I'd given up my Eryngium maritimum for dead. It should be hardy to 20 degrees BELOW zero but last winter the growing tip got hard and crusty and then the whole plant just sort of melted and disappeared. Dead, right? So naturally I put the word out I was in need of a replacement,
Scott emailed me a photo when he spotted them at
Portland Nursery, I was there the next day. Plant bought!
I loved it's placement in the garden so I did my best to replicate it. That's it at the bottom of this photo...
And what's that? Ya, the original plant returning a week later, about a foot to the North, hey I was kind of close...
The orange arrow is pointing to the old plant and the new plant is obvious at the bottom of the photo. Whodda thought in May plants would still be showing up? It's a good thing...
Oh and check this out! I Googled Eryngium maritimum and this crazy photo showed up
on the Wiki. The entry is in Polish and doesn't even make much sense when translated, but this scene, it's pretty bizarre...
All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for
danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
It is rather amazing that plants are still showing up this late in the season. I guess there are some that are late to wake up if they get knocked back to the ground, but if they manage to stay evergreen in an easy winter, they get going just fine. That last shot is definitely odd.
ReplyDeleteI've never known this one to not be evergreen, but then again I guess I haven't been growing it much with a 12F low. Hopefully not again anytime soon...
DeleteI love surprises like this one!
ReplyDeleteEryngium maritimum is a seriously prickly plant, isn't it? I would want to step on one during a walk in the dunes.
My "old" plant was very prickly, the new one isn't quite as bad, or blue. Hopefully both will come with time and age.
DeleteThat's the best kind of surprise. Maybe the soil temperature had to rise in order for the plant to wake up?
ReplyDeleteYes I'm sure that had something to do with it. But this one is so cold hardy, it's not like it needs hot temps to thrive...
DeleteWhat a great story! Glad your Eryngium maritimum decided to wake up and put in an appearance this year! Happy sunny Monday!
ReplyDeleteSunny and gorgeous! Although that darn crazy wind had to put in an appearance...
DeleteIt's the same principle as searching high and low for something, giving up, replacing it and then there it is, staring me right in the face. Never hurts to have two of a great plant tho, right? I don't really need two spatulas.
ReplyDeleteYes exactly, on both accounts.
DeleteI always say that...the best way to guarantee that a plant will return is to buy its replacement :-)
ReplyDeleteI'll remember (and act) on that.
DeleteI can translate that photograph for you: "Don't water those." ;^)
ReplyDeleteHa, good point.
DeleteI´m happy for your Eryngium maritimum, it is a good surprise when this things happen!!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely an appreciated occurrence.
DeleteIn a similar vein, I planted a Dracunculus vulgaris last year in January. It never sprouted. It came up in February over a year later, and is now blooming its stinky bloom.
ReplyDeleteMax P.
I've had that (kind of) happen with my eucomis. It gets knocked back over a bad winter and doesn't reappear in the spring. But then the next year there it is, back and ready to go! Enjoy your stinky flower...
DeleteAnd now you have two fab plants instead of one :)
ReplyDeleteWord! (I have no idea why but I thought that and it made me laugh so hard I had to type it...)
DeleteMaybe you need a third one now?
ReplyDeleteWell it sure couldn't hurt...
DeleteIt was waiting until you bought it a friend : )
ReplyDeleteMaybe they'll multiply now and I'll get that scene above played out in my front garden!
DeleteThat's awesome! Eryngium maritimum is super cool. I wasn't too familiar with it, but my subsequent google searches have me in complete plant lust!
ReplyDeleteWhen it takes on that powdery blue cast...love it.
Deletewhat interesting little beauties!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll get flowers this year!
DeleteEverything is so delayed in my garden this year. I grabbed a saw to cut down a seemingly dead kidneywood and what do you know, it wasn't dead after all. I love surprises like that!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, those are the best, especially when you discover them before you make the cut.
DeleteWhere do you get your gravel? And what size is it? Yours has such a nice mix of colors
ReplyDeleteOregon Decorative Rock (on Columbia Blvd but they also have a location in Beaverton). It's 3/4-1/4" round.
DeleteI am Polish (seriously) - so it's simply: "maritime little Nicholas ("mikołajek"- literally in Polish) in it's naturall setting". I've seen them personally in such a sandy place by the Baltic Sea... Thanks for a nice source of vegetal news from Your place on the globe. Good luck
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you Tomasz for commenting and helping me to understand that amazing photo!
DeleteThis is an old post, and you may be the only one to see my comment. But I did go to the wikipedia entry for Eryngium that you linked to, and the second line on the upper right of the Wiki in Polish lets you translate to other languages.
ReplyDeleteHere is the wikipedia entry in English with the photo you published at the bottom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eryngium_maritimum
Thank you!
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