sea holly

Sea holly. It’s native to Central and Eastern Europe, not the midwestern USA, but it’s growing in my garden. Sea holly is a tough-as-nails plant that survives in extreme cold and poor soil. It blooms from early summer to early fall, flowering profusely in mid-summer. With a long tap root (it’s a member of the carrot family), it’s drought-tolerant and prefers dry soil. What’s not to love about sea holly? It’s thick, spiky leaves bristle with fierceness and the steel blue flowers resemble thistles. To really accent the flowers, sea hollies have these gorgeous ruffled bracts around the cones that looks like the ruffled collar of an Elizabethan costume. Best of all, bees and other pollinators love sea holly and that’s why it’s in my garden.