WiseAcre Gardens

North Country Wildflowers & Perennials that survive winters colder than my wife’s feet

Globe Thistle

Posted by WiseAcre on Aug 10th, 2008

2008

Aug 10

Globe Thistle – Echinops ritro

Globe Thistle

How many times can I say “This is one of my favorite flowers” before someone points out I repeat myself worst than a teenager saying “you know” ? But I do have my reasons Globe Thistles are high on my list.

cool looking
deer resistant
late bloomer
good self-seeder
thrive with neglect
dry flower arrangements
winter interest
I got mine for free

Yellow jackets don’t get spooked and fly off when you disturb them – they get mad. And when they get mad you don’t want to be sticking your nose into their business. I teed off this one and rather than kill it in self-defense I retreated. When I returned I found another bee with a better attitude.

Globe histle

Globe Thistle

Insects , Perennials
Comments(5)

5 Responses

Tricia Says:
August 10th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Great shot. I love photos of flowers with bees or other insects hovering around them.

Globe Thistle – definitely a cool looking flower. You say their easy to grow, but for me I just couldn’t get mine to take. I’m not sure why but they aren’t happy in my garden. Mind you I only tried one year. perhaps I should try again. Maybe their my African Violets and Jade plants of the garden – both of those are supposed to be easy to grow but I tend to kill them … weird.

Fantastic photos!

Tricia,
Thanks /blushes

What fun would it be if everything we threw into the ground grew without problems? I got my Globe Thistle from someone who was having a hard time with them. She was growing them in wet clay ground and they didn’t like it. I had quite a ‘root ball’ when I transplanted them and they didn’t do so well (I try to make sure the plant doesn’t realize it’s been dug up and moved) but the new seedlings that hit my well drained sandy loam grew like weeds.
FamiliaKhuletz Says:
August 10th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Oh wow… that’s one awesome flower! Your photos are all so beautiful!

Here’s my GTS POST. Hope you can drop by if you have the time. Have a great day ahead!

FamiliaKhuletz,
and you have one awesome cat I loved finding ‘P’ caught in the act with the vodka bottle when I browsed thru your place.

I point and click too. If I posted all my bad photos the internet would collapse under the weight.
Joy Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Fantastic pictures W.A. … I love seeing globe thistle being ‘used” .. (I think it likes being abused .. but I’m trying to be politically correct and not say that .. oops !) .. I have mine in strong sun and average to lean soil and it is more than happy to crowd out the other poor plants .. until I get that whip and chair out that is .. then it behaves .. love the flower fresh or dried .. all over great plant especially in long summers (with less rain than we have had this year ?)
Hope you held on to your wagon still ?
Joy ^..^

Joy,
I’m still recovering. I drove the wagon over a cliff before I jumped off.

This year is making up for the lack of rain last year. The humidity is awful but at least the temps have stayed low. I’m getting used to putting on damp clothes in the morning
Joy Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 7:46 am
…. Ok … I can’t help myself .. “I pictured the wagone flying off the cliff and you with a balloon in your hand just about to land, when a 500 LB weight thrown off the cliff by a ‘character” got to you first ? LOLOL
Joy ^..^

Joy,
No I usually just take the easy way down.
Apple Says:
August 18th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
The easy way looks like a tough way to me. lol

I love my globe thistle for all of the reasons you list. I got mine last year at a plant swap. No seedlings yet but hopefully next year. I do wish I had planted it just a little bit further off the path though. The kids were fascinated by how prickly the flower looks and how soft it actually is.

Apple,
The character involved is a trained professional. Do not attempt to recreate this stunt.

I only wish it was easier to transplant. The taproot makes it tough to move them and I’ve sent my share into permanent dormancy. Now I try to just pick on the young-ins and seedlings.