About Echinops ritro L.
Echinops ritro L. is a compact, bushy herbaceous perennial thistle. It grows to 60 cm (24 in) tall, has broad prickly leaves, and produces globe-shaped steel-blue flowers that measure 2.5 to 4.5 cm in diameter, which bloom in late summer. In cultivation, Echinops ritro itself and its subspecies E. ritro subsp. ruthenicus have earned the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Most or all plants previously recorded as naturalised in Great Britain are actually the related species Echinops bannaticus.
