Gadding about Globe thistles...

Echinops ritro in the wild, near Troy

I doubt many people would be globe thistles too high on their favorite lists: more is the pity. I love the thistle-like foliage and wonderfully prickly flowers. I have admired these over the years in the wild--from all around the Mediterranean to the Altai Mountains in Central Asia--everywhere they stand out in the landscape and provide wonderful closeup images, often bristling with insects. And they are endlessly variable, as this picture I took a year ago shows.

And they are much more diverse than first meets the eye: here is a tiny monocarp from Kazakhstan. We collected this on steep screes in the Altai. It bloomed, but we didn't get viable seed in the garden--so alas, it's a memory!

A closer view of the unknown species from Kazakhstan.

Echinops ritro 'Veitch’s Blue'

An especially vibrant sapphire colored form growing in the El Pomar Waterway at Denver Botanic Gardens--planted only a year ago!

Echinops ritro 'Veitch’s Blue'

 A closer shot of the same...

And from further away: I find this planting to be utterly delightful! Credit goes to Mike Holloway--one of DBG's incredible horticulturists. A fabulous eye for design and raucous sense of humor to boot.

Echinops ruthenicus

Here is one of the giants of the genus, towering in the Perennial Border at DBG...

Echinops sp. ign. Kazakhstan

Alas, we never got seed of this stately beauty!

I love the contrast of white stem and blue flowers on this one...

And here is Echinops sphaerocephalus growing in my garden--a paler, but still very striking plant.

And here is Echinops sphaerocephalus growing in the Watersmart garden at D.B.G. Dan (in charge) assures me this is from our 2001 expedition to southern Spain.

I have an excessive fondness for Echinops (as do the bumblebees)

We finish with closeups of some giant echinops in the Birds and Bees garden at D.B.G...what other plant is so imposing from a distance and so intricate close up? (Rhetorical question--I can't think of any!)