On 18/4/07 22:17, in article , "Les
Hemmings" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
We just spend 5 days there and of course, visited the wonderful
gardens. No, we didn't see an Embothrium in flower but plenty of
other things were rampant! Echiums were flowering well, though some
were still biding their time.

Echiums still in bud here in S. Kent... I grew these in Brixham before,
first time up here. Was told to expect to lose them over the winter but they
did fine even through a few days of snow and ice. They really are not as
delicate as some make out in my experience.

It is absolutely maddening to us that they don't do well here. We think
it's more to do with wet than cold, though. If you saw them in Tresco,
you'd salivate! E. piniana and E. fastuosum are everywhere but so are
others which we think must be the result of some very promiscuous crosses.
I have a photo taken a couple of days ago of some deep violet blue Echiums
beside a yellow Cytisus and it's a knock out. All colours of Echiums can be
seen from pinky mauve to indigo - the island vibrates with their colours.

These look like they're on the way to 15ft at least. Looking forward to
those blue columns with squadrons of bees in the summer. Plus, once they've
seeded, Kent will have a new and somewhat dramatic weed... They spring up
everywhere once introduced.

Les
When I had them in a Jersey garden I thought of them as a sort of high rise
restaurant for bees. They were absolutely covered with them. One year, I
grew three in the corner of my walled garden and we had a hard winter for
Jersey, minus 5, IIRC. I thought that was the end of my Echiums but the
next spring the ground was absolutely covered in seedlings. If there were
less than 300 I would be very surprised!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)