echinops

Echinops (Globe Thistle)

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Scientific Name : Echinops Common Name : Globe Thistle Blooming Season : Summer August-September Plant Habit : Upright Water : Medium Position : Sun Height : 24-48 inches

Growing Echinops The spiky leaves and bristly metallic blue flowers of this plant make it a great architectural plant for the back of a summer border. The spiny, cobwebbed leaves provide interest from spring until the blooms appear in late summer. It associates well with other tall striking late summer plants such as cardoon and echinacea or tall miscanthus grasses in an island bed. It has been given an Award of Garden Merit (AGM), which is for plants of outstanding excellence When not looking lovely in the garden, they look quite something in a vase, both in flower and afterwards, when you are left with a washed blue seedhead. They last a long time, too, particularly if you change the water often. Echinops is tolerant of quite a wide range of soils, provided the top layer around the base of the plant drains well. I have seen it thrive on getting its feet deep into clay and do equally well in the thinnest of soils. My favourite thing after those lovely blue balls is that the slugs do little damage. Echinops will even grow in poor soils and gravel gardens and will perform best in full or partial sun. The plant can attract blackfly but I haven’t found even heavy infestations damaging the performance of the plant. Spikes of Echinops will last several days in a vase so make a great cut flower. The blue may fade over the course of a few days to e silvery tone