Dramatic and hardy, with sensational floral spikes, they deliver when the weather heats up
Britain’s deep-rooted love of gardening withered somewhat under last summer’s prolonged and record-breaking heatwave. Few could forget those six long weeks of absent rainfall, when gardeners nationwide rallied around gasping plants while everyone else headed for the beach. At the Garden Museum in London, where I’m head gardener, I despaired as hedges browned, ferns scorched and even our toughest perennials wilted. Thankfully, a wet winter had bolstered Thames Water’s reserves. A hosepipe ban would have been fatal for many plants. With the exception, that is, of one stalwart: tree echiums (Echium pininana), whose cheerful revelry amid such arid conditions lifted my spirits.
For more than a decade, nestled against a west-facing wall and baked in afternoon sunshine, tree echiums have regularly flowered and set seed in a quiet corner of the museum gardens. I’ve always been fond of their towering blue flower spikes, which lift magnificently from crowns of bristly, lanceolate leaves, but only last year came to appreciate their suitability for Britain’s warming climate. I believe their popularity will increase significantly in coming years. These plants deliver, both for the gardener – in ease of cultivation and floral splendour – and for struggling pollinators, too, more of which later.
Continue reading...from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FaleXq
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