echium pininana

[bodster]

Has anyone noticed that the seeds of echium pininana are hardier than the plant? My echiums all got kileld last winter but I've just noticed that I have loads of self seeded new plants comming up from the one that flowered in the summer. I wonder if these will prove any hardier? I guess the frost might have killed off all the week seed

[jase]

Adrian gave me one of these at Akamba does anyone have any photos.
jase

[derrick]

I lost my echiums they didnt get to flower .The frost killed them .My seeds from jungle seeds nothing happend yet .Ricinus seeds are ok .

[Adrian]

Have a read here Jase

http://www.cooltropicalplants.com/Echium-pininana.html

not great pics of the flower spike but some info.
Im sure someone will post a good photo, others can grow them but I just cant keep them here

[bodster]

It really depends on the winter. Last winter mine all died but the winter before was fine and mine got through to flower spectacularly. I'll grow the self seeded ones on rather than the ones I've just grown from seed and see if theres any improvement in how hardy they are. The one that seems most tender though is echium fastosum

[Mick C]

Mine seem to have all died, apart from one which is a miserable looking thing. The stumps have a couple of weeks to show some life, but then it's 'hello to mr compost bin' for them. Mellisa, if you're reading, remember how you offered me some Norfolk echium seed last year..........?

The website that Ade has linked to is well worth a good look around, btw. Very informative, nicely written, and very funny in places. One of my faves.

[lucienc]

I lost the two in my front garden to the winter, also lost candicans in the back garden. But the two pininana in the back garden are currently flowering their heads off, will look great in a couple of weeks. Mum lost her's in Cornwall.

Lucien

[stephenprudence]

Echium pininana have weed-like characteristics (it actually does look like a large weed), and if some were not knocked back in the winter it would become an invasive weed on the level of Japanese knotweed or worse. I cant comment as I don't grow them but Ness Gardens group of Echiums survived the winter, remained evergreen and they are spreading quite emphatically around the woodland area - I'm not sure when they were planted but they look fairly recent.

[Gaz]

We haven't managed one through a winter yet despite several years of trying, but once you do manage it then most people find they have the plants (and seeds) for many years. Mel has a number of them on her bank. Not sure I'd agree it looks like a weed Stephen, but each to their own, however I'm not sure I have seen anyone say it is (or could be) more invasive than Japanese knotweed.

Knotweed takes a lot of effort to eradicate, it can grow through tarmac and walls and its roots can come back from 5m or more down.

[stephenprudence]

Jap knotweed is definitely difficult to remove, but Echiums would bring a problem whereby they seed so quickly that it may be difficult to erradicate which is why it's important some are knocked back in winter. It's a perfect horticultural climate to grow them really the UK, because they give a great display in the summer, but are knocked back in the winter enough to allow self seeding on a manageable level.

By the way I like some 'weeds'/wild plants/flowers, Echium is one of those in my mind that looks impressive.

[MarkD]

You can't really compare Echiums and Japanese Knotweed, the former is never as much as a nuisance as the latter even in warmer countries like Spain (Canaries). When Echiums self seed you just pull it out where you don't want it and that's it, not the case for Japanese Knotweed.

[bev]

ive lost a few but managed to get two through winter 07/08 and both flowered . one was damaged by frost and formed a multi head, the other produced a spike all be it not that tall. ive now got seedlings popping up in both locations and even on the surface of a potted washy (ive transplanted them into small pots). i'm hoping for these to be hardier. btw i've struggled to get bought seeds to germinate, i've found my collected batch easy.



lee

[parkeey]

for those that flowered did u protect over winter and how high did they reach ???? cheers..

[Madahlia]

I grew some E wildprettii some years ago. I liked the foliage clumps and kept them indoors the first winter. However, I lost them when they got so big they had to be planted out.

I fancy trying some more echiums this summer. Am I wasting my time? Which sub species would you recommend for the best chance in the UK midlands?