Echinops

ritro

VIOLET GLOBE FLOWERS

SALE: Buy 1 get 2 packs

Echinops ritro
VIOLET GLOBE FLOWERS
SALE: Buy 1 get 2 packs

Echinops ritro bears rich violet-blue globes, the size of golf balls, all summer.

Glowing globes of violet-blue

Globes are made up of a zillion tiny flowers like a violet-blue fuzz over the golf ball.

Superb cut flowers for floristry

The glowing globes are excellent cut for fresh vase flowers or for drying, as they hold their intense violet-blue colour particularly well.
And are borne on long, strong, straight stems that are easy to harvest.

Attractive foliage

While large, silvery blue leaves with woolly undersides, also add great garden value all year.

Hardy in heat & dry

Echinops ritro relishes Full Sun, and is undaunted by heat.

Good for limited water

So it is a water-wise plant and an excellent choice for gardeners with limited water, or hot and dry climates.

Easy in a wide range of soils including poorer sites

This hardy beauty copes in a wide range of soils, including sandy, gravel and poorer soils.
In fact they do better if they are not overfed, and the soil is not too rich.
But it does require good drainage, and will become miserable in waterlogged heavy soil.

Frost hardy & water-wise

It is also very frost hardy.

Easy care & low maintenance

Echinops ritro is an easy care, low maintenance plant.
Just cut to the whole plant ground in late autumn to tidy up, otherwise it is very self sufficient.

Rabbit & deer resistant

It is rarely if ever troubled by pests or diseases.
And not even rabbits and deer are particularly attracted to it, so it rates high for rabbit and deer resistance.

Quick & easy from seed to flower

Echinops ritro is a hardy evergreen perennial clump.
And this cheery perennial will flower in the first year from seed, if you start sowing early.

Flowers 90cm High x 60cm Wide foliage clump.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY
Suits beginners & gardening with kids

Sow at any time of year in a punnet indoors, whenever suitable temperatures can be provided (20-25°C).
OR
Sow directly in the garden late in winter-early spring.

Sow indoors for optimum germination & early plants: If using a punnet – use a deep one / or use individual small tubes, as these plants quickly develop deep roots.

Sow the seed in the punnet/pot on the surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then press the seeds gently onto the surface of the mix to ensure good contact.

Now cover the seeds only very lightly, to a maximum depth the same diameter as the seed.
As these seeds need light for germination.
And you can use sieved mix, or fine grit, or vermiculite, or washed sand to sprinkle over the seeds.

Then place the sown punnet into a shallow water bath.
So the moisture percolates up through the mix from the bottom to thoroughly moisten the mix throughout.
Soak for a short time until moisture appears on the surface of the mix, and then remove and drain.

Then place the moist, sown punnet in a warm, well-lit position. (Not in any direct sunlight as this will dry the seeds out and prevent germination).

Temperatures of 20-25°C approx. are best for optimum and rapid germination.
You can use a temperature-controlled heat mat if you have one, to encourage rapid germination, but it is not essential. A warm window-sill or well-lit corner is also fine.

And continue to keep moist by spraying the surface of the mix a fine spray water bottle, or re-soaking in the water bath, as required.
(If the punnet is light weight when you pick it up – the mix is drying out and needs another soak from below in the water bath).
Adding a clear plastic cover helps to retain moisture in the punnet.
Make sure you remove the cover as soon as sprouting commences.

Seedlings emerge quickly, in approx. 10-21 days.

Prick out as soon as seedlings have shown their first set of true leaves, and pot up to grow on until large enough for garden planting.

Seed Count: 10 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count, and give a generous serve).

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