Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely. Now we hope E.
fastuosum cuttings are going to do well. It has been a perfect summer
for these, so far.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

--

Jeff

On 2014-07-22 14:04:11 +0000, Jeff Layman said:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

If we're very, very lucky.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 2014-07-22 14:26:45 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:04:11 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

You underestimate it's seeding capabilities :-)

Watch out - coming your way! ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:04:11 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

If only! I have tried three times to get some to grow here (a bit
east of Sacha and nearer the coast) but to no avail. In retrospect I
think I have tried too hard with them (two lots of seed and some
plants from Ray Brown at Plantworld). I understand now that they
appreciate neglect and poor, stoney soil rather than tlc.
--
rbel

On 2014-07-22 21:42:32 +0000, rbel said:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:04:11 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

If only! I have tried three times to get some to grow here (a bit
east of Sacha and nearer the coast) but to no avail. In retrospect I
think I have tried too hard with them (two lots of seed and some
plants from Ray Brown at Plantworld). I understand now that they
appreciate neglect and poor, stoney soil rather than tlc.

One of our E.piniana put itself right on the edge of a low stone wall.
It must have been clinging on by its toenails. Those we've seen growing
wild in Tresco are often beside tracks beside the sea, growing in what
is virtually sand.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 22:42:32 +0100, rbel wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:04:11 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

If only! I have tried three times to get some to grow here (a bit
east of Sacha and nearer the coast) but to no avail. In retrospect I
think I have tried too hard with them (two lots of seed and some
plants from Ray Brown at Plantworld). I understand now that they
appreciate neglect and poor, stoney soil rather than tlc.

Alan T's programme last night featured a clifftop garden at
Woolacombe, and briefly showed echium p. Does anyone know the name of
the garden? It looked lovely.

Pam in Bristol

On 2014-07-23 06:56:12 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:42:25 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-07-22 14:26:45 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:04:11 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

You underestimate it's seeding capabilities :-)

Watch out - coming your way! ;-)


They're here already. Just goes to show how far and how fast they
spread! :-)

Well you can't say you weren't warned! ;-)

--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2014-07-23 09:39:56 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 09:14:46 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 2014-07-23 06:56:12 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:42:25 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-07-22 14:26:45 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:04:11 +0100, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 22/07/2014 14:39, Sacha wrote:
Echium piniana seems to be setting seed nicely.

Doesn't that mean that half of Devon will be covered in Echium seed?!

You underestimate it's seeding capabilities :-)

Watch out - coming your way! ;-)


They're here already. Just goes to show how far and how fast they
spread! :-)

Well you can't say you weren't warned! ;-)


Just to be serious for a moment, I used to grow E. fastuosum down
here, but they are a touch tender and I lost mine due to frost. I
actually prefer it to pininana, especially if you have a good colour
form, with deep blue flowers. Pininana is a bit hardier, and looks
best when grown in groups of several plants IMO, when they resemble a
herd of triffids! Have you come across E. wildprettii? It's a rosy-red
flowered one, resembling pininana, but smaller. Also a bit tender.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echium_wildpretii. Our local nursery used
to stock it, but not ATM. Plant World do seeds, apparently
http://tinyurl.com/pmserk2.

We've seen E. wildprettii on Tresco but don't have it here. I must
confess I don't like it because the colour doesn't appeal to me. I
agree about E. piniana looking best in groups but their tendency to put
themselves where they want to after a few seedings, means you don't
always get what you want! In my Jersey garden I planted 3 one year and
ended up with about 3000 the next year! I love E. fastuosum and think
it's a remarkable form. We saw a very deep blue on Tresco on the path
that led to the old hotel. With permission, Ray took some cuttings from
it and brought them on and they've done wonderfully this year,
flowering very generously. He covered them all with fleece this winter
but needn't have bothered as it ws so mild. It was a deeper colour
than most others on the island but that might have been due to the
sandy soil, as it was one of the wild ones. I also remember seeing an
E. piniana that was pink down one side and blue the other - very
strange it looked, too. Here's our Echium fastuosum earlier this year,
just as they were opening - bee magnet, too, I may say!
http://i60.tinypic.com/21crrrt.jpg
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2014-07-23 17:04:27 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:08:12 +0100, Sacha
wrote:
Here's our Echium fastuosum earlier this year,
just as they were opening - bee magnet, too, I may say!
http://i60.tinypic.com/21crrrt.jpg

Very nice, but I hope you've also got a few in full sun. The are,
after all, natives of The Canaries.

Those are under the shelter of a tree but they face due south so don't
lack sun. It gives them protection but lets them rip, too! To the right
was an E. piniana which seeded itself.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 2014-07-24 09:40:47 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 23:19:02 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 2014-07-23 17:04:27 +0000, Chris Hogg said:

On Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:08:12 +0100, Sacha
wrote:
Here's our Echium fastuosum earlier this year,
just as they were opening - bee magnet, too, I may say!
http://i60.tinypic.com/21crrrt.jpg

Very nice, but I hope you've also got a few in full sun. The are,
after all, natives of The Canaries.

Those are under the shelter of a tree but they face due south so don't
lack sun. It gives them protection but lets them rip, too! To the right
was an E. piniana which seeded itself.

These were mine, a few years ago (2007, according to the date on the
file):

http://i61.tinypic.com/ej5x04.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/jku4h2.jpg

I'm not sure the second is pure E. fastuosum. I think there may be a
bit of pininana in there. I have the photo labeled Echium hybrid. The
first was from a cutting from a garden in west Cornwall, but I'm not
sure where the second came from. Possibly a seedling in my own garden,
as I did also have a pininana at that time.

What a lovely sight - they look wonderful grown like that.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon