Short, stickery flower spikes of rose-purple and white rise to 16 inches above a rosette of prickly leaves in early and mid-summer. No strangers (or deer) will be nabbing this one out of your garden, but you’ll have a wonderfully geometric, highly textural plant with a majestic, long-lasting flower. Bold in the dry garden a significant presence! It will go summer dormant later in the season as some Mediterranean plants do as a survival mechanism.

The native range is through the eastern Mediterranean area, from Turkey down to Palestine.

Mature size: 2 feet T x W

Minimum temperature: 0 F