Please ID this one for me!
Jess is in the Garden
Posts: 1,022
in Plants
I only recall him telling me that it gets very large and can't stay in a pot for long!
Sadly he has moved ab and I can't contact him :-(
The leaves have fine hairs all over them which sting if brushed, so seem irritant.
apparently it loves full sun and flowers profusely all summer too.
any ideas?
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Jess this is a very healthy looking echium which as stated does grow incredibly tall. It wouldn't like to be left in a pot, and prefers poor soil. Here in Guernsey they can be seen growing out of gutters and roadsides as well as in gardens. They attract bees and birds and in the right conditions they will re-seed and so you will have them for many years. They love the sun and overwinter here with no problems. However you may need to mulch it or put fleece on the plant in a very cold winter. They are biennial, so building up in the first year and flowering in the second year.
Thank you Guernsey
that's brilliant to know.
We won't be moving for a few months yet, so it has to stay in a pot this year as well, most likely - should I give it any feed like V4 pellets, given that it's potted, even though it normally prefers poor soil, or just leave it alone?
Sounds like a buddleia, the way it grows anywhere and thrives on neglect!
I wouldn't feed it Jess, but I would water it as soon as it shows signs of drying out, which would be most days as the weather warms up. I am not sure how well it will do confined to a pot at this time of year - having never grown one in a pot. Ours grow to approx 10 foot tall and you may find that your echium have stunted growth this year due to their roots being confined to such a tight area. Good luck with it and with your house move too Jess.
Thanks Guernsey - may be one to pass to a fellow gardener with the right conditions then!
If you do that, then ask them to send you some of the seed in exchange for these lovely plants, then you can start your own collection next year perhaps Jess. The plants are quite spectacular when in full flower, as you can see from my picture.
Wow!!
Yes, it is Wow isn't it?
This one self seeded from a parent plant, they take two years to flower - the first year they germinate and grow a foot or two, the following year they start early - say February or March to grow this tall and flower by May or June. They then die off, and once dead you can pull them out of the ground.
The ground is poor, shallow and very dry. We don't stake the echiums, because luckily we have some old hooks and wires on this wall (there used to be a long lean-to greenhouse against this wall and the wires are still in place), so we just tie them to the wires with string. If you are growing them free standing, then you would probably need to stake them if you are in a windy area.