A thistle you can actually love and best of all, your friends will be extremely envious of your prized possession. Berkheya purpurea (purple berkheya) is one of those rare plants from Africa that seems to do quite well in gardens including cold northern gardens. Many sources on the net report a hardiness of only 6 or 8, but there are plants that have overwintered north of Toronto, and in my Ontario zone 5 garden. For northern gardeners the plant is certainly worth another look.
B. purpurea is a prickly thistle. It forms a low rosette at ground level, and then in June a flower stock starts to grow. It flowers at 1 m high in early August with flowers that are 8-10 cm in size. Flowers open in succession from the top of the stem downwards, unlike most plants that open flowers from the bottom, up. Each flower lasts a few days and a single plant can have up to 15 flowers (5-8 is normal).
The plant is reported to have a taproot, but it is also described as rhizomatous. It is possible that a young plant has a tap root that branches out as the plant matures into a multi-headed clump. It is fast growing, long lived and has few pests, especially the 4 legged kind – it is just too prickly to eat. When you plant it in the garden, mark it well so that no-one weeds it out by mistake.
Purple berkheya is the only mauve to purple flowered species in the genus; most of the others are yellow or in some cases white.
Berkheya purpurea
(berk-HE-yuh pur-PUR-ee-uh)
Life Cycle: perennial
Height: 5 cm (2 inches), flowers at 1 M (3 ft)
Bloom Time: mid to late summer
Natural Range: South Africa (1,500 – 3,000m)
Habitat: moist, steep, grassy mountain slopes
Synonyms: Stobaea purpurea, Crocodilodes purpureum
Cultivation of Berkheya purpurea:
Light: full sun
Soil: good drainage
Water: average moisture to dry
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5?– 11
Propagation: seed, division
I just saw this at Select seeds and was looking it up to see what it is. Thanks for info. #addtocart