The Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) pictured here lives in the old southwest section of Reno. It's been in the ground for several years, but has been severely cut back numerous times to keep it small and beautiful. This Euphorbia is a flowering evergreen perennial, although if the winter is especially tough, the heavy snow can deform the stems. But no worry, since the root system is cold hardy, if the plant turns ugly or in any way unruly, all that needs to be done is to cut it back. Soon, the plant will send out new, beautiful, relatively fast growing stems and leaves for the next season. The flowers are strange, wonderful and long lasting. See a closeup of its flowers here.
The cold hardy Euphorbias for our area tend to be drought resistant, but they do enjoy regular watering. Make sure to plant them in well drained soil as they don't like to sit in water or ice.
Drycreek carries several varieties of Euphorbia, good for xeric landscaping, rock gardens and regular gardening, including the popular Donkey Tail, the Martini, the Myrsinites, the Purpurea and the Rigida which is a large version of the Donkey Tail.
The Drycreek Web site has a page dedicated to the Euphorbia.