hard enough. Oh - just one little detail I forgot to mention. This plant has some wicked thorns, hence the name. Be careful in handling it. Its smile will fool you. Happy Gardening.