Sea holly is one of those plants with a tap root. I've had more luck moving plants with tap roots in the spring, and keep it well watered.

Thanks!!

How large is your plant? I've found that the really big ones don't take well to moving spring or fall. If you want, I think I have some extra seeds of Eryngium x tripartitum that I could send you. They take well to either WS, (you'll have "blooms" the 2nd year), or starting indoors, (if you start reeeeally early you might have "blooms" the 1st year). Which variety do you have? Are you able to collect seed off of it? :)

I'm not sure what kind it is exactly, it's tall and floppy and has nice silvery blue bracts. I wintersowed it in 2007 so it's mature but not huge. I probably got the seeds from Pudge come to think of it, LOL. I'm going to collect seeds and also try moving it. I accidentally planted it right at the front of a bed and then it turned out to be 4 feet tall.

I'll have to get seeds from mine too because it's in an awkward place. It might be four feet tall, but it mostly lies on the ground!

Speaking of sea holly..I have a miniature one, named "Blue Hobbit." It is pretty cute - it truly is petite! It only grows about 8 inch tall, so it is perfect for the front of the bed, and all its "blooms" are kept in a compact bluey-silver oval. It also self-seeds.

That sounds really nice, Weeper. I'll have to look for it!

I just finished moving my Sea Holly from from the back of the south border this fall -- shaded roots there I believe the cause of it's languishing and not thriving state.
My chosen new position is full sun west border, to I hope.. give it more hot sun exposure and get the bluist. The tap root looks fragile. I mixed in a lot of gravel at the bottom. It hates wet. The flop thing is what it is. I have it standing in a narrow tomato support. Presto !.... Let's wait & see.

I've had better luck growing echinops than sea holly for some reason. I tried a couple of times but it never came back...these were from already started plants.

In the 4 years since I posted this, I moved my sea holly and it didn't care at all. In fact the next year I became aware that it had spawned 4,000,000 unwelcome children and I dug it out. I'm still removing the children. During dry spells when the grass is dormant, they will bolt up in the lawn and flower. Never growing that stuff again!

LOL Sounds like me and verbascum! Evening after digging that stuff out for years now, one or two bloomed this summer, and i riopped off the flowering stalk immediatly. Still thousands of them coming up here and there throughout the garden!