Its name alone is a mouthful. And that is precisely what your curious friends will have when they touch the small plum-shaped fruits on the amazing and aptly named "Squirting-Cucumber". Yellow flowers on radiating stems produce intriguing hanging fruits. Unwary inspection triggers the incredible seed distribution method. The swollen fruit breaks off and shoots downwards (remember Newton's Laws of Reaction) propelled by a high speed jet of seeds and water. Ouch! Never fails to impress. ... Learn More

A vigorous scrambler, perfect for covering an evergreen shrub, with red, orange or yellow tubular flowers, produced freely from June to October in multi-flowered trusses. Makes a hardy overwintering tuber, but flowers first year from seed. ... Learn More

The pale-flowered trumpets of the "Chilean Glory Vine" are perfect for a darker corner where other climbers will sulk. This climber, as well as being bone hardy, will perform for years with absolutely no attention, dying down each winter into a completely hardy tuber! ... Learn More

Very large reddish-purple flowers with pronounced golden-brown cone-centres are produced from July until mid-autumn. Ideal for cutting, these plants will perform best on well-prepared humus-rich soil. (aka 'Ruby Star') ... Learn More

'White Swan' is a popular variety of "Cone Flower, producing bronze-centred white flowers from July to October. This form is shorter than others, making it a great, easy-to-grow mid-border plant which will thrive in any decent soil and does not require staking making it excellent for cutting. It produces in as little as four months from seed an abundance of large, pure white flowers with down-swept white petals surrounding a large central cone and possesses a lovely honey fragrance, much appreciated by bees. ... Learn More

Recently discovered in the wild is this rare and incredibly tall form of the lovely "globe thistle" which is perfect for the very back of a tall border. Numerous, tennis ball-sized, spiky heads, loved by bees and butterflies, slowly change from silver to pale blue. Clean, huskless seed is supplied. ... Learn More

This tall, imposing plant displays impressive, tennis-ball sized, silvery-white, prickly seed heads on strong, stout stems. Clumps of these are constantly covered with bees and butterflies all summer long. Cleaned, huskless seed. ... Learn More

This dazzling, completely new, diminutive form of this delightful plant appeared by chance in our gardens at Plant World. Probably an Echium fastuosum/pininana hybrid, it is best grown under the shelter of a hedge or wall and facing the sun, where it makes a low mound of several hairy, grey-green rosettes on numerous branching stems. Stumpy, fat spikes of cobalt-blue flowers open from April to June producing an awe-inspiring spectacle. To perform well it needs protection from cold winds and severe frost though! A limited number of good seeds were collected. (All of our echiums are grown in the same large gardens at Plant World, so you may occasionally have a % of hybrids.) ... Learn More

Yet another valuable variant in the lovely echium series. Just a single plant from several hundred had pure white stems, and thus we suspected white flowers. And so it turned out. This is the first time we have managed to grow and collect seeds from a white form of this perennial, shrubby, bush-forming plant, which forms a solid compact dome when mature, when it can be smothered with a hundred or more swollen trusses of flowers. This really is a perennial in a sheltered situation in a warm garden, or even in a very large pot. In The Scilly Islands and the South West of the UK, and even in our hill-top gardens here, this plant makes a sizeable, long-lived evergreen shrub. Occasionally a plant may produce flower spikes that open with a slight pinkish or pale blue tinge. ... Learn More

Twelve inch spikes of countless purple-blue flowers open on strong branching stems in spring and summer, although very few good seeds are often produced. This really is a perennial in a sheltered situation, e.g. in a large pot or a very protected garden. In The Scilly Islands and the South West of the UK this plant often makes a long-lived small tree. ... Learn More

This suberb specimen plant makes an impressive rosette of many long, branching, hairy grey stems. The sprays of icing pink flowers around the stems are produced from June until October, with the main, quite spectacular flush, in July. ... Learn More

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. Otherwise, overwinter plants in pots in a frost-free place. To identify each type. Very pale stems have white flowers. Darker stems have blue flowers, Thinner leaf forms are Pink Fountain with pink flowers. ... Learn More

This incredible plant initially produces a palm tree-like rosette, with large, thick, hairy leaves on a strong woody stem. This unusual plant is scientifically a 'triennial', and either 12 or 24 months after sowing, the centre, holding thousands of flowers, shoots upwards, sometimes to 15-20 feet! Bees love this giant, which, if you are lucky, will gently self-seed but never becomes a nuisance, as the seedlings are so visible and easy to pull up (if you have the heart)! Most plants will be deep blue although the odd variant colour may always appear. ... Learn More

A friend on Guernsey sent us some seeds of an absolutely pure white Echium pininana she had discovered. We could barely believe such a plant existed, but were thrilled to finally see an enormous 15 foot high snowy cascade. Most plants will be white although the odd variant colour will always appear. You can easily see this at the small plant stage when you will discover that the plants with pale green stems are guaranteed to have pure white flowers. ... Learn More

This is possibly the most lusted-after plant in our gardens every May and June, and is a fabulous cross we made between the superb Echium wildpretii with its four foot, fat red spike and the giant blue Echium pininana. The result is a 15 inch wide, tapering tower of delicate pink flowers which are light a lighthouse attracting bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Although most plants will be pink, the odd variant colour will always appear, but all are very desirable. ... Learn More