jardimseco
Spurge Olive. This is a good plant for areas that receive/or hold little or no water. A small and compact evergreen shrub with glossy leathery green leaves that resemble those of an Olive. The leaves develop an attractive tinge of red in summer. Small bright yellow cross-shaped flowers usually appear in spring (insect pollinated) and are followed by red fruits that eventually dry to black - evidently of little value to mankind, so maybe valuable for wildlife, there is good evidence that seed distribution is by lizards and small carnivorous mammals. It has a compact habit up to 60 cm tall and maybe twice as wide, making it a good candidate for evergreen ground cover. It can be trimmed and used for hedging, a useful alterative to traditional species such as Box and Myrtle. It is also suggested to use it as under-planting on the edge of tree canopy, particularly western facing edges, where the soils are dry and exposed to solar radiation. It is frost hardy to -5C.
More details
It comes from the western mediterranean region, growing in areas such as the Balearic Islands in the west to southern coast of Spain through to Sardinia. It occurs in Mediterranean shrubland communities, dominated by other species like Pistacia lentiscus, Olea europaea, Rosmarinus officinalis and or Quercus ilex, so on all accounts should be at home here in the Algarve. Interestingly, a Soviet era plant dictionary cites it as growing mainly as "underbrush" in conifer woodland - maybe there are possibilities there.
How to use our online shop
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You can make an order by selecting plants with quantities and putting them in your Shopping Bag.
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By placing an order you are not obligated to purchase the plants online and you will not be asked for any payment at this stage.
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We will confirm prices, availability and delivery/collection dates with you by email.
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Only when all the details of your order are agreed, will we send you an agreed Factura/Invoice and request payment from you.
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Once an order is agreed we require a 50% payment to secure the plants. Plants in the shopping basket are not reserved until an order is placed.
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Availability - the store contains 3 availability categories
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Plants ready for despatch, collection within 14 days
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Plants we have but they are still growing into their containers. These are offered for reservation and will be released once they are ready. An estimated date for their availability is given.
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Plants that we only hold a limited stock of, or only propagate occasionally or on demand. This also includes plants we are going to propagate in the near future.
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Read more on our plant availability and advance orders here​
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