I am sorry to report that the Prickly Caterpillar plant (Scorpiurus muricatus) is better in the seed catalogue than it is in real life.
It’s just a few inches high, and it has a tap root so once it gets established it doesn’t require much water. I grew almost a dozen. Some were over a foot in diameter and others were just a few inches across, depending on how much water they got. The prickly caterpillar blooms continuously through the summer, but it doesn’t have very many blooms at one time and each blossom is the size of a corn kernel.
The prickly caterpillar plant is named for its seed pods, which are tightly curled and kind of cute… except that they’re too small to be very impressive. They’re technically edible, but I spit out the one I ate–bad taste and very chewy. If it self-sows I’ll let it grow again, but otherwise there won’t be prickly caterpillars around next year. (Unless they’re actual prickly caterpillars, of course.)
The seed pods are pretty interesting - but the plant looks kind of weed-y to me. Maybe it’s prettier in person.
I just added you to my garden blog directory. I usually send people an email, but couldn’t find one for you.