How to make your garden bloom

The West's best flowers for borders, beds, bouquets, and containers

20 favorite perennial flowers

These unfussy, long-lived plants pump out beautiful foliage and flowers year after year. Plant in fall or spring when cooler temperatures help them get a healthy start

Story by Kathleen Brenzel

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Sea holly (Eryngium amethystinum)

Amethyst flower heads surrounded by 2-inch silvery-blue bracts open atop tall stems in summer, emerging from a rosette of spiny, medium green leaves.

The thistlelike blooms resemble 4th of July fireworks ― great for bouquets.

More about growing sea holly