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Big Blue Sea Holly

Big Blue Sea Holly

ERYNGIUM zabelii 'Big Blue'

Blooms Summer
Safe delivery guaranteed
Ships as 4"
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Common Name(s)
Sea Holly
Sunlight
Full Sun (6+ hrs)
Perennial Zones
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Watering
Let dry
Max Height
2'–4'
Max Spread
12"-18"
Special Features
Cut flowers
Garden Design Role
Architectural
Bloom Season
Summer
Lifespan
Perennial
Growing Habit
Columnar, Clumping
Drought Resistance
High drought resistance
Bloom Color
Blue
Foliage Color
Green
Stem Color
Green, Purple/Black
Themes
Cool Blue
Genus
Eryngium
Family
Apiaceae
Ship Size
4"

Big Blue Sea Holly arrives as a live 4-inch plant and grows into something closer to metalwork than horticulture: electric violet-blue cones ringed by long prickly bracts, held on upright stems that take on the same blue as they mature.

Eryngium × zabelii 'Big Blue' wants full sun, lean soil and free drainage — gravel gardens, prairie-style borders and coastal plantings suit it exactly, and rich feeding does not. It is one of the great cut flowers, fresh or dried, and the seedheads hold their shape through winter if you leave them standing. Site it back from busy paths, because those bracts are genuinely sharp.

Fun fact: for all the thistle drama, sea holly belongs to the carrot family. Look closely and each head is a dome of tiny individual blossoms, an umbel pressed into a cone.

  • Sunlight: Full Sun (6+ hrs)
  • Water: Let dry
  • Mature Size: 2'–4' tall × 12"-18" wide
  • Bloom Season: Summer
  • Lifespan: Perennial
  • Hardiness Zones: 3–9
  • Attracts: Bees & butterflies
  • Special: Cut flowers

It travels well, and a healthy arrival is guaranteed — if it turns up otherwise, we replace it free.

Big Blue Sea Holly