Plants and flowers in the Balkans

Some time ago, we travelled through the Balkans. Wherever we came, we discovered the striking early spring colors of flowering Euphorbia oblongata - 'Balkan spurge', 'oblong spurge' or 'eggleaf spurge' with its common name. The intensity of the deep yellow flowers surprised me. 

EUPHORBIA OBLONGATA ON THE ROCKS

One of my local friends explained me later that flowering Euphorbia definitely means that spring is in the air. Contrary to what I observed back home, Euphorbia oblongata thrives in a really dry, rocky environment, quite often with serious night frost. The sandy soil back home an the dry environment is without any doubt suitable for Euphorbias, even though the ones in my garden are rather small compared to these ones in the wild, with no one to add fertilizer like I do at home.