At the Huntington earlier in the week…
Echiums getting the formal treatment.
Formal, informal, echiums never hit a false note. They’re some of the wildest, spikiest blues around. Sometimes shading into violet, with other species spiking in white, red. Many are island species that love coastal California.
These are big plants, bigger than my small garden can handle. A couple Echium wildpretii is all I have room for at the moment. The above photo of E. wildpetii from 2018 shows that even without flowering they’re impressive plants.
For stunning leaves, flowers, for full hot sun…echium.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the white-flowered species before. I haven’t tried Echium wildpretii either and I need to do something about that. I’m running out of room too…
I’ve spent plenty of time wishing I could grow the big blue spiky Echium, but I never stopped to think about how BIG they get. Maybe it’s good I can’t grow them. I do have a couple of E. wildpretii I managed to get through winter and I’m very happy about that.
@Kris, echium are a perfect fit for your fast-draining hilltop.
@Loree, that’s amazing that EW made it through Feb/March!
Quite stunning. I grew a dwarf echium variety as a container annual one year that was quite pretty but not nearly as commanding as these. The foliage reminds me of an undersea anemone.