Eryngium planum White Glitter seeds - Flat Sea Holly

Eryngium planum 'White Glitter' is a perennial blue thistle species also known as flat sea holly. This variety is a white-flowered form of the high-performing and award-winning 'Blue Glitter' variety. It produces superb ivory-silver flowers on silvery green branched floral stems. Its very bright colouring is even more appreciated in its preferred conditions: full sun, in poor, rocky, and fairly dry soil. This architectural, highly decorative plant is valued in slightly wild areas of the garden or in a rockery. Beautiful fresh or dried bouquets can be made with this charming plant. Sow in a pot from March-April or direct sow in place from May to July.

Eryngium planum or Eryngium armatum, known as flat sea holly, belongs to the Apiaceae family, just like celery and carrots. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a root. Native to the mountains of central Europe, in the wild, it is found in dry and sunny locations, in very well-drained gravelly or sandy soil. With an upright and bushy habit, the 'White Glitter' thistle quickly reaches around 80 cm in height and 50 cm in spread. Its crown develops a rosette of ovoid, heart-shaped, thick, toothed, dark green, shiny leaves that remain evergreen in winter. Tall, dark, blue-grey, branched stems adorned with a few small thornless leaves rise from the basal rosettes. Flowering occurs in June-July at the end of these branches in the form of ovoid inflorescences of 2 cm in diameter, composed of numerous tiny azure blue flowers, surrounded at the base by thin toothed bracts of the same blue, with metallic highlights. This flowering attracts many pollinating insects. Eryngium planum readily self-seeds in light, well-drained soils.

The Wild Thistle does not live very long (especially in fertile, moist soil), but naturally self-seeds. In a countryside garden, its colour and design are appreciated alongside tall mulleins with yellow flowers, small annual love-in-a-mist nigellas with enchanting blue flowers, catmints, and shrubby salvias, as well as cosmos or roses. In a contemporary garden, it looks superb with grasses. The cut flowers are splendid in dried bouquets.