Euphorbia characias near Island Roots Salon

On your next walk through Uptown Friday Harbor, WA, look for the Euphorbia characias (Mediterranean spurge) by the sidewalk on Spring Street in front of Island Roots Salon.

The distinctive flower appears as two trumpet-shaped yellow-green flowers emerging from a single flower.

Gardenia.net calls this plant “a statuesque evergreen sub-shrub that enjoys months of chartreuse flowers.”

Longtime San Juan Island resident Katy Dittmer, who has a degree in Ornamental Horticulture and is a WSU Master Gardener, told CNL2, the plant is “a tad invasive, if left to its own devices…making it easy to propagate. And the sap of the plant can be irritating to those who are sensitive to it.”