Echium Pininana
By Hameryllis
- 28 Mar, 2009
- 4 likes
As mentioned before,me and EPs dont get on.This one wasn't too much of problem ( until I had to cut it down and dump it ) it grew out of my way. We started off with one about 17 years ago and since then they have sprung up all over the garden.The chief planterer tries to pot them up while they are small,because they sell quite well to people that dont know what they are letting themselves in for. The Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Isles of Scilly weed out about 100 of them each year.
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They are quite dramatic really and OK in the right place.They grow to about 4 metres high.But they are bullies.( I sound like I know what I'm talking about I dont really )
28 Mar, 2009
Is this prickly ?
28 Mar, 2009
Yes TT very.All over. You have to wear gloves before handling it.The stem can be 2 or 3 inches thick and woody.
28 Mar, 2009
"In defence of the Echium".
Hameryllis, (my other half) hates the Echium, but actually, they are a lovely thing to grow, take between two to three years to flower, and then die, very architectural, brilliant blue flowers which the bees love. Aren't frost hardy so unless given some protection will not survive a hard winter. I don't think any of ours have survived, so any seedlings that do pop up will be three years to maturity.( Hammy will be pleased) You can get others in the species which are a lot smaller, last year I had a red one about two foot high, managable. Didn't seed though.PamD
28 Mar, 2009
how have yours done this winter??
29 Mar, 2009
Not very well Sandra.The winter was a bit too hard for them we think,and it seems we may have lost all the seedlings that were around.
29 Mar, 2009
us two...i had over 30 seedlings in one bed and would usualy loose a few over the winter but they are all gone. but i have found one or two that have hung on in there. i'm hopeing a few more will germinate.
29 Mar, 2009
I'm sorry to hear that, Sandra, specially if were hoping to sell them. We,ve had them growing for about for about 17 winters and I don't think that they would desert us now.
29 Mar, 2009
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Its very interesting but sounds like trouble. :-)
28 Mar, 2009