I put these photos in PlantStew on the Cardoon page and decided that the color of the blooms is just too vibrant to not show off here so everyone can see it. Blossom and buds ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) Cardoon blossom ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden ) Whole plant ( photo / image / picture from toni's Garden )
Oh Oh Oh I want!!! What an absolutely delicious shade of blue Toni!!!! I can just picture a whole lot of them all planted together. Oh drool, drool and double drool.
Yep, I was thinking of you and your passion for blue in the garden when I posted these photos, Eileen. It is a stunner out there, I have more seeds that will be going into pots when it cools down enough outside for me to be out there.
I love that shade of blue as well. It reminds me of a blue Aster, but it has thorns. Beautiful flower.
Wow! Now that is a very cool looking flower! I love it. The bud is very interesting looking before it is opened too. That's a nice bonus. Thanks!
those are beautiful, Toni! At first glance I thought I was looking at a blue bee balm! *adds to the ever growing wish list*
I can't wait for the other buds to open up, it should really be fantastic to have all that blue at the same time. Sjoerd, I started this plant and another one almost three years ago. They stayed in large pots thru two winters, going in the bloom house when it got cold and coming out for warmer days. One didn't make it thru winter before last but this one came right back and I finally found a place for it in the new bed out front last fall. It stayed 'ever-grey'....the leaves are greyish instead of green....all last winter then started growing early this spring. It probably needs to be in more sun to reach the 6'-8' height some sites say it will reach, this one is only about 3'-4' tall. Capt, it is a relative of the thistle, at least the thistles that are in the Asteraceae (Aster) family like the Cardoon is. I am really looking forward to having more of them next year.
