ERYNGIUM - THISTLE

pronounced e-RIN-jum, and commonly called sea holly or alpine thistle. The plant is native to Siberia, the Balkans and Alpine regions, but it has been cultivated in Western Europe since 1567. This drought-tolerant flower has a silver-gray color and one look at the flower will make you think that it is a thistle, but it is only a thistle in name. The flowers have a dense central cone -- in some cases tinted green or bluish -- surrounded by a jagged flower bract that can be silver, white, greenish or even a deep violet-blue. The flowers remind you of those plastic shuttlecocks we used to get in backyard badminton sets. The leaves, as well as the deeply bristle-toothed bracts, look like they would be razor sharp, but are actually soft to the touch.

Flower stalks bloom from top down in summer, lasting through September. The prickly flowerheads are useful for winter drying and at Christmas are sometimes covered in white glitter giving them a festive feel.

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