I was looking back through some of my photographs and discovered several sets of photographs of Eryngium – also known commonly as Sea Holly. The varieties of Eryngium I photographed are all varieties that have been developed for garden and landscaping use. There is also a native plant – Eryngium yuccifolium – which is related to the ones I photographed.
Eryngiums are members of the Apiaceae (carrot) family. They are known for their spiny leaves and dome-shaped umbels of flowers. They remind me of some types of thistles. Several of the Eryngium I photographed are wonderful shades of purple and blue that can add a splash of color and texture to your garden.
The first set of Eryngium I photographed were the Donard Variety – Eryngium x Zabelli
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
Nearby were an unidentified variety of Eryngium. Bees seemed to really like this variety – most of my photos of this type of Eryngium had multiple bees in it!
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
The Sapphire Blue Eryngium were a wonderful shade of blue. These are my favorite variety of Eryngium that I’ve photographed.
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
The final set of Eryngium I’ve photographed is Flat-Leaved Eryngium (Eryngium planum)
(c) 2011 Patty Hankins
According to some of the websites I’ve been looking at – Eryngium aren’t too hard to grow. I wonder how a Sapphire Blue Eryngium or two would look in my garden?