Echinops ritro
Common Name(s):
Globe Thistle
Blue hedgehog
Synonym:
Echinops ruthernicus
Steel globethistle
Flower:
Blue
Blooms :
Jul
to:
Sep
Pale purplish-blue, spiny, golf-ball size sphere
Botanical Description
Fragrant?
NO
Family:
Asteraceae
Herbaceous Plant, Perennial
Foliage:
Green
Deeply lobed, curled and roughly- toothed spiny margins, coarse and covered with prickly hairs, white underside
Fall Color?
YES
Blooms into fall, foliage remains dark green with a silvery white underside
Deciduous
Photo by:
Heading 6
Oregon Native?
NO
West State Native?
NO
Origins:
Central Asia, South-Central and Southeastern Europe
Site Selection
Minimum USDA Hardiness Zone:
3
Water Needs:
L
Sun Needs:
Full Sun
Deer Resistant?
YES
Firewise?
YES
Height:
2-3'
Spread:
2-3'
Growth Rate:
Fast
Native Habitat:
Temperate grasslands, dry open spaces, rocky, stony slopes
Soil:
Average, poor, shallow-rocky, infertile (avoid rich soils), dry, well-drained
Care Recommendations
Maintenance Level:
Medium
Fertilizer:
Compost can be addedd as a top dressing in sring
Mulch:
Light inorganic mulch like coarse sand, fine gravel, or a thin 1/2" layer of well-rotted compost
Taprooted plant; difficult to divide or transplant; winter survival improved if not cut back until spring
Long Term:
Winter:
Do not cut back
Spring:
Cut back old flowering heads to basal foliage, give a single application of a balanced slow-release fertilizer in early spring
Summer:
Deadhead to prevent reseeding and/or cut back to basal foliage after flowering to encourage ;rebloom; stake if necessary- Watch for aphids
Fall:
Deadhead
General Care Comments:
Pollinator magnet, thrive in poor dry or sandy soil, plant at back of garden as it can look leggy and unkempt
Common Problems
Does not tolerate waterlogged soils, can be invasive
Diseases:
Powdery mildew, root rot
Insects:
Melon aphid, four-lined plant bug, celery (greenhouse) leafeater, European corn borer
Environmental Problems:
Poor drainage, floppy stems, abundant seed production making plant aggressive
Pests:
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.