Echinops bannaticus Blue Glow - seeds

Echinops ritro or Globe Thistle is a robust perennial with a wonderful, rugged charm. In summer, it reveals small, prickly pompoms in an intense shade of azure blue over deeply cut, spiny, grey-green foliage. This heat and drought tolerant plant is highly adaptable, its mature size depends on the richness of the soil in which it grows. It is practically indestructible and very hardy, a boon for gardens with poor soil, rock gardens and stony, dry slopes. Grow in full sun in dry, very well-drained soil.

Echinops bannaticus or Globe thistle belongs to the Asteraceae family. It is native to southern Europe where it occurs naturally in wasteland and stony garrigues. This deciduous perennial forms a 60 to 80 cm tall clump, with a spread of about 40 to 60 cm. Its greyish-green foliage is prickly and deeply dissected. The leaves have a white, woolly underside, characteristic to drought-tolerant plants. The globe-shaped flowers (capitulum) are intensely blue with a slight metallic sheen. They appear in May-June and repeat flower throughout the summer. The flowers are followed by attractive seed heads containing seeds called achenes.

Sow Globe Thistle in slightly wild flower beds, rock gardens or on stony slopes. It combines beautifully with ornamental grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia or Mulhenbergia capillaris, catmint, pink love-in-a-mist, California poppies and mountain cornflowers. It is also an excellent cut flower for dried or fresh flower arrangements.