On 13/8/05 0:00, in article , "Janet
Baraclough" wrote:

The message
from Dave Poole contains these words:
snip
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.


If it stays hot and sunny, you should be lucky. I do think that cold, wet
soil is a killer so sunnier and better drained might well do the trick!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)