Giant Bugloss

From the Canary Islands, Echium pininana is surprisingly well suited to milder, maritime areas in Ireland, and is a stunning plant for the larger garden. Its a towering, upright, evergreen biennial (or sometimes short-lived perennial) forming a rosette of long, spear-shaped, bristly, silvery-green leaves, up to 33/1m high, in the first year. The following summer it sends up a tapering, conical flower-stem up to 13/4m tall, with blue funnel-shaped flowers appearing between leaves on the stem; the flowers are very attractive to bees. The plant dies after flowering, but self-seeds freely, so that replacement plants constantly appear. Giant bugloss holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, but is only for the mildest areas.

Site: Sheltered; tolerates salt air
Soil: Any light, well-drained soil
Position: Full sun
Flowering period: Summer
Hardiness: Borderline hardy
Height: 13 (4m) Spread: 33 (1m)