Talkback: Growing eryngiums - Talkback

18/07/2011 at 11:32

Oh, such lovely pictures,James. I too love eryngiums and have just bought a potful of seedlings of Eryngium varifolium from the Botanic Garden in Bristol, which has given me five plants. No flowers this year as they are so small but the leaves have lovely markings. I saw eryngiums in lots of the rooms at Hidcote Manor recently and they looked particularly fetching in the rockery of Cotswold sandstone.

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18/07/2011 at 15:42

Excuse my ignorance but are "teasles" in the eryngium family and if so, which of them is best for providing seeds for birds, please? i have teasle seeds, when and how to sew?

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18/07/2011 at 16:07

Tinkerbell, you want to sow seeds of Dipsacus fullorum in April or May or buy a plant as they are biennial so the plants from last year can be bought. One plant will give you teasels forever in your garden, like forget-me-nots and foxgloves! The bees love the flowers and the goldfinches love the seeds so you do not deadhead, hence teasels forever. But they are statuesque plants in themselves like eryngiums are.

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18/07/2011 at 17:15

Hi James - all! IMHO, the very best eryngium is 'Jade Frost' and best yet - it seem they come true from seed - I have some butter colored seedlings from some 'Jade Frost' seed I collected last fall - very ghostly looking babies. And the flower spikes are not blue like many, but a metallic purple that is just Fab!

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18/07/2011 at 19:28

I love the pic of the field of Eryngiums! Stunning. I've just bought an E. Blue Hobbit and it's small and cute and gorgeously coloured.

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19/07/2011 at 08:38

donutsmrs-the Sea Holly, Eryngium variifolium does not grow very tall, hardly above 40cm and is blue and very lovely. It would thrive against your house wall if it gets sun as it is not very hardy.

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19/07/2011 at 15:58

Thank you happymarion thats really good to know and after you saying that I now know exactly where to put one. You are so good you should be on gardeners world.

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20/07/2011 at 10:19

Gracious, donutsmrs-let's leave it to the youngsters! But I am happy to pull out nuggets from my vast store of tips accumulated over my many years of gardening because I do not think knowledge is private property. In short, I'm an inveterate teacher.

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21/07/2011 at 17:55

I have just found at a small Plant Fair eringium olivarium, which I understand is very blue. Small at the moment, I am hopeful for wonders next summer

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22/07/2011 at 10:36

I too love eryngiums, they are one of the limmited number of plants that are happy in my sandy front garden facing the Irish Sea. I have eight different varieties including a recently purchased Eryngium yuccifolium, so I will have to see if this survives. I find the spiky leaved varieties look happier than the softer leaved ones in my sandy soil.

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22/07/2011 at 14:44

I planted 2 eryngiums last year (not sure of the variety) and didn't stake them, so this year they have grown well but are lying horizontal in my garden. Should they be tied to supports and should I cut them back in the hope that they will grow upwards next year?

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22/07/2011 at 16:58

Yes, helleborus, I've found eryngium x olivieranum to be the bluest of the lot - one visitor to our garden described them as looking as though they'd been dipped in ink. Some people find the intensity of colour makes them look artificial, but I love them and they've rooted well from root-cuttings taken in summer.

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25/07/2011 at 07:42

I also like Eryngiums but have only managed with purchased plants. I have tried several time sto grow from seed - including putting the seed in the freezer, and all the other 'tricks' that I have read about. Where have I gone wrong?

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28/07/2011 at 20:13

HI, FOR THE FIRST TIME I HAVE PUT GLADIOLI IN MY GAREN BUT THE Y HAVE NOT FLOWERD, DO THEY NOT FLOWER INTHE FIRST YEAR , HAS IT BEN TO WET, THEY HAVE PLENTY OF SUN AND I HAVE BEEN WATERING AND FEEDING THEM AS RECAMENDED, WHAT IS HAPPENING I HOPED THAT I WOULD HAVE SOME FABULOUS GLADIES ... HELP PLEASE!;>(

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04/08/2011 at 02:24

I have 3 Eryngiums not sure of the variety but all are fab this year, as for stakeing them I found the best thing is the wire rings that are pushed over canes, they can be added one by one as the spikes of flowers come up and are better than trying to tie them to sticks that never seem to let the plants look natuaral. I have notice they dont set seeds easy as Ive only found one one seedling in 4 years and I do leave the heads on.

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06/08/2011 at 13:45

I have four Eryngiums in the garden three tall ones and one small they are great for bees and hover flys as mine are covered in them all the time i bought them new this year as i lost all of them last year hope they will be alright this year.

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28/11/2011 at 18:43

Ive always liked the look of Eryngiums but ive never grown them in my garden. Ive only got a small garden and they look as if they grow quite big, my front flower bed is quite narrow so i think they my look a little over powering. The colours of them are just beautiful though especially the blue.

david spikes

21/02/2012 at 22:03

while i have never suceeded in germinating eryngium indoors they do self sow in the garden particularly a virulently green and fleshy descendant of oliverium, if someone can tell how to germinate giganteum-which for me is a resolute non performer-i would be in your debt if not forever at least until i want to know something else

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