Native to Know: Rattlesnake Master

This unique, hardy perennial adds a splash of interest and texture to your garden

Do you gravitate toward rugged , fuss - free perennials so that you’re able to enjoy your garden without a lot of piece of work ? Or do you prefer hound for out - of - the - average plants to give your garden a memorable touch ? With rattlesnake master ( Eryngium yuccifolium , Zones 4–9 ) , you’re able to have it both ways . This uncommon plant supply drama and quirk while fly high without any supererogatory fuss from you .

aboriginal to much of the eastern United States , rattlesnake master ’s range reaches into some parts of the Mid - Atlantic region . Even where it does n’t arise course , it ’s dusty hardy through through Zone 5 at least , so it ’s well suitable to gardens throughout our orbit . You ’d be excused for recollect otherwise because of its spiky , yucca - alike leave-taking and alien - looking flush ; it look more like something you ’d find in a desert surroundings than something that would flourish in a Connecticut perennial border , a Pennsylvania hayfield , or a New Jersey wetland . It really is that adaptable , grow well in a wide reach of garden conditions as long as it gets mountain of sun .

Though you ca n’t depend on rattlesnake master ’s theorize historical use as an antidote for snakebite , you could depend on it for a tenacious season of garden sake . It look something like the solar organisation ’s overly enthusiastic art labor , with globes of various sizing stuck together at a assortment of angle . Its green bud emerge around previous June . It develops whitened flowers in mid to later summertime that turn off - white in late summertime to early fall and then toasty brown as the seeds maturate .

In flower , rattlesnake master is owing for attracting a variety of insects , including butterflies , bee , flies , and WASP . In seminal fluid , it provides food for thought for many birdie . One class of wildlife it does not attract is cervid . Though no industrial plant is cervid - proof , this one decidedly qualifies as deer - resistant : yet another dot in its favour for gardens in our deer - riddled neighborhood .

Rattlesnake master typically give 5 to 6 understructure improbable in salad days and has a strong , upright physique ( unless it ’s grow in rich soil , in which caseful it can straggle ) . bask it in a border as an accent or in a larger drift . It ’s right at home in a naturalistic garden or meadow as well . Wild quinine ( genus Parthenium integrifolium , Zones 4–8 ) , Culver ’s root word ( Veronicastrum virginicum , Zones 4–8 ) , black - eyed Susans ( Rudbeckiaspp . and cvs . , zone 3–11 ) , coneflowers ( Echinaceaspp . and cvs , Zones 3–9 ) , and bee balm ( Monardaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) are just a few top - notch flowering comrade .

Rattlesnake captain ’s sheer form looks particularly adept get up up behind the feathery foliage knoll of Arkansas bluestar ( Amsonia hubrichtii , Zones 5–8 ) . Ornamental forage are also excellent for pairing with rattlesnake master : ‘ Dallas Blues ’ permutation skunk ( Panicum virgatum‘Dallas Blues ’ , Zones 5–9)—with similarly gloomy foliage but impractical , pink - tinged flowerheads — is a personal favorite . Wherever you plant it , and whatever you engraft it with , rattlesnake master is guaranteed to pull in tending from garden visitors !

Nancy J. Ondra is the source of over fifteen book , includingGrasses , The Perennial Care Manual , andThe Perennial Matchmaker .

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