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05-02-2006, 11:01 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 5/2/06 8:45, in article , "Dave
Poole" wrote:

Sacha wrote:

I found mine seeded themselves around in Jersey but we have little luck with
them here, even in our comparatively mild climate.

Yes, I think you may be a tad too far inland there, although you might
find a seedling survive in a sheltered dry spot close to the house
wall.

Even I sometimes forget how close we are to Dartmoor! And this morning, for
instance, the lawns were very white, and even though the sun is shining
there is no sign of ice melting on the ponds yet. The one we managed to get
to flower last year was in the tea room garden so very sheltered by hedge,
tea room conservatory and other plants covering it. I hope we might be
lucky.

Echiums are almost always better allowed to find their own
comfort zones when they are being grown in borderline situations. If
you put one very close to the south wall, protect it, but otherwise
let it do its stuff, you might find that any progeny will find their
own little microclimates. Of course, sod's law will ensure that the
only suitable spot will be smack-bang in front of the sitting room
window, denying you all a view of the garden :-|

Well, we'll just have to dodge it, then; ;-) Ray has finally hacked out the
huge tree peony in front of the dining room so that we can see out of the
window, so perhaps we could try an Echium to one side of that! In fact a
lot of slashing and burning has gone on since you were last here.

One flowered last year,
so I'm waiting to see if it produced any viable seedlings nearby. There
hasn't been the problem of wetness so much this year but of course, it has
been very cold. I am always terribly envious of the people of Tresco when
we go there and see the darn things growing wild!

They seed themselves about freely here as do the more deeply coloured
E. wildpretii. I always find E. pininana something of a
disappointment when it finally flowers. The huge towers of foliage
and flower buds look so promising, but the colour impact of those tiny
pale mauve flowers when they open never quite lives up to expectation
for me. E. wildpretii with its dark, purplish mauve flowers is rather
better in this respect, but it is less hardy for those living inland
and doesn't grow so tall. There will almost certainly be hybrids of
the two species over the next few years, which might fit the bill. If
its any consolation, the humidity in this garden doesn't allow either
species to grow. It's great for bananas and other lush, leafy things,
but not for plants that prefer similar dry, airy locations.

We got some E. wildpretii from Mike Nelhams in Tresco so it will be worth
giving it a go and we also took seed from an E. fastuosum growing just
outside one of the cottage gardens on a sandy path in direct blast from the
sea. I think this is my favourite kind of Echium and this particular one
was of the most enchanting deep blue. I'd love to get that going in a pot,
too, so will have to have a chat with Ray about space!

In fact, thinking about it, I'm tempted to put some into 'interesting' pots
and see what happens if we just grow them that way.

In very big tree pots yes - filled with sandy loam. A 50/50 mix of
your local red soil and sharp sand will do the trick - maybe with a
light sprinkling of osmocote pellets to give the plants a boost early
on. You won't get 5m. high spikes, but they'll put on a decent show
to 2.8m. high or maybe more. They would look spectacular in the big
double and you'll get them to flower in Feb/early March as opposed to
April/early May.

Thanks and good idea. Hi ho Hi ho....... ;-)
BTW, did you get an email from me about Guy? I'm not sure if I have your
address correctly. Would you mind emailing me to let me know.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)