(Pyrennes Seaholly)

Thistle-like leaves of green and silver, gray-violet stems and silvery blue flowers makes Pyrennes seaholly a refined perennial for gravelly gardens. Eryngium bourgatii is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to dry rocky mountain slopes of the Pyrennes in Spain. It has a basal rosette of rounded, lobed, coarse, spiny dark green leaves with silvery white veins. In summer it produces plume-like flowers with a rounded cluster of fertile, tiny gray-green or blue flowers surrounded by many spiny...

(Miss Willmott's Ghost, Seaholly)

Thistle-like leaves and blue flowers with starry collars of silvery green makes Mrs. Willmott's ghost, or seaholly a favorite perennial for sunny gardens. Eryngium giganteum is a hardy herbaceous biennial native to the moist, well-drained soils of Iran and the Caucasus of extreme westcentral Asia. It has a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped, coarse, spiny and teethed green leaves iwth white edges and veins. In summer it produces starry flowers with a barreled cluster of fertile, tiny blue...

(Leavenworth's Eryngo, Texas Seaholly)

Pineapple-like flowers that blush from green to rich violet-purple in very late summer makes Leavenworth eryngo one of America's most vibrant dryland wildflowers. Eryngium leavenworthii is an annual native to dry prairie soils across Texas and into Oklahoma and Arkansas. The plant has a basal rosette of oblong, coarse, spiny-lobed green leaves. In midsummer it produces pineapple-like flowers with a barreled cluster of green buds with a tuft of spiny leaves atop a tall branching stem. By...

(Blue Eryngo, Flat Seaholly)

Evergreen thistle-like leaves and steel blue flowers makes the flat seaholly or blue eryngo a favorite perennial for sunny, gravelly gardens. Eryngium planum is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to dry rocky mountain slopes of southeastern Europe to central Asia. It has a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped, coarse, spiny dark green leaves that are leathery. In summer it produces plume-like flowers with a barreled cluster of fertile, tiny pale blue flowers surrounded by many spiny bracts...

(Blue Eryngo, Blue Glitter Eryngo, Blue Glitter Seaholly)

Evergreen thistle-like leaves and glistening steel blue flowers makes the Blue Glitter seaholly or blue eryngo a favorite perennial for sunny, gravelly gardens. Eryngium planum is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to dry rocky mountain slopes of southeastern Europe to central Asia. A selection from the growers at Ernst Benary in Germany, 'Blue Glitter' has a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped, coarse, spiny dark green leaves that are leathery. In summer it produces plume-like flowers...

(Blue Eryngo, Blue Hobbit Eryngo, Blue Hobbit Seaholly)

Evergreen thistle-like leaves and steel blue flowers makes the dwarf Blue Hobbit seaholly or blue eryngo a favorite perennial for sunny, gravelly gardens and containers. Eryngium planum is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to dry rocky mountain slopes of southeastern Europe to central Asia. It has a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped, spiny dark green leaves that are leathery. In summer 'Blue Hobbit' is covered in plume-like flowers with a barreled cluster of fertile, tiny pale blue...

(Blue Eryngo, White Glitter Eryngo, White Glitter Seaholly)

Evergreen thistle-like leaves and glistening silvery ivory flowers makes the White Glitter seaholly a favorite perennial for sunny, gravelly gardens. Eryngium planum is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to dry rocky mountain slopes of southeastern Europe to central Asia. A selection from the growers at Ernst Benary in Germany, 'White Glitter' has a dense basal rosette of heart-shaped, coarse, spiny dark green leaves that are leathery. In summer it produces pincushion-like flowers with...

(Button Snakeroot, Rattlesnake Master)

Sword-shaped clumps of spiny, gray-green leaves are topped in summer by tall stems of pale silvery-green flowers on the imposing rattlesnake master. A semi-evergreen perennial that grows from a deep taproot, it is native to the rocky, drier glades and prairies across the eastern United States. It is an upright plant that will become a tufted clump.

Each leaf is sword-shaped, blue-gray to gray-green and has spines along the edges. Leaves cluster in a basal rosette. In midsummer onwards, towering...

(Dwarf Red Redclaws, Escallonia)

Bearing masses of pretty flowers over a long season, this dense, small to medium-sized, evergreen shrub makes a handsome four-season ornamental for gardens with relatively mild winters. A hybrid that traces its ancestry to species from South America, it has erect branches set with small, narrowly oval, glossy dark green leaves. Clusters of small, five-lobed, rosy-red flowers are borne in abundance in late spring and more sparingly through much of summer.

This sun-loving shrub prefers well-drained,...

(Tufted Poppy)

Tufted poppy is a California native annual that is well-adapted to garden and container use. Bright yellow cup-shaped flowers rise above delicate, gray-green, finely dissected foliage in summer. The numerous four-petal blossoms release a light scent.

Tufted poppy likes sun and poor, well-drained soil and withstands very dry conditions. Challenges to success of this pretty perennial are excessive moisture that can lead to fungal and rot problems. If well-sited it will reseed and may return year...