Echiums

I have two echiums which flowered this spring - probably E pininana though nowhere near as big as @joolz68 's amazing plant. They've just been sitting there since, no sign of ripening or browning off - how long do I have to wait, because I think I'll pull one out as I need the space.

I also had about 10 other seedlings planted out from the same batch which turn out to be E candicans as they have branched instead of flowering. How likely is it that I will get them through the winter and what can I do to help them along? Dig a few up and repot? Some of them have got pretty big i.e. 2 feet high and wide. They survived last winter but we'll probably get a horrible wet/cold one this year.

 

@Madahhlia Thanks,mine was pure luck trust me ,its been setting seed for 2 month i think,looks drab now but i cant part with it.....just yet
Ive planted more out,hope they make it to spring,no idea with candicans,i have russicum seedlings i hope to get past winter also x

 

I had huge 3ft high 10 plants of e.piniana.. the frost killed them all :( anyone has any seeds, they are willing to share. I will be very grateful. Thanks

 

@minki
Is that the same as the one i have?if so im sure i have a bag of them in the potshed
In fact the plants laying horizontal in the garden full of them no doubt x

 

I had an E.candicans in the ground last year and it got big...................


Unfortunately I can't show you a photo of it now as it is down the local tip (-8°c didn't agree with it). But one of the ones in pots did survive sat close to the house. Not without some damage though............


This bit looks promising though - the leaves are a lot smaller and more closely packed. The makings of flowers maybe?


The more usual growth that I've been used to..............


Despite the abuse there's a lot of new growth started over the last week or so too.................

 

Yep, I had a good one a few years ago, flowered it in a pot for one year, then planted it out.
End of story.

 

Time to resurrect this thread.

I went to the RHS Chatsworth House flower show on Saturday. Not a bad show, but it was extremely muddy. It was advertised as the northern equivalent of Chelsea - but I think it fell a bit short of that. Even so I had a good time, learnt a few things, and bought a couple of items.

The picture above is of the Echium World stand, where I had a good chat with the exhibitor. Their web site is Echium World . They hold the national collection and can supply a very wide range of different species - but they look a bit expensive. However the site is well worth a visit and gives a lot of useful information, especially about caring for them.


The above picture is of Echium wildpretti, which you have to agree is pretty impressive. It is arguably the loveliest, but also the most difficult to grow. Another stall sold some small plants of these, and although you can buy the seeds easily I had never seen the plants themselves on sale before. I was just about to buy one when I saw an Echium 'Red Rocket' for sale alongside. This is apparently a hybrid which is 75% wildpretti and 25% pininana. I was told that it is easier to grow than the pure wildpretti, so I bought one of those. It should look very similar to the plants in the above picture, growing up to 4 to 6 feet, and bearing red flowers.

The difficulty in growing all Echiums, especially wildpretti, is that they must be overwintered under glass, but if the air is too humid the growing point tends to rot and the plant dies. I am hoping that with my new conservatory I might be able to get around this some how.

 

I had a plant of Wildpretii some years ago, never got it to flowering size as I dont think it is as hardy in the wet as Pininana, ..and that struggles.

The rosette was very impressive though, silvery grey, with narrow leaflets.

Just potted on a couple of these,


Not sure of the parentage, so who knows, probably a hybrid.

 

The foliage is lovely in its own right. Pete, I presume you can overwinter pininana outside. That's not an option for me. I have overwintered several types in a greenhouse - they don't need to be very warm, but inside they suffer from the damp, and the centres rot. The Echium World chap was telling me that they need plenty of air movement.

I use a dehumidifier in my conservatory over the winter. I was put off at first by the potential cost, until I realised that all the electricity used by the dehumidifier turns into heat and reduces the heat needed from a fan heater. So the running cost is virtually nil as I would have to heat the building anyway. This year I might try using a fan to get air circulation. By the same argument the electricity needed to run the fan will also provide heat.

I had been thinking about trying Echiums again, and I recently bought and sowed some seeds of Pink Fountain (ie wildpretti/pininana cross). The 'Red Rocket', I have just bought, is a cross between wildpretti and Pink Fountain - hence its 75% wildpretti.

There are some fabulous pictures of pininanas in the UK here Mail readers proudly show off their supersized echiums | Daily Mail Online . One of them is over 20 feet tall.

 

I can overwinter Pininana some years, it's a bit hit and miss.
I'd never compete with someone further SW, as I said, I find they like dampness at the roots but I've never found dampness a problem regarding the growing point until a frost comes along at the same time.
I find it strange @PeterS , you find just humidity to be a problem, although the temperature is well above freezing.
Any plants that I grow nearly always stop growing for a long period during summer due to drought. So I get growth early and late.


My tallest to date, but never measured it in 2015the apex of the shed give a bit of a clue.

 

Pete - that's a fantastic picture. I would imagine that humidity isn't a problem for you growing Echiums outside where you have plenty of air movement. But I had to overwintered Echiums under glass. Its not the humidity as such, but the condensation as the temperature dropped overnight. And without a good movement of air the Echium centre often remained cold and wet - an invitation for mould.

As I have a dehumidifier now, I hope that I can avoid rotting the growing point.

 

@PeterS - thanks for reviving this thread. My potted E.candicans did bloom............
Echium candicans by longk48, on Flickr

I then planted that one out and it went the same way as the other one - toasted in the winter!

Time to try the biggies now! They self seed outside Merton College in Oxford............
Echium outside Merton College by longk48, on Flickr

 

LongK, I think E. candicans is one of the nicest as its perennial. But even that is not much use unless you can easily overwinter it.

I always used to think that virtually all Echiums were of the biennial type (ie monocarpic), even though some could take 3 or 4 years to flower - and then die.

But reading the pamphlet from Echium World there are many perennials. eg aculeatum, brevirame, candicans, decaisneu, fastuosum, gentianoides, nervosum, onosmifolium, virascens, webbii and vulcanorum.

 

I did grow Candicans and it flowered but once exposed to frost it was a gonner.

OK not to everyones taste, probably best in the wild garden, but a cultivated weed,Echium Vulgare, this seed came from Dungeness, but it often grows along side roads in sandy soil, given some decent soil it can get pretty big.
Bonus is its almost totally hardy.

 

That's a good size Pete. I had always rejected it as being weedy - but I must change my opinion.

The one that is truly hardy and a really nice plant is E. russicum. All the sources say 2 to 4 feet, but I have had it up to 5 feet. Its said to be hardy down to -20C and was hardy for me in N Yorkshire. Its a biennial, so you have to work a bit harder to keep it.