Blue Glow globe thistle sends up perfectly round, steel-blue flower balls on tall, straight stems from early through late summer. The spheres look spiky but are softer to the touch than you would expect, and they are loved by bumblebees, butterflies and night-flying moths.
The plant reaches 3 to 4 feet tall with deeply cut, silvery green leaves, adding height and texture to the back of a sunny border or a dry garden. The globes are excellent fresh or dried in arrangements, and the plant clumps without spreading aggressively.
What it looks like
Perfectly spherical flower heads about 1½ inches across, made of tightly packed tiny spiky florets in intense steel blue to periwinkle blue. Each globe sits alone at the tip of a tall, stiff, unbranched grayish stem. Leaves are deeply lobed and thistle-like, silvery green above and hairy, with a slightly prickly look, forming a large basal clump. The plant stands 3 to 4 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. At peak bloom a cluster of blue balls floats above the silvery leaves at slightly different heights.
Growing it with lavender
Its blue globes and silvery leaves echo lavender's color and texture, and it likes the same sunny, lean, well-drained soil, making a taller companion behind a lavender row.
Care
Grow in full sun to light shade in average to lean soil with good drainage; it is very drought tolerant once settled and dislikes wet feet. Hardy in zones 3 to 8. It forms a deep taproot, so choose its spot carefully and avoid moving it later; cut stems after flowering to limit self-seeding.
At a glance
-
Botanical name: Echinops bannaticus
-
Flower color: Steel blue
-
Foliage: Silvery green
-
Growth habit: Upright clump with tall unbranched stems
-
Mature size: 36 in–4 ft tall × 24 in wide
-
USDA hardiness zones: 3–8
-
Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
-
Bloom start: Early-July
-
Peak bloom: Late-July
-
Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
-
Deer resistance: Resistant
-
Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly. This plant grows a deep taproot: plant it promptly in its permanent spot, avoid moving it later, and expect it to emerge later in spring than most perennials.
Shipping note: Deep taproot resents root disturbance; plant promptly on arrival
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
