Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Description:

A very versatile plant featuring lavender blue prickly flowers that are a favorite for cutting; fresh or dried; great for a sunny border or rock garden; plants can be divided every few years

Ornamental Features

Sapphire Blue Sea Holly features bold lavender ball-shaped flowers with olive green overtones and silvery blue bracts at the ends of the stems from early to late summer, which emerge from distinctive light green flower buds. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive spiny lobed leaves remain grayish green in colour with distinctive silver veins throughout the season. The purple stems are very colorful and add to the overall interest of the plant.

Landscape Attributes

Sapphire Blue Sea Holly is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Self-Seeding

Sapphire Blue Sea Holly is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sapphire Blue Sea Holly will grow to be about 32 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 3 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for poor, alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Sapphire Blue Sea Holly is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.