Echium ?

[feet of clay]

I've grown some Echium Pinanina ? (Snowtower) from seed.  They are biennial and tender.  Supposed to grow to 15 feet!  At the moment they are in pots but I wondered if they would survive in an unheated greenhouse over winter.

[feet of clay]

[Mrs Ava]

I have lots in my garden in sunny (hahahaha) Essex.  Nurtured them in the greenhouse for the first year, until they got toooo big and tooooo vicious, and then they were planted  out in a sheltered but sunny spot, and they survived last winter, even thru the snow.  Two were damaged by something....critters or the weather, and they flowered prematurely in like huge pompoms, but the rest are getting taller and taller.  They aren't going to flower this year, so fingers crossed they can make it through another winter for a big show next year!  ;D

[Kerry]

hello EJ and feet of clay.
i sowed some echium which are now in their 2nd year. for their first winter mine did stay in the greenhouse, repotted as they grew bigger. at that time i had an old paraffin heater, which i don't reckon made any difference to the temperature in there! my lowest temperature was -1 and they both survived. this year have planted one out, it has got huuuuge, as wide as it is tall but no sign of flowering. here's hoping like EJ's that it will survive to flower next year.
reckon they need a sunny sheltered spot(that's what the packet said) so will leave it through winter to give it a go. :)

[feet of clay]

I have a walled yard with a small border which I separated from the main garden for several reasons - mainly to 'contain' the dogs when necessary and visiting youngsters (because of the pond) - but I thought it might create a micro-climate as it faces south.  This year's plants do seem 30% bigger than the same plants elsewhere in the garden even though the soil in the yard area is quite poor.  I thought I might risk putting two plants in to see if I can be a successful as EJ.

[HO]

I live just in Cornwall so frost is not such a problem with Echiums. However I still throw something over the plants if I can reach them. When we had (for us ) a cold snap in early March I put some old coal bags ( the really old plasticy hessian type) over some and just sacks over the others. Unless its really cold the taller plants seem OK, the ones under four feet catching a cold . Often I have forgotten and the plants have recovered. Good year this year with one echium at 18.5 feet and one at 18. I do have to stake them as it is windy here. Bumble bees love them from first light to dusk so I presume they must have quite a flow of nectar. Wish I'd had them when I kept bees. My wife hates them! I worked out once that one plant had over one hundred thousand flowers on it over a season. They seed all over the place and for heavy seeds travel well, last September they became weeds. Best transplanted small or they never seem to make big plants. Tip: if you have trouble growing them move south west.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Did you keep bees in Cornwall? Where are you? I used to live in Foxhole, near St. Austell. My bees came from Cornwall originally, and they do well here in the Midlands. Far better than my original strain actually, which I got locally.

[Deeds]

Good Grief a Cornwall contingent.  I'm half way between Bodmin and St Austell.

I have Echiums too, but was very disapointed in Snowtower, it's not white, more of a dingy greyish white.  I have Echium candicans and Echium russicum, which a real beauty and a hardy perennial too

[Robert_Brenchley]

I often wish I was still down there! It wasn't any good in my previous line of work (mental health) but I could teach anywhere, so if it was just me there wouldn't be a problem. I don't think the family would cope though.

[Deeds]

I'd swap with you, not happy here at all :'(

[HO]

I live in Saltash, Robert but kept my bees at a school in Torpoint which is only a couple of miles, as the bee flies, but 17 around the Lynher Lake (river). I had one hive of local Cornish bees , dark and bad tempered but terrific foragers and one expensive hive of golden bees from an old monk at Buckfastleigh, very good tempered but distinctly idle except in sunny weather. I cannot believe that I have not seen one ( ONE) honey bee this year in our garden. I have old stone walls and a good colony of bumblers some of which live in them . I rely on the bumble bees totally for my pollination needs , that is why I always have half a dozen echiums around , as a sort of treat, and to impress visitors, which they do. Stopped keeping bees, reluctantly when, in an act of selfless heroism, unmarked of course, I took off my veil to protect an idiotic child who had wandered close when I was opening up a hive and received a good dose of sting all in one spot on my head. i think that is what started my hair loss. Anyway when my face became somewhat enlarged I was hospitallised for the night and ordered not to keep bees any more. Incidentally I had to be moved to a private ward because my appearance , apparently, was disturbing other patients. I gave my bees to a friend and still visit them occasionally, just for old times sake. He can't grow echiums as it is too windy just outside Cawsand where he lives.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I generally have a spare veil around just in case, and I don't keep nasty bees! Mine are dark and good tempered, I don't like yellow bees in our climate; I had them once, and they died out due to mating failure when we had a couple of bad summers. Not that they ever produced anything but swarms anyway. The doctors could have over-reacted telling you not to keep bees (unless it was the wife of course!) since that sounds like a fairly normal reaction to numerous stings. I once had over 100 in my ankles - they weren't my bees I was dealing with. My legs swelled up so much I could hardly walk, but by next morning there wasn't a sign of it, and I've never had any swelling from a sting since.

[lorna]

Robert. My late husband had very severe artritis (almost every joint) his hands were very swollen and painful. One year he got stung on the hand by a bee and the pain almost went. Someone told him it was because of the bee sting. Have you heard this or is it an old wives tale? Just interested. Lorna.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've heard it many times; apitherapy (treatment with bee venom) is taken very seriously in some countries, notably in the former Soviet Union. I don't know a lot about it, but it seems that a bee sting does wonders kickstarting your immune system if it's not functioning properly. Some beekeepers swear by stings to control arthritis.

[lorna]

Robert Thanks for taking the time to reply. Just found it interesting. Lorna.

[Mrs Ava]

My two surviving echiums have flowered and reached about 12 foot. They were grown in the dappled shade of our willow, so I think did great!  Very mean and prickly though.  Anyhow, now to try and work out how to gather some seeds.