Alpine sea holly is a hardy perennial with striking blue, spiny flowerheads, grown for ornament in dry, sunny, well-drained sites. Its key to success is sharp drainage and full sun; it resents wet, rich soil.
Family
Apiaceae (Carrot family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly once established; let the soil dry out between waterings and avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Dry, well-drained soil, ideally gritty or limestone-based.
Temperature
Hardy to cold winters, around -20 °C or lower; tolerates cold well but needs drainage in winter wet.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Jura, Alps to NW. Balkan Pen.
Climate
temperate
About
Eryngium alpinum, the alpine sea holly, alpine eryngo or queen of the Alps, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Apiaceae.
How to grow it
Eryngium alpinum is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its blue and purple flowerheads. It requires dry, well-drained soil and full sun.
Where it grows
This plant is native to Austria, Liechtenstein, Croatia, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Slovenia. It grows in subalpine scrub, rocky areas and wet pastures, preferably in limestone, at an altitude of 1,500–2,000 metres (4,900–6,600 ft) above sea level.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eryngium alpinum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.