Eryngium giganteum 'Miss Willmott's ghost' is probably my 'find of the year', one of those rare plants that actually look better than the photographs in the books and catalogues!
I bought three in spring in 9cm pots, with nothing more that a shred of green leaf about the size of my fingernail showing. I planted them out and one promptly died, but the two that came up are just spectacular! They have this extraordinary combination of shape and colour; a really thrilling mix of pointy, spikey angularity and silver-grey luminosity. I find myself doing a double-take and grinning like a lunatic every time they catch my eye! The books and websites all suggest they will grow to 90-100cm, but mine have stopped at 60-75cm with a really tidy, compact shape.
My one mistake was putting them into too busy a situation. This plant needs a stage to show off on! At the very least, they need something that will provide a fairly solid, even block of colour behind them. Something dark like cotinus coggygria purpurea ('smokebush') or one of the black or purple-leaved sambucus nigra (elder) would look amazing; but a relatively even mid-dark green background, though less spectacular, would work just as well. I'm planning a clump of five of them for next year, with the elder behind them and and a deep purple salvia in front of them.
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| E. giganteum 'Miss Willmott's ghost' - "Mrs. W" to her friends! |
My one mistake was putting them into too busy a situation. This plant needs a stage to show off on! At the very least, they need something that will provide a fairly solid, even block of colour behind them. Something dark like cotinus coggygria purpurea ('smokebush') or one of the black or purple-leaved sambucus nigra (elder) would look amazing; but a relatively even mid-dark green background, though less spectacular, would work just as well. I'm planning a clump of five of them for next year, with the elder behind them and and a deep purple salvia in front of them.
