{"id":3329,"date":"2021-03-01T07:06:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T15:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3329"},"modified":"2021-03-01T07:06:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T15:06:12","slug":"globe-thistle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/globe-thistle\/","title":{"rendered":"Globe Thistle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of the time I strive for a garden where mounds of perennials and annual flowers meld together in a colorful tapestry.\u00a0 Plants are staggered by height in an artistic manner and tranquility reigns.\u00a0 The image, at least in my mind, is idyllic.<\/p>\n

Right now though, I am looking for a little more excitement.<\/p>\n

I am sure that need arises from the fact that for the past year, the most exciting place I have gone each week is the supermarket.\u00a0 There is only so much titillation you can get from frozen vegetables.<\/p>\n

In my quest for more excitement, my thoughts turn to Echinops, commonly known as globe thistle.\u00a0 It is not soft and flowing; it is as spiky as the hedgehog\u2014\u201cechinos\u201d in classical Greek\u2014from which its botanical name is derived.\u00a0 If you can imagine a mash-up of a dandelion and a common thistle with globular flowers in a lovely shade of blue, you will have an idea about the appearance and characteristics of globe thistle.<\/p>\n

Globe thistle is a perennial that grows between two and four feet tall, depending on the species and variety.\u00a0 Its sturdy stalks have a branching habit and support the flowers that sprout on the top of each branch.\u00a0 Some people call the leaves \u201chandsome\u201d, but I think they look too much like dandelion leaves to merit that description.\u00a0 The best that I can say is that they are striking, mostly because of their distinctive gray-green color.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the flowers more than make up for that.\u00a0 Perfectly round, they range from grayish-blue to darker true blue shades that have a real impact in the landscape.\u00a0 White varieties are a little less popular than the blue ones, but are also available in commerce.<\/p>\n

Globe thistles, like their common thistle relatives, are summer plants, shining from July through September.\u00a0 The flowerheads dry intact on the stalks and make excellent everlasting specimens for indoor arrangements.\u00a0 If you want to speed the drying process and preserve color, pick the stems while the flowers are blooming and hang them upside down in a cool, airy place until they are thoroughly dried.<\/p>\n

Several echinops species dominate the retail market, including Echinops ritro, the small globe thistle; Echinops bannaticus, the blue globe thistle; and the tongue-twisting Echinops sphaerocephalus, the great globe thistle.\u00a0 One of the best is Echinops ritro \u2018Veitch\u2019s Blue\u2019, one of the darker varieties, that has blue-purple flowers on plants that grow up to four feet tall and two feet wide.\u00a0 \u2018Blue Glow\u2019 is similarly tall, dark and handsome.\u00a0 Pair either of them with the white-flowered \u2018Arctic Glow\u2019, which is a little shorter, but provides great color contrast.\u00a0 Shorter still is the equally white-flowered \u2018Star Frost\u2019.\u00a0 \u2018Taplow Blue\u2019, a variety of Echinops bannaticus, features steel blue globes on four to five foot stems.\u00a0 Like most of the other echinops, it is a worthy specimen for the middle to back of a perennial or mixed border.<\/p>\n

For gardeners like me who amend the soil in a somewhat haphazard fashion, globe thistles are perfect.\u00a0 Rich soil is much less to their liking than poorer soil.\u00a0 This means that when I think of it, I can save the nutritious soil amendments for the roses.\u00a0 Globe thistles also prefer sunlight, but will perform in light shade.\u00a0 While they don\u2019t like desert conditions, they do not need the constant moisture that you must lavish on your tomatoes and petunias.<\/p>\n

When you think of your summer water bills, you will understand why plants like globe thistle make sense.<\/p>\n

While you are thinking about your COVID vaccinations and daring to dream of travel plans, consider the excitement you can get in the shorter term by ordering some globe thistle for your garden.\u00a0 Waiting for normalcy is hard; waiting for an April shipment of globe thistle is much easier.\u00a0 Order yours from Digging Dog Nursery, 31101 Middle Ridge Road, Albion, CA 95410; (707) 937-1235; www.diggingdog.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Print catalog available.\"echinops\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most of the time I strive for a garden where mounds of perennials and annual flowers meld together in a colorful tapestry.\u00a0 Plants are staggered by height in an artistic manner and tranquility reigns.\u00a0 The image, at least in my mind, is idyllic. Right now though, I am looking for a little more excitement. I … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[150,970,620,617,737,2464,2465],"class_list":["post-3329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-blue-flowers","tag-daisy-family","tag-echinops","tag-globe-thistle","tag-perennials","tag-spiky-plants","tag-thistles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3331,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329\/revisions\/3331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}