Eryngium agavifolium
Sea holly, Eryngo, Eringoe
Also known as Eryngium bromeliifolium
- Height × spread
- 1.5m × 1m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Flowers
- Summer
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This is an intriguing plant though, perhaps, difficult to accommodate well. In spring it makes a distinctive, spiky, vaguely fan-shaped, plant. Its long, toothy edged, leaves are arched out exuberantly as though ready to consume all comers. This enthusiasm subsides into a lax base for the sturdy flowering spike that can tower to 1.5m (5ft) and also, regrettably, may flop on occasions. If it is happy, in a sheltered site, the column remains upright and the knobby, greenish-white, flower head remains a feature to be reckoned with.
- Flower colour
- Green
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Column
- Height
- 1.5m
- Spread
- 1m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Seaside garden, Prairie garden, Gravel garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Gravelly soil, Loam (normal), Poor soil, Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Deer resistant, Rabbit resistant, Bee attraction, Butterfly attraction
- Hazards
- Yes, leaves are prickly
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.
Summer
Summer - early · Outdoors
Feed a general fertiliser
Where plants have moderate needs for nutrients, they can simply be given a general feed, fairly early in the growth season so that the growth has plenty of time to harden off before the cold weather.
Give plants a general boost with the application of a general purpose fertiliser which is spread around the root area of the plant, with amounts as directed on the feed label.
Found in
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