Kansas Sea Holly, Eryngium leavenworthii

Hmmm, a “Sea Holly” from land-locked Kansas. Begins to give you some idea of the quirky nature of this annual flower. Each of the many small flowers look like a metallic purple pineapple with a wild, jagged haircut and wearing an equally wild and jagged tutu. Then, the stamens that emerge from all over the “pineapple” are long and bright blue. The stems and leaves also turn purplish in late summer.

This sun-loving, spectacularly spiky-looking plant is sought after as a unique accent in the garden and appreciated as a long lasting, contemporary-looking bouquet flower. It is also valued as easy, drought-tolerant addition to a xeriscape, gravel garden, or prairie garden, complemented by any goldenrod or “big yellow daisy.” Last summer, visiting gardens in England, I saw this and many other species and cultivars of Eryngium used in the best English gardens, often in purple-themed borders and mingling with swirly grasses. 36″ sun

(If you are wondering about the leaves with the orange thorns, that’s Firethorn, Solanum pyracanthum.)