Echinops ritro
Origin: Eurasia
Improvement status: Breeding population
Seeds per packet: ~20
Germination tested 12/2025: 72%
Life cycle: Perennial
The adorable, round, blue flowers of globe thistles — native from southern Europe through Central Asia all the way to Mongolia — make excellent cut flowers, either fresh or dried. They’re textural and whimsical and they look exactly the same fresh or dried. If harvested at the right time, they can last for years. When in bloom, little purple flowers appear on top of the globes, which attract numerous pollinators. They’re very hardy (USDA Zones 3-10), drought-tolerant perennials, which make them ideal for border planting.
Globe Thistles come in varying shades of blue. This mix, from growers Ann & Noel of Homestead Culture in southern Oregon, exhibits the full spectrum of possibilities from deep indigo to frosty white.
GROWING TIPS: Sow indoors 6-8 weeks before planting out, or direct-sow outdoors just after last frost. Cover seeds lightly, but strong enough to hold them in place. Space plants 2-3 feet apart. Globe Thistles are easy to grow, drought tolerant, deer resistant plants. Once established, watering can be reduced to once a week during the hottest summer months. They begin flowering in its first year between June – August. Harvest flowers or deadhead to encourage rebloom. They can become bushy and quite large. One plant that lives at the Chadwick Garden in UC Santa Cruz is over 5 feet tall and 8 feet wide! In cooler climates, they will die back completely to the ground in fall.
