Hi
I fairly sure Im being far to optimistic but Im growing Echium p. Ive
got several plants in a south facing bed thats fairly sheltered plus a
load more in pots in a polytunnel. Im in NE Wales, on the side of a
hill so while I get bad frosts the worst thing is wind and rain. Has
anybody else grown them outside this far north and can you lag them
(the way I do my Musas)?

I have several options for the plants overwinter - outside, a garage
(unheated) on the side of the house, the aforementioned polytunnel
(again unheated) and a brick shed that I can provide minimal warmth
in.

Im also trying other exotics - cannas, hedychiums etc and also various
bananas from seed - very slow and frustrating!

thanks

Mark

The message
from (Mark Fawcett) contains these words:

Hi
I fairly sure Im being far to optimistic but Im growing Echium p. Ive
got several plants in a south facing bed thats fairly sheltered plus a
load more in pots in a polytunnel. Im in NE Wales, on the side of a
hill so while I get bad frosts the worst thing is wind and rain. Has
anybody else grown them outside this far north and can you lag them
(the way I do my Musas)?

I don't know how successful you will be with the ones in pots, these are
seriously big plants when they get to flowering size..at least 8ft with
a substantial trunk and very top heavy.

They grow, flower well and self seed outdoors in sunny sheltered
gardens here, without any winter lagging or protection. I've got a
little forest of them about 2ft high, which were 3" seedlings given to
me a couple of months ago.

Winters here are mild with lots of wind and rain. The furthest north I
have seen them is at Inverewe.

Janet (Isle of Arran Scotland).

"Mark Fawcett" wrote in message
om...
Hi
I fairly sure Im being far to optimistic but Im growing Echium p. Ive
got several plants in a south facing bed thats fairly sheltered plus a
load more in pots in a polytunnel. Im in NE Wales, on the side of a
hill so while I get bad frosts the worst thing is wind and rain. Has
anybody else grown them outside this far north and can you lag them
(the way I do my Musas)?

I have several options for the plants overwinter - outside, a garage
(unheated) on the side of the house, the aforementioned polytunnel
(again unheated) and a brick shed that I can provide minimal warmth
in.

Im also trying other exotics - cannas, hedychiums etc and also various
bananas from seed - very slow and frustrating!

thanks

Mark

At the Chelsea Physic Garden they lightly lag their Echium Pininana with
fleece...maybe you could try lagging more heavily ;-)

Pot growing them is not really a viable option as they grow so big. You
could try growing Echium Wildpretti or Echium Candicans in pots as they are
smaller plants and I have seen both grown like this.

HTH

Natalie