Echium Fastuosum (Candicans)

Description

Thirty centimetre spikes of countless purple-blue flowers open on strong branching stems in spring and summer, although very few good seeds are often produced, and it is a specialist job to collect and clean it successfully! This really is a perennial in a sheltered situation, e.g. in a large pot or a warm, protected garden. In The Scilly Islands and the southwest of the UK this plant often makes a very long-lived small tree. It is often grown and valued for the enormous, solid silver-grey dome of evergreen foliage, and the gorgeous flowers are just candles on the cake! Please be aware that busy bees also pollinate the many different echium plants we grow here, in just a few hectares, so we must respectfully point out that you may get the odd surprise variant, habit or colour appear. Indeed, hybrid seed, by its very nature, may produce occasional freaks and oddities. So If you discover something new and remarkable, and are happy to do so, please send us a picture for our website.

Sowing Advice

Sow seeds anytime from late winter onwards, and they do best sown where actually needed, in a well-drained, sheltered spot. Or sow in a seed tray in early spring onto a soil-based compost. No artificial heat is needed, just good light. Seedlings usually appear in 2 to 6 weeks. Pot on into a small pot before planting out in a well-drained sheltered spot, or a large container that may be taken inside. Plants usually flower 12 to 24 months after sowing, and may often vary in habit and flower colour as we have many species growing here, and very many busy bees....

Key Facts