Bold yucca-like foliage gives Eryngium yuccifolium a distinctive prairie silhouette. Long blue-green leaves form coarse rosettes below tall branched stems carrying small greenish-white button heads that develop a muted blue cast. The honey-scented summer flowers attract bees, butterflies, flies, wasps, and beetles, while the brown seedheads extend the display into winter.
Grow it in full sun in moist but well-drained clay, loam, sand, or shallow rocky soil. Water during establishment, then allow occasional dry periods. Avoid rich feeding because soft, overgrown stems may lodge. Mature clumps reach about 4 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide.
Leave the seedheads standing for winter structure, then cut the old stems to the ground in late winter. The stiff leaf tips and spaced marginal bristles can scratch skin, so place the clump away from busy paths and wear gloves when handling it.
