Description:

A distinctive plant featuring whorls of narrow, spiny, silvery foliage, arching to form a neat clump; branched spikes of small, spiny, green flowers in early summer that fade to brown in fall; tolerates hot dry sites; great in mass plantings

Ornamental Features

La Canada Eryngium features airy panicles of light green ball-shaped flowers with chartreuse overtones rising above the foliage from early to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive spiny sword-like leaves remain bluish-green in color with curious silver undersides and tinges of gray throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

La Canada Eryngium is an herbaceous perennial with a mounded form. 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, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spiny

La Canada Eryngium is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

La Canada Eryngium will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 24 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 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 does best in full sun to partial shade. 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. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in poor soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

La Canada Eryngium is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.