From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
One of the grandest spring-flowering plants is the echium. It's large, showy blooms mimic feather dusters yet hold themselves ever so seriously poised above leather-leafed stalks. Each spike is made up of tiny florets that burst open and remain open for a few weeks enjoying the new-found sun before dying off to a rich brown hue.
The Echium is one of those plants that always seem to grab your attention when it's available in a garden. Its architectural beauty, both from the foliage clumps and the parading spears, is an obvious winner when it comes to adding them to any garden.
Many cooler climate gardens are able to grow them as annuals (E.wildpretii is a great variety for this) while those who enjoy warmer climes opt to grow them as biannuals or perennials (E.candicans is a popular variety for these regions). Growing them over many years allows the clump to mature and produce an abundance blooms.
Echiums are a favourite of termites (white ants) so if you have problems with these pests getting into your house timbers, planting an echium as an "offering" can help keep them under control. It means you will eventually lose your echium plant but it will save your house.
How to care for your Echium plant
Your echium will thrive on neglect provided they are given enough moisture. They prefer good draining soil but most sandy loams devoid of nutrition will suit them fine. If you've had success growing borage before then you'll quickly find that these family relatives have similar requirements.
Full-sun is another pre-requisite for caring for your echium although provided they get a good 6 hours in sunlight they should still perform quite well. Growing these in shade will result in lots of rotting foliage and cause fungal problems for this plant.
Transplanting your echium is a dangerous procedure as they don't take too well to being moved. The best option is to take cuttings in autumn or propagate through soil-layering which works to great effect.
Cut your spent flower spikes at the end of summer and feed with some well-rotted compost or a slow-release fertiliser.
Dearest Carol and Dee,
The weather has finally taken a turn toward glorious here in my little private Idaho. My spirits are way up, plants and plans are coming along nicely this week. I try hard not to get too far ahead of myself. Gardening is like walking up to a dinner buffet: your eyes (garden plans) are so often much bigger than your stomach (ability/budget for getting it all done).
Today, the undergardener is lining up the 2 and 5 gallon black plastic pots for jump-starting the dahlias. I threatened to do this back in March, realized it was way to early and took a nap instead. I will plant all the tubers in these pots, put them in a hot spot, up against the south-facing house foundation, and let them sit in the sun until they are up a couple inches. Then, and only then will I give them a big drink of water, and after 4 weeks or so, I will plant them out into the perennial borders. Why all this extra effort? A good friend and professor of horticulture told me about this method. It ensures the bulbs get no water until the first leaves have opened, and the bulbs don’t rot in the ground.
Last Monday, I did get two big strong helpers in here for an hour. ONE HOUR! In that measly little bit of time they accomplished what would have taken me two or three days to finish. Not to mention I would have consumed a handful of Advil, and a few vodka tonics to assuage the pain of such physical exertion. Sure, I have some craters where the buddleia alternifolia had seeded itself about, the fallugia paradoxa had given a seriously lackluster performance (and I had such high hopes for the apache plume against the ninebark! The five huge miscanthus sinensis gracillimus have been removed, quartered and given away.
We are measuring and laying out the lines for the new retaining wall now that all the old shrubs have been removed. D finally got my coveted pet bristlecone pine in yesterday. It looks just great where we put it, under the bedroom window. It will enjoy perfect drainage there and gives me the much needed conifer/evergreen structure I need in that part of the border.
A handful of tulips are open, the daffodils almost gone. All around town the ubiquitous flowering pears are open and strutting their stuff.
I am hoping tomorrow the pink and white flowering dogwoods will open on cue and look smashing floating above the toothache- inducing pink blossoms of the PJM rhodies. Is that too much to ask? I think not. Especially since the apache plume/ninebark combo failed to dazzle. It’s rumored to be going up to 80 degrees and that ought to make the dogwoods pop.
I saw on Carol’s page the lilacs are open as were the Korean spice viburnum. That’s a few weeks away here. Usually at Mother’s Day. Patience is a virtue, they say. I will just have to wait.
OK, off to pot the dahlias. Until next week, happy gardening.
Your Dirt Diva and Perennial friend,
MA
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