Globe thistle
Echinops ritro · Asteraceae
Perfect steel-blue spheres on branching, silver stems above jagged, thistle-like leaves in midsummer. Bees cover them.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to mid August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around globe thistle
The planner designed this bed around globe thistle 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 stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Globe thistle × 3, blue
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 10, pink
- 3 Heath aster 'Snow Flurry' × 3, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 3, tan
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are fine and medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only blue.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3½ ft it is among the tallest 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 dwarf English boxwood (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 six weeks. From mid July to mid August.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' is the first into flower, in mid May, and heath aster 'Snow Flurry' the last to finish, in mid October. The back corners are held by brown-eyed Susan and globe thistle, the tallest plants on the plan.
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 goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
The globe is the rarest flower shape in the border, and this is the best blue one. Place it beside flat yarrow and spiky Russian sage for a contrast of three shapes. Poor, dry soil keeps it upright.
- Blue globes for hot, dry borders
- Cut and dried flowers
- Architectural contrast to daisies and spires
What to plant with globe thistle
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 five weeks; fine leaves against its bold ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Russian sage: in flower together for six weeks, from mid July; fine leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same dry soil.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for six weeks, from mid July; medium leaves against its bold ones.
Questions about globe thistle
Does globe thistle need sun or shade?
Globe thistle 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 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 flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to mid 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 | Mid July to mid August |
| Zone 6 | Mid July to mid August |
| Zone 7 | Early July to early August |
| Zone 8 | Early July to early 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 be planted?
24 in (60 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 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many globe thistle plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 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 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.
Is there a native plant like globe thistle?
Globe thistle comes from Europe to Mongolia and Turkey. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Rattlesnake master: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 8 in taller, 6 in narrower.
- Prairie blazing star: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 8 in taller, 8 in narrower.
- Lupine: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 6 in narrower, flowers late May to early July.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat globe thistle?
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?
Globe thistle is over by mid 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.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 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.
What does globe thistle look like in winter?
Globe thistle 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 good for bees and butterflies?
Globe thistle is visited by pollinators and butterflies.
More Echinops
- Globe thistle 'Arctic Glow' Echinops sphaerocephalus 'Arctic Glow'
- Globe thistle 'Blue Glow' Echinops bannaticus 'Blue Glow'
- Globe thistle 'Veitch's Blue' Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue'
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
- Silver and grey-leaved plants
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid July to mid August; globes; blue
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; grey-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.