What is the echium pininana used for?
Echium pininana is cultivated as a garden ornamental, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. It is used as a bedding plant or planted in borders, and grows best in full sun. It is recommended for the southern maritime counties of England, the Channel Islands and the Scilly Isles. A good mixture of all three of the colour variations, blue, pink and white, of Echium pininana. Plant young plants out as soon as possible in the season to allow plants to be large enough to survive the winter in the open ground.After flowering, Echium pininana scatters seed and dies. It self-seeds readily in mild, sheltered parts of the UK, but seed is unlikely to germinate in cooler regions.Echium is grown as an oilseed crop and contains significant amounts of gamma linolenic acid (GLA) and the rarer stearidonic acid. Leaves are cooked and used like spinach. The flowers are candied and added to salads.Fortunately they grow easily from cuttings too. An asset to any garden, echiums are in the same family as borage and comfrey. The large, softly hairy grey-green leaves look good all year round.
Can you grow Echium in pots?
Growing in containers is a good alternative. There is the option of growing in large pots which we find works really well. Generally, the bigger the pot the taller the Echium! Echium is tough, drought resistant and long lived, known for their long spikes of flowers that attract birds and bees to the garden. This plant self seeds easily so you will never be short of new plants. Ideal for cottage, Mediterranean or coastal gardens and they can also be grown in large pots.Growing echiums from seed and taking cuttings Annual and biennial echiums will self-seed readily. Alternatively, you can collect ripe seed and sow this yourself. Keep them in a dry envelope over winter and sow them the following spring to summer.Most Echium will take two or three years from seed to flowering. Sow seed and pot on plants each year for a display of flowers every summer.Planting an Echium Whichever Echium you decide to grow, it will do best planted in well-drained soil in full sun.Most Echium will take two or three years from seed to flowering. Sow seed and pot on plants each year for a display of flowers every summer.
How do you collect echium seeds?
Harvesting Echium wildpretii seeds. In order to outwit the plants seed-shedding process, it was decided to snip off the flower stalks when the seeds were clearly ripe but still attached. The idea being that the seeds would fall off into a container when ready. After flowering, Echium pininana scatters seed and dies. It self-seeds readily in mild, sheltered parts of the UK, but seed is unlikely to germinate in cooler regions.
What to do with echium pininana after flowering?
Many types of echium will die following flowering, after which they can be removed to the compost heap. Assuming they are going to be given a frost-free environment over winter, shrubby types can be given a tidy in autumn, removing any flower spikes and giving a light trim. Echiums can be annual, biennial, perennial or semi-evergreen. For best results, grow them in full sun in free-draining soil.Echium World. Echium World supplies second season Echium Pininana plants that may flower the following year after supply (May /June) depending on conditions, and are ready to plant when they arrive depending on weather conditions. In the second year they will make a large crown up to one metre across of large leaves.
What is the common name for echium?
Common Name(s): Blue Devil. Blueweed. Viper’s Bugloss. Echium vulgare, known as viper’s bugloss and blueweed, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae.Echium pininana, commonly known as the tree echium, pine echium, giant viper’s-bugloss, or tower of jewels, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is restricted to the island of La Palma.Echium pininana, commonly known as the tree echium, pine echium, giant viper’s-bugloss, or tower of jewels, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae.