Small Globe Thistle
Echinops ritro
A Mediterranean native perennial widely introduced throughout Europe and North America with spherical, metallic-blue flower heads that appear in late summer on stalks above stiff, spiny, dark green leaves.
Globe Thistle, a Mediterranean plant long in cultivation throughout Europe, is an undemanding perennial suitable for the border or wild garden. Williamsburg's John Custis might have received this species or its more vigorous cousin, E. sphaerocephalus, from his English Patron Peter Collinson in 1738. Both are listed in Parkison's early 17th-century herbal, and Philip Miller's 18th-century botanical dictionary. Jefferson's gardening mentor, Bernard McMahon, also included Small Globe Thistle in his 1806 The American Gardener's Calendar, in the Appendix under "hardy perennial and biennial fibrous rooted flowering plants." Its flower is very attractive to insects and, like the Strawflower, is popular as a cut flower and for drying.
In Bloom at Monticello is made possible by support from The Richard D. and Carolyn W. Jacques Foundation.
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Heirloom Seeds and Plants from the Monticello collection
Plant history in your gardens with seeds and plants from Monticello and the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants.
