Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Apiaceae
Native Range: Central and southeastern Europe
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to September
Bloom Description: Steel blue
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy, Good Cut, Good Dried
Leaf: Colorful
Tolerate: Drought, Dry Soil
Garden locations
Culture
Easily grown in dry, sandy, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates poor soils. Tall plants may sprawl, particularly if grown in overly fertile soils or in anything less than full sun. Avoid overwatering. This is a tap rooted plant that transplants poorly and is best left undisturbed once established. Plants will slowly spread in the garden over time.
Characteristics
Eryngium planum, commonly called sea holly, is a coarse, clump-forming perennial that features a summer bloom of steel-blue, thistle-like flower heads on branched stems rising from a rosette of dark green basal leaves. Basal leaves (typically elliptic to oblong, cordate-based and deeply-toothed) form a rosette to 6" tall and to 14" wide. Stiff, branched, violet-blue stems (to 32” tall), bearing abundant, egg-shaped, thistle-like, violet-blue flower heads, rise from each basal rosette in summer. Each flower head is a spherical-cylindrical umbel that is packed with tiny, stemless, violet-blue flowers. Each flower head is subtended by a narrow, spiky collar of spiny, blue-green bracts. Summer bloom is often profuse.
Uses
Excellent selection for sun baked areas of the landscape. Beds and borders. Effective as a single specimen or in groupings. Excellent for cut or dried flower arrangements.
Germination test 01/04/224
Avg germ time 21-28 days