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Aristea ecklonii 'Sonja' (Blue Stars) - A robust form of the species, which is a hardy herbaceous perennial resembling a giant Sisyrinchium, composed of fans of long, bright green blade-like leaves. Flower stalks to 2 1/2 feet tall hold clusters of three to four star-like bright blue flowers that have purple stamens.
Plant in full sun or light shade in a rich, evenly moist, well-draining soil and protect from hard frosts but is cold hardy to 20 degrees F. A nice plant in the garden but mature plants do not transplant well.
Aristea ecklonii is native to central and southern Africa from South Africa north to Cameroon and Tanzania. The genus name is either derived from the Latin word 'arista' meaning "awn" or from the Greek word 'aristeides' meaning "the best" and the specific epithet honors the Danish apothecary, traveler, and plant collector Christian Ecklon (1795-1868), born in Denmark.
The cultivar 'Sonja' was initially propagated by us from seed received from Seedco and we grew and sold this plant starting in 1998 but discontinued growing it in 2007 when we started growing the smaller Aristea ecklonii 'Little John'.
Information displayed on this page about Aristea ecklonii 'Sonja' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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