Hardy Tropicals UK

Looking in a lot of gardening books, most mention Echiums as being Biennials. Mine is in its fourth year and is only just throwing up a flower spike. How long have yours taken.

Year 3 for me, potted 1st planted out 2nd.

I depends a lot on growing conditions. They are usually described as biennials but more often triennials.
I thought that I'd try one again, so bought one about 1 foot tall (sown previous season) from Cornwall. Planted Spring last year and it's now 7 feet tall and full of buds..Thank you, mild Winter!

I have some 3rd year blue ones about to flower and some 2nd year white ones. all in the same conditions

Two years. Seeded early the first year and grew on in pots in the g/h, flowered the following season.

Trust mine to be longer than everyone elses. Perhaps they don't like being planted in sand? Or perhaps they love it and are in no hurry to flower and die.

Two years in the ground back in Portsmouth

I had found that the only way to get flowers had been to pot them for 2 years (frost free greenhouse in winter) and plant out in the third. This winter is different for me. I still have the potted echiums in the greenhouse but my borders are full of bigger plants that germinated last summer and have enjoyed a frost free winter in my garden. My coldest temperature this winter was -2 for a few hours a couple of nights ago. In all previous winters I have lost mature plants that would have flowered had they survived the winter. Elaborate protection made no difference to them surviving.

John

What do you call elaborate protection? I just mulch the ground with leaves for the winter and If it looks as if it is going to freeze I put a sheet or blanket over the growing point depending on how cold it is going to be.

My last one flowered eight years ago, but have never got any of the annual flush of seedlings since to do the same.
This one was finishing it's third year at nearly eight feet tall last September. I thought it would flower last year as this was dug up as a small seedling in late summer 2011 and greenhouse overwintered in a pot, planted out for 2012 where it grew to five feet and had occasional protection. it branched during 2013 so maybe this held back the flowers.

However, it should have sailed through this mild winter but was blown down and uprooted in a winter storm and the roots never survived the shock.

Going to try again with a six inch plant that stayed upright.

jungle jas wrote:What do you call elaborate protection? I just mulch the ground with leaves for the winter and If it looks as if it is going to freeze I put a sheet or blanket over the growing point depending on how cold it is going to be.

JJ I purchased a large bale of straw and encased the trunk and then a plastic cover with air ventilation to keep out the wet.

John

Mine are going to flower it seems. They have had two winters not protected in ground. Two are approx 9 foot plus, with the others around 6-7 foot. Really looking forward to this plus all the ones that will appear next year!

Sorry if I'm high jacking this post, but would you plant a seedling straight into the ground the first year or leave it potted up and wait till next year? Thanks!

Cardiffcol wrote:Sorry if I'm high jacking this post, but would you plant a seedling straight into the ground the first year or leave it potted up and wait till next year? Thanks!

i planted mine out first year no problems, both in semi shade and sun. got to about 3-4 foot by the first winter
as your just across the watery mud from me then you should be ok!

Greville, your story is very similar to mine, bought one 6 inches high, the following year it grew to 5 1/2 foot. I expected it to flower the following year. Instead it grew 23 side shoots despite the growing point being undamaged. I cut all of them off in an attempt to get it to flower, but it only grew 18 inches that year. 5 weeks ago it was blown over to an alarming angle in the hurricane and I thought it was done for. I tied it up to the wires I am training the grape vine up and much to my surprise it started to grow 2 weeks ago. Since then it has grown over a foot and is covered in flower buds. Does anyone know what time of the year the flowers normally come out? I am looking forwards to all the self seeders one is supposed to get in years to come.