Friday’s seeds – Echinops crispus
Besides the seeds, a sunny image with Echinops crispus (curly Echinops) on this bitterly cold day; the red flowers of Anthyllis might warm us up.
Echinops crispus and Anthyllis vulneraria var. coccinea in the background, early June 2017
I secretly watched this globe thistle evolve from a small seedling into a beautiful clump this year; too bad I was away just when at its most glorious time. The underside of leaves and the stems are covered with a thick pubescence (shown in the featured image), a perfect adaptation for the drought; grown from seeds collected in the southern Ural Mts. (Chelyabinsk region).
Echinops crispus, July 2017
Like in many other species from Fam. Asteraceae, some of the fruits (achenes) are empty, thus careful selecting of the seeds is necessary.
Echinops crispus fruits and seeds
Echinops name from the Greek words ‘ekhinos’ = hedgehog, sea urchin and
‘ops’ = face, head (referring to the appearance of the inflorescences)
Some lovely blooms there. It is a wrench to be away from the garden when you are bound to miss something really exciting.
True, nothing else to do but await the next year flowers :)
I am big fan of blue flowers and these perfect little spiky balls are wonderful. Love them!
Thanks Gill; I like them even before getting blue. I like Echinops in rock, gravel, scree gardens more than in regular flower beds, where they can get a bit lost between too many flowers.