Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue'
Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue' · Asteraceae
A compact globe thistle with many small, dark blue drumsticks on branching, silvery stems, and a second crop if the first is cut.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early July to late August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue'
The planner designed this bed around globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' × 3, blue
- 2 Yellow ice plant × 9, yellow
- 3 October daphne × 5, pink
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Sideoats grama × 3, purple
- 7 Lady tulip × 12, red
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only blue.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to sideoats grama (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 8 weeks. From early July to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With brown-eyed Susan and sideoats grama in late July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The most in flower at one time is 3 kinds, from late July. Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' and brown-eyed Susan anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Shorter and more freely flowering than the species, and less inclined to seed about. The size suits the middle of a border, where the globes float among daisies and grasses.
- Globes for the middle of a border
- Dried flowers
- Dry, sunny gardens
What to plant with globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Yarrow 'Moonshine': blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for six weeks; fine leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same dry soil.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for eight weeks, from early July; medium leaves against its bold ones.
- Blue oat grass: fine leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue'
Does globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' need sun or shade?
Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid July to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid July to late August |
| Zone 5 | Early July to late August |
| Zone 6 | Early July to late August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension and the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue'?
Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue mistflower: from late August to mid October, 2½ ft tall.
What does globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' look like in winter?
Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' good for bees and butterflies?
Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' is visited by pollinators and butterflies.
More Echinops
- Globe thistle Echinops ritro
- Globe thistle 'Arctic Glow' Echinops sphaerocephalus 'Arctic Glow'
- Globe thistle 'Blue Glow' Echinops bannaticus 'Blue Glow'
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants with blue flowers
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early July to late August; globes; blue
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- Europe to Mongolia and Turkey
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension, ASPCA poison lists and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.