This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Info on Echiums...

Somewhere in my past I got my Echiums mixed up. Here in Berkeley we 
generally see Echium candicans (usually sold as Echium fastuosum), ie. 
Pride of Madeira, the shrubby perennial  with pink, light or dark blue 
flowers OR Echium wildpretii, ie., Tower of Jewels, the upright 
biennial with a single stalk covered with silvery, hairy, narrow leaves 
and pink flowers.

The Echium wildpretii I learned the first time around is quite 
different. Along the Mendocino and Humboldt coasts and occassionally 
around here there is a 10 to 15 ft tall Echium with hairy green leaves 
and blue flowers. It most closely resembles the architectural form of 
Echium wildpretii but always has blue flowers, greenish, hairy foliage 
and is at least twice the size of Echium wildpretii. Browsing my 
reference books nothing really stands out as a description. Does anyone 
have a name for such a creature?

Slugs & Bugs,

Ernie

"All your plants should look as if they are enjoying
themselves, even though you know perfectly well they're
trying to kill each other, and you are the referee"
- Christopher Lloyd

Ernie George Wasson
Consulting Horticulturist & Nurseryperson
in the Berkeley-Oakland hills of California
Sunset Zone 16/17, USDA Zone 9/10
"All Plants Considered" column at www.gardens.com
Follow-Ups:
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index