About
Eryngium giganteum, Miss Willmott's ghost, is a striking, short-lived perennial or biennial with broadly heart-shaped, spiny basal leaves and, in summer, tall, branching stems clothed in silvery-grey, rigid, spiny leaves and bearing pale-blue flowerheads surrounded by large, silver-white, spiny bracts. The name commemorates the legendary gardener Ellen Willmott, who reportedly scattered seeds of it wherever she went.
About the genus
Eryngium, the sea hollies, are biennials and perennials with spiny-margined, often architectural leaves and distinctive, dome-shaped flowerheads surrounded by spiny bracts, often in metallic shades of blue, silver or purple. Drought-tolerant and ornamental, they are grown in sunny, well-drained borders.
Growing conditions
Plant details
Care notes