Showy purple thistles on show-stopping prickly silver foliage mid summer to early fall.
Can not ship to: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Size: 4-6’ x 12” Care: full sun in moist, well-drained soil Native: Europe and western Asia Wildlife Value: Bees, butterflies and birds
Chosen as the symbol of Scotland by King James V. According to legend the Scotch thistle helped Scotland fend off a Viking invasion by preventing a sneak attack. It caused the Vikings to scream in pain waking the Scots. Introduced to American gardens in late 1800’s.
Size: 4” x 4” Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil Native: Alps & Pyrenees Mountains
Grown in gardens for thousands of years. Sempervivum means “live forever.” Romans planted Hens and chicks on their roofs to ward off lightning. As a succulent it holds water and is probably more difficult to catch fire. “This practice was preserved for historians when Charlemagne (720-814), first Holy Roman Emperor and unifier of a large part of northern Europe, ordered that all villagers within his crown lands plant houseleeks on their roofs, presumably as a safety measure. He decreed: Et ille hortulanus habeat super domum suam Iovis barbam. (And the gardener shall have house-leeks growing on his house. Capitulare de villis, about 795, LXX.)”