Thank you robiwan, we love them too although they grow like weeds over here, seeding in gutters, roadsides and are very common. We would have fifty or more in our garden if we let all the dropped seeds to mature. Funnily enough the Vipers Burglos didn't self seed again, I bought the seed from Suttons last year.
I harvested some seeds from an echium vulgare (native Vipers Buglos) a few years ago, every one of them germinated and now have them all the time - they self seed all over the place. Bees adore them and I love the way the flowers open up all the way up the stem. I also grow the annual version called 'Blue Bedder' - easy and tough. I have not yet tried the lovely huge ones, but I will!
I'm in N. Ireland, cold and wet but managed to get my echium pininanas through this winter, two are about 3 ft high at the moment, they have just started to put out new leaves at the crown which look in much better condition than their other leaves, now the weather is warming up slightly I'll see how far they get this summer.
Welcome to the forum @Pinkwellies Do hope your Echiums flourish for you as the bees love them. You will get a lot of help here if you have any problems with growing your seeds. Good luck.
There's a place called ECHIUM WORLD not far from me, just north of Nottingham. I must visit. I'd love to grow them, if I had a larger garden and a greenhouse.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
That sounds like a really interesting place to visit WillDB, if you do manage to go could you post some photos on here for us to see please?
Granny Bee, I tried to collect some of the Vipers Buglos seeds but I was unable to do so. In fact I couldn't see any seeds on the plants when the small flowers had finished. I wish I had ordered another packet of the seeds for this year. That is one of the drawbacks to putting wood chip on the ground, in that we don't have as many seedlings developing.
It will be interesting to see how far your Echium pininanas develop this year Pinkwellies. Our Echium P's are flowering now, and next years plants are already at least 2 foot tall - one or two will fail with the strong winds or cold weather we will probably have this coming winter though.
I'm in N. Ireland, cold and wet but managed to get my echium pininanas through this winter, two are about 3 ft high at the moment, they have just started to put out new leaves at the crown which look in much better condition than their other leaves, now the weather is warming up slightly I'll see how far they get this summer.
Thank you robiwan, we love them too although they grow like weeds over here, seeding in gutters, roadsides and are very common. We would have fifty or more in our garden if we let all the dropped seeds to mature. Funnily enough the Vipers Burglos didn't self seed again, I bought the seed from Suttons last year.
Posts
https://plantsbank.com/echium-flavum/