Echinops ritro Veitch's Blue

The deeper, richer Globe Thistle — and an RHS Award of Garden Merit variety. Echinops ritro Veitch’s Blue produces perfectly spherical flower heads in a deeper, more saturated steel-blue than the standard species — a more intense metallic quality that makes it the preferred choice for cutting and drying, where the colour holds beautifully for months.

Ultra-hardy (H7), drought-tolerant, thriving in poor soil. Outstanding for bees and butterflies.

• Echinops ritro 'Veitch’s Blue' — RHS AGM, Hardy Perennial (H7)
• Height: 90–120cm | Flowers: July–September
• Sow indoors February–April; surface sow lightly
• Full sun; poor, well-drained soil — do not over-feed
• Outstanding for cutting fresh and drying
• Outstanding bee and butterfly plant

Grow it alongside Echinops Metallic Blue for a two-tone globe thistle planting that provides weeks of cutting material and dries into a winter arrangement of pure architectural beauty.