Limonium gmelinii Dazzle Rocks

The Limonium Dazzle Rocks is a variety of perennial statice selected for its particularly ramified floral stems, with countless small flowers forming an adorable cloud of lavender colour. This flowering is very long-lasting in the garden as well as in fresh or dried bouquets. This 'sea lavender' is also appreciated for its frost resistance (down to a minimum of -20 °C) and its low water requirements. To succeed in its cultivation, give it sun and well-drained soil in a rockery or gravel bed. It also adapts very well to container gardening.

The Gmelin's statice Dazzle Rocks comes from a botanical species called Limonium gmelinii, found in a territory ranging from central and southeastern Europe to Siberia and Mongolia, through central Asia. This plant is found on sandy dunes and in salt marshes along the Black Sea. Economical in water, this species is not, however, a plant of scrubland and excessively arid lands; occasional watering is appreciated in case of very dry summers.  'Dazzle Rocks' ('STE10') is a recent Dutch horticultural selection. The plant forms, at ground level, a rosette of oval leaves of a fairly bright, slightly glossy green color. In June-July, strongly branched floral stems emerge from the foliage, rising to about 40 cm (16in) in height, remaining decorative until late in the season. Each branching bears numerous small mauve flowers with a papyraceous texture, which retain their colour for a long time, even when dried. This nectariferous flowering is visited by pollinating insects. This limonium develops a long taproot that has a swelling at the soil surface, called a caudex.

As with all statice, the floral stems make remarkable dried bouquets; simply cut the longest possible stems, place them upside down in a cool, dry, and airy place. They retain their colors for a long time, which slightly soften. Limoniums also help lighten up borders and rockeries, alongside more massive flowering plants such as perpetual roses, for example. They can be associated with yarrows and shrubby sages, which are also very light and undemanding.