Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master)

Easy to grow, pest and trouble free, this plant will light up your garden until autumn. Its beautiful texture and unique colour coupled with the long lasting flowers makes it garden favourite.

Eryngium yuccifolium, commonly called rattlesnake-master or button snake-root, is a North American native plant which occurs in rocky woods, prairies and glades and was a common plant of the tallgrass prairie. It is for this reason I have it growing in my prairie garden.

It is an evergreen perennial with luminous clusters of small, egg-shaped flowerheads, 2.5cm across, tightly packed with tiny greenish-white flowers. Leaves are sword-shaped, spiny-edged and blue-grey in colour.

Grow in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Plants tend to open up and sprawl if grown in overly fertile soils or in anything less than full sun. This is a tap rooted plant which does not like to be transplanted. Deadhead to stop self seeding. Height to 1m.

Excellent cut and dried flower offering a long vase life and unique vertical interest.

Beneficial bees and insects love the flowers.

Sow seeds during autumn or winter as they need cold conditions (cold stratification) for around 6 weeks. I recommend sowing seeds into pots due to the small size of the seeds. As seeds need light to germinate, sprinkle them on top of the soil and water. Keep seeds damp but not wet. Seeds will germinate when temperatures are around 20cm. Grow plants to around 10cm in height, harden off and plant out.

Seeds currently available.

$5.00 - 30 open pollinated seeds

$4.00 - postage within Australia

Email to order - fascinatingbotanicals@gmail.com

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