Euphorbia myrsinites (Myrtle Spurge)

Nothing else quite like these evergreen and succulent oddities: they’re bluey-green and fleshy, with leaves arranged around stems in a gloriously engineered manner. Each leaf is perfectly aligned and absolutely uniform in size and shape - they could be machine made. They are attached to ground-hugging and chunky tendrils which flop and tumble with marginally less discipline, and qualify this Euphorbia as an exotic, but pretty hardy, ground cover plant. Euphorbias are a mad lot: endlessly varied and you could fill a garden with any size, shape and texture of them you could desire. That would be fun, actually. These ones are at the more diminutive end of the ‘phorb spectrum' but full of architecture and charm. Their chartreuse blooms (we think they look like whorls of little Shrek ears) are profuse, and a magnet for insects. Have them tumble from a rich orange terracotta urn or planter for a very painterly focal point, or let them weave about among rocks or through taller sun lovers in a gravel garden or Mediterranean style design, where they can be left to their own devices year upon year and never be a nuisance. Perfect for full sun, but they do require a well-drained soil.