The message
from Dave Poole contains these words:

Sacha wrote:

I think it's a wonderful plant and I love the shrubby ones, too. But
we can
have trouble getting it to flower here, possibly because we're closer to
Dartmoor than the sea.

Anywhere inland causes problems with these Canary Island and Madeira
plants even in Devon and Cornwall.

However, ours have flowered this year, so we're
hopeful of seeds and seedlings, perhaps.

Start looking in a few weeks time, they should be up by September and
will make some growth well before winter. Quite often, they find
their own niche and thrive - in direct contrast to the ones you
carefully plant and tend. It sows itself freely and has recently
popped up here in the village. Within a few years there will be
avenues of blue spires aroundabouts.

I am always extremely envious of
those we see growing on Tresco - all sorts, growing wild, all over the
island!

I'm quite pleased to see that the more vividly coloured Echium
wildpretii (intense blue, red or purple) has started to pop up here
and there on the sea front here. Although not quite so tall as
pininana, it is far more showy. Invariably there will be hybrids
between the two species so almost any colour is likely to appear over
the next few years.

Wel,, that gives me hope. E pininana is a weed in the walled garden
at Brodick Castle, just across the bay, and grows in several sheltered
spots elsehwre on the island. In my garden, itransplanted seedlings did
well in their first year but didn't survive winter, probably because it
was too damp and cold where I planted them. However, I have some other ,
shorter, nameless kind grown from Madeira seed which survived their
first winter fine, in a sunnier better drained spot. No signs of flowers
yet though.

Janet.