Eryngium (Sea Holly)
at Digging Dog

Including Eryngium giganteum, Eryngium planum, Eryngium proteiflorum, & Eryngium variifolium

Eryngium

Sea Holly

Dynamic is a rare adjective to apply to a plant, but it’s the best we can think of to describe Eryngium. From its leathery lobed leaves to the spiny, decorative bracts that host the flower, the Sea Holly has a sense of movement that is up and out. Excellent in fresh or dried arrangements, the flowers are borne on tall, branching stems, and the terminal blooms hold their color while lateral flowers develop, until the entire stem is covered with mature blossoms.

Eryngiums love well drained soil in the open sun, and are an arresting addition to the mixed border, especially when planted amidst Rudbeckia, the Achilleas, and grasses.

Eryngium ‘Blue Jackpot’ 

The jackpot here is the dazzling blue flower heads—prominent, central blue oval cones protruding from nests of large, elaborate, frilly looking blue bracts. Sturdy, ultramarine-tinted branching stems and green heart-shaped leaves adorned with piecrust edges bolster the long lasting display. Spotlight this extraordinary new toughie in the mixed border and when it blooms you’ll be saying holy cyan cerulean! (ppaf)

Blooms July to mid-September.

Size: 2' high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 4.

AVAILABLE MID-APRIL 2008

Eryngium Blue Jackpot (P-1445)
Each $8.00
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Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ 

Distinguished from other Sea Hollies by the intense, steel blue hue infusing its branched stems, leaves, and teasel-shaped flowers, ‘Sapphire Blue’ features huge blossoms nestled in dramatic collarlike bracts. With a stance that’s angular yet erect, this sturdy perennial makes a striking counterpoint to the silvery softness of Salvia argentea.PP#11088

Blooms July–August.

Size: 2-1/4' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 5.

Eryngium Sapphire Blue (P-0938)
Each $7.00
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Eryngium giganteum 

Miss Willmott’s Ghost

Back in Victorian times, Miss Willmott was so enamored with this Eryngium that she secretly scattered its seeds in other people’s gardens. And once you’ve seen the flowers, you’ll wish she’d visited yours! Like some ornate Elizabethan ruff, the bracts—ghostly white, rigid and long-toothed—subtend exquisite, 4 in. silvery green flower cones. Supported by sturdy, widely branched stiff stems, the extraordinary blooms fade to buff, remaining decorative until frost above glossy basal leaves that are deeply heart-shaped and spineless.

Absolutely show stopping in the border or a container, alluring to bees and unparalleled as a dried flower, the magnificent Giant Sea Holly may not be long-lived, but endures by self-seeding.

Blooms July–September.

Size: 3'–4' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 5.

Eryngium giganteum (p-1180)
Each $6.50
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Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’ 

With silvered, narrow spiky ruffs that cradle metallic blue round flower heads, ‘Blaukappe’ makes a sterling addition to dried or fresh bouquets. The vividly colored “blue caps” crest stiff-branched, sturdy bluish stems arising from a handsome green basal rosette of coarsely toothed, rounded and leathery foliage. Let its fantastic mercury-hued accents temper the bronzed blades of Stipa arundinacea.

Blooms June–September.

Size: 2'–2-1/4' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 4.

Eryngium planum Blaukappe (P-0159)
Each $6.50
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Eryngium planum ‘Blue Glitter’   

Pressing upward through fine saw-toothed, green succulent-like leaves, an abundance of multibranched pewter-blue stems yields some 85 ½-in. shimmering blue pincushions perched on spiny collars. This new Ernst Benary selection promises to inspire gardeners and florists alike with a taller sturdy stature and profuse brilliantly colored blooms, which mature quickly and make long lasting cut flowers.

Blooms July–September.

Size: 2'–3' high x 8"–10" wide; hardy to zone 5.

Eryngium planum Blue Glitter (p-1446)
Each $6.50
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Eryngium proteiflorum 

An interesting combination of the prehistoric and the refined, this evergreen Eryngium is known for its large-coned, luminous flowers. Linear leaves emerge from a basal rosette with widely spaced spines along their margins. A dramatic collar of upturned, unequal steely green bracts, some reaching the striking breadth of 5 to 6 in. across, serves up central, sea-green flower heads reminiscent of a Protea. Ideal for dried arrangements, this exotic Mexican perennial demands a warm, sunny site with well drained, fertile soil. Give it a blue pot on the patio or another prominent location to bring its remarkable show in-to full view.

Blooms July–September.

Size: 2-1/2'–3' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 8.

Eryngium proteiflorum (p-1179)
Each $6.50
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Eryngium variifolium 

Moroccan Sea Holly

The Moroccan Sea Holly is as valuable for its unusual dark and evergreen marbled foliage as for its steel blue flowers set on spiny, silvery bracts atop thick, erect silver-blue stems. Smaller than other Eryngiums, Eryngium variifolium is well suited for an up-front position in the border, in a rock garden or in a container.

Blooms July–August.

Size: 18" high x 10" wide; hardy to zone 5.

Eryngium variifolium (P-0848)
Each $6.00
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