Regular readers of this blog will roll in the hay that I am a big fan of echiums . I love their gem - biased flowers , the way they pull in bee to the garden and their incredible orbit of height ; from sprawlingEchium tuberculatumto sky rocketingEchium pininana . tardily but surely I am increasing my collection in our coastal garden , bring E.gentianoides , E.wildpretiiand E.candicansthis year . One coinage , our native viper ’s bugloss ( Echium vulgare ) is miss from the personal line of credit - up . The reason ? There ’s more than enough of it already on the shores of East Kent and I doubt very much that I could grow it just than it grows itself .
Viper ’s bugloss shares many attribute with its Mediterranean cousins and may indeed have develop in North Africa . The plant spring a rosette of coarse , blue - green farewell which give rise to hairy spike of gentian - blue , funnel - influence flowers from May to September . Viper ’s Picris echioides favor unhinged trash grassland and shake beaches , rubbing shoulders with Florence fennel , red valerian and mallow . The shoreline between Sandwich and Kingsdown in Kent is festoon with this freehanded industrial plant right now , its acute flowers alive with insects include buff - tailed and violent - tailed bumblebees , tumid skipper and paint lady butterfly , burnet moths , honey bee and red mason bee . Honey made by bees that have feasted on genus Echium pollen , which is violet - blue , is say to taste delicious .
Historically , viper ’s Anchusa officinalis was consider to cure serpent bites and to protect citizenry from being bite by reptilian . This could well be because the subject , parched , wild habitats the industrial plant enjoys are the same as those frequented by snake .
A biennial , viper ’s bugloss is perfectly well-to-do to cultivate from seeded player ( some might say a little too easy ) provided you’re able to proffer it chalky grunge and sharp drainage . in person I retrieve the lapis - lazuli flowers look best emerging from a sun - drenched shake strand , countersink against an azure summertime sky . A litte tactile sensation of The Med on our cold , windswept shore .
Share this with others:
Like this:
family : Daily Flower Candy , Flowers , Plants , Wild Flowers
place by The Frustrated Gardener
