Cushion spurge earns its name honestly: left to mature, it forms a symmetrical dome 12 to 18 inches across, tight and well-behaved in the manner of a plant that has spent millennia adapting to the rocky soils of central and southeastern Europe. The spring display is its headline act, when dense clusters of inch-wide yellow bracts light up the front of a border before the main season has properly begun. Come autumn, the medium-green leaves shift through shades of red, purple, and orange, offering a second moment of genuine beauty.

Full sun brings out the best compact shape; too much afternoon shade and the cushion loosens into something leggy. It prefers loose, well-drained, sandy or gravelly soil and handles drought and deer with equal composure. Deadhead spent flowers to curb self-seeding, or propagate intentionally by division or stem cuttings. The milky sap irritates skin and eyes, so gloves are advisable. In zones 4 to 8 it is reliably winter-hardy, returning year after year with very little intervention.