Berkheya purpurea
Purple South African thistle
- Height × spread
- 0.8m × 0.5m
- 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 and stylish evergreen plant. It makes a large basal rosette of oblong spiny leaves with tomentose on their under surface and cobweb threads above. The flowers arise on long spiny stalks that carrying the huge heads of flowers. They are exotic and eye-catching daisy like, coloured light purple, very occasionally white and with a large pink-purple-brown disk at the centre. They need well drained soil and sunshine to perform well and should be given some protection during winter, perhaps mulch. They certainly don't like much wetness over the winter months.
- Flower colour
- Mauve, Pink, Purple
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Column
- Height
- 0.8m
- Spread
- 0.5m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Evergreen
- Garden style
- Wild flower meadow
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Hazards
- Yes, leaves & stems are prickly/thorny
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
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.