You’ll want this showy thistle in your garden
If you spent your summer childhood vacations chopping down bull or Canada thistles, you might now balk at planting a hardy perennial called globe thistle (Echinops ritro) in your garden.
But the rest of us can delight in this statuesque plant with its steel-blue, ball-shaped flowers in our midsummer gardens. Butterflies, bees and other pollinators are attracted to the blossoms, and the flowers are great in bouquets, fresh or dried. While globe thistles sometimes seed themselves around a bit, they are not nearly as aggressive as weedy thistles.
In truth, globe thistle isn’t really a thistle, despite its spiky thistle-like leaves. Unlike real thistles, globe thistle’s silvery leaves aren’t at all prickly.
The plants grow about 4 feet tall and prefer full sun. Once established, globe thistle is low maintenance: tolerant of drought and poor soil, preferring to be left alone rather than dug up and divided, and resistant to browsing from deer and rabbits.
When blooming is done, you can cut globe thistle back to the fresh growth already growing at the base of the plant. Expect more flowers in a few weeks, although this second show will feature shorter plants with smaller blossoms. If you leave the second round of seedheads this fall, they will be a treat for the birds this winter.
There are more tall and stately late-bloomers like globe thistle that can help keep your perennial garden fresh and colorful during the dog days of summer. Here are a few:
Helen’s flower (Helenium autumnale). Daisylike blooms in red, orange, yellow and bicolors brighten the garden from July until fall frost. This colorful native plant also goes by the names dogtooth daisy or sneezeweed. It grows 3 to 5 feet tall.
Helen’s flower is adaptable and easy to grow, although it grows best in moist soil, and in full sun or light shade. It is usually ignored by deer.
White turtlehead (Chelone glabra). Another late-blooming native perennial for full sun or light shade, white turtlehead grows up to 4 feet tall if the plants get enough moisture.
The unique white blossoms are supposedly shaped like a turtle’s head. Pink turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) is similar, but with pink flowers. Butterflies are attracted to both.
Plant either species of turtlehead in a rain garden, swale, or other spot where the soil is moist to wet.
Black cohosh (Cimicifuga ramosa; syn. Actea ramosa). One of the showiest late bloomers for a shady garden, black cohosh has tall bloom stalks topped with white bottle-brush flowers. A variety named Hillside Black Beauty shows off with its purple-black foliage and pink-tinged flowers. Pollinators love black cohosh. Deer and rabbits don’t.
Write Jan Riggenbach at 2319 S. 105th Ave., Omaha, NE 68124. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you’d like a personal reply, or visit midwest gardening.com.