Allotments 4 All

This is harder. It is an annual which is acting as a perennial, but for the life of me I cannot remember its name. The Nursery from which it came does not mention it in its catalogue nor are they online. It also comes in white, which we have, but not as a photo.

Thank you.  Oh it is about 18 inches tall with grey green lanceolate leaves and likes full sun.
Guess who has gone senior!

Good job that one's easy Eric ...otherwise you'd have to give me a good "reason why I slept in" excuse for my boss tomorrow morn!!    ;D    ;)


P.S..........SLEEP WELL!!!!!  ;D

aw Eric! I've not got to go into search mode again!!! Looks like a salvia to me.but hey, it probably isn't!     DP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Sorry...Eric...just teasing!!......
Doris ..my first thought was Salvia......as there are loads of different species!
But......other suggestions.....one's that I've grown in the past.........lobelia speciosa.........and liatris....... altho'  both like a moist soil.......so prob not!!
Will keep digging deep into the liitle bit of grey matter still active!!  ::)  ;D

Echium russicum ?

Have just searched Google images and yes that is exactly it John. Thank you kindly. It is not in The Old Rhs Encyclopaedia and I have not got the new one yet,( hint hint £400 or so). Trouble with lots of plants is that you need to know what it is before you can find it . Sadly it did not set seed so I will have to hope it continues in its perennial habit. THank you again, and it will save a lot of sleepless nights for certain kind ladies.
Eric.

Thank goodness you came to the rescue John!!

Eric ..you are such a gent!!!  :-*

Look out for posting of a puzzler or two.....(with a difference!)  ;D.....just for you!!

About three years ago I was hiking in some hills outside of Los Angeles when I came across a large area of yellow echiums. Foliage and habit was similar to E. vulgare "Blue Bedder". This is a long shot but has anyone ever seen a reference to a yellow Echium anywhere? Repeated searches in search engines and reference books have failed to produce even a hint of such a plant. Searches of California wild flower listings don't mention it either so I suspect they were an escaped introduction.

Hi Eric congratulations on being a senior, lovely plant havent seen one before are you going to keep this up posting different plants flowers it would keep us going through the winter?
Just a thought
Teresa

Oops ..missed that one Eric....thought you meant to write senile !!  as in forgetful!!!!!  ::)   ;D  Ha!!!

First of all, John. I have looked through every book I can find which mentions members of the Borage family (Echium, Borage etc) and there is not mention of a yellow Echium. Indeed the species description specifically says, blue, red or white for Echium) Odd.
Teresa. I could post pictures of plants if people wanted it. With or with out names? I have some more which I would like to be identified, especially Clematis.
Diane, I am entitled to be senile I reckon, lucky to have any brains left at all after having Meningitis twice in my life. (Not the bacterial one, but both times a virus, but still not pleasant). AND defintely forgetful, what was the question?
 ;D ???

Hi Eric
Sorry to hear about your meningitis attacks...must have been extremely unpleasant for you.

It would appear that I'm the one who has lost it ,as I can't even read the words properly!!  ::)

I'd love to see more clematis....but after the rugby.....please!!

In the meantime...here's a little cutie for you to identify!!



and as you like ducks  ;D

Strange fruit. Not really up on the feathereds so my guess is Sparra. Like the duck though. Ours are getting much more adventurous. Wonder how long before they find the big pond. Never get them in then. Dirty birds though, make an awful mess of their pen.

Thanks for looking Eric. I remember you saying you had a lot of reference books and was secretly hoping you might trouble yourself to look through them. Available over here is a book called Hortus, now in it's third edition, which, in my opinion,  leaves the RHS dictionary standing as a reference (including,  probably, the new 400 pound edition) and even that doesn't list it. More delving is called for-and a trip to L.A. again to collect seeds!

John, don't take this the wrong way ,but it is the first question my botanist lecturer friend will ask. Are you positive in your identification?. Friend has access to a much wider library than I have. Won't see him until middle of December though so don't hold your breath. Had aquick look in Schacht and Jellicoe European Garden Flora, nothing leapt out, but it was in  a shop so had to be quick. No Monographs on  American Boraginacea? Looks like a photo and specimen job.

never heard of yellow echiums. also, i could have sworn that your first picture was an agastache - colour looks exactly like firebird which i grow. however, my eyes are a bit dodgy

My identification of the plants as Echiums was based upon:
1) this was the strongest evidence- the three seeds were clustered in the dead calyces in the classic pattern apparently resembling a snakes head (as in "Viper's Bugloss"). The seeds were of the same shade of grey and exactly the same cone shape as the other Echiums I have grown. They were equally difficult to harvest too!
2) the dessicated leaves were strongly reminiscent of "Blue Bedder" when the heat over here becomes too much for them. This included the leaf hairs which I find can cause me considerable discomfort.
3) The leaves were in a basal rosette with the flower stalk arising out of them, with the stalk curling over in the fashion of "Blue Bedder", about 2cm below it's tip.
I did collect a small quantity of seed, as I mentioned I am certain it is an escaped exotic so I do not believe I broke any laws or rules even, which I finally grew out this year. It turned out that almost any amount of water caused them to rot so this is simply a personal quest to identify them as I don't think they have any commercial purpose in my operations.

Thanks John, will try this lot out on my Botanist friend at Ness Botanic Gardens. I will not see him until the second Friday in December so don't hold your breath. And there is not guarantee even then. I have been looking at American members of the Boraginaceae, but with little success. Most of my information is on The Rockies, the Cascades or specific genera like Alliums and Sedum. (cos I collect them). Will keep looking anyway.

Thank you, Eric. After 3 or so years waiting a couple of weeks will be easy.