Odd name. Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare), was once thought to be a cure for snake bites and the bugloss bit refers to the hairy leaves which are supposed to resemble an ox tongue. I snapped this one growing in shoulder high grass at the coast. It's supposed to be biennial but I find Echium (might not be the wild variety) flowers as an annual which freely self seeds each year if grown in the garden. Bees adore it! Most are shades of blue and the buds are red/pink, the overall effect is sea of purple but I get the odd white one as well. Hairs are a bit irritant so maybe best to wear gloves and cover the arms when weeding if you are sensitive.
Nice one frogesque, as it happens I just planted one of these on my rockery at the back of my pond. It was grown from seed I collected on the cliffs above Dover last September. I'm hoping it will flower this year.
One of my favourites - as with the bees. Currently got some seedlings nestled against the wall growing on before planting. Lost the parent plant sadly.
