Asteraceae FAMILY

Onopordum illyricum

Edibility

1/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBiennial

Growth—

Succeeds in almost any ordinary garden soil. Requires a well-drained soil in full sun. Prefers a slightly alkaline soil. Plants are hardy to about -15°c. Often self-sows, sometimes to the point of nuisance, though the seedlings can easily be hoed out and can also be transplanted if they are moved whilst still small^[1]. The flowers are very attractive to bees.

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ^[1]. The seed can also be sown in situ in autumn^[1]. If the seed is in short supply then it can be sown in a pot in the greenhouse in the spring. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Onopordum+illyricum>

Pollinators

Bees, Self

References

[1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[2]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎