But they ARE echium ‘trees’; more specifically, Towers of Jewels.
I spaded the this patch of turf, then kept finding more and more transplants to put in.
Last year the only one I had grew 10 feet (3 meters) in a single year. The bumblebees loved it. They worked it mid May til mid September. I kept thinking about collecting seeds, then forgot. Not to worry, I’ve got plenty of ‘upstarts’ now.
If I ever had any doubts that the Tower of Jewels would throw seeds, those doubts have vanished. I’ve got to get these out of here to plant garlic. If I don’t transplant them, my wife has threatened to ‘toss’ them. Why? We have so many.
The plants don’t have big root balls. Hope they take.
October 20, hummm, they look a little wilty. I better water them.
November 9, 2013…They are starting to look better after I trimmed the lower leaves.
What are the tires for? They are to hold up a tarp to protect them from freezing.
November 13…Echium in the sun, looks good. This will be the area I’ll plant some of my “Bulbs for the Bees,” Snowdrops, Winter Aconite, and Siberian Scilla.
According to Palmbob, at Dave’s garden, trying to transplant it, ends up killing it, but these are still growing almost a month after transplanting. The Tower of Jewels is a member of the Boraginaceae family which includes borage (grows all year here) and comfrey which I planted 40 years ago and is still coming back. I’m hoping these will grow to be tall nectar sources for bees and butterflies.
11-24-13…I’ve had to take drastic action for the cold weather. Bags of leaves hold up the tarp, tires hold it down.
12-26-13…These echium have definitely taken a hit from the sub freezing temps we’ve been experiencing for a couple of weeks. I hope they make it.
February 5, 2014…Five out of six have survived so far. These sub freezing nights are NOT helping. I cover them with blankets and a plastic tarp every night.
February 5, 2014…new growth means it’s still alive! More cold nights forecast so I’ve got to keep them protected.
Feb. 5, 2014…These four echium in the backyard are slightly more protected. They were put here as a back up (Plan Bee). I didn’t think it was a very good spot because of the shade, but they are doing the best of the bunch.
12-29-14…I shot these backyard echium to show the progress they have made. No blossoms in 2014 means they will blossom in 2015 (if they make it through the winter without frost damage.)
March 9, 2015…Is this the year the echium will bloom? I sure hope so. It’s putting on a spurt of growth.
February 23, 2014…five echium still hanging on, barely.
February 23, 2014…This poor echium plant suffered in the cold temps, but it’s still showing signs of life. Footnote…it didn’t make it.
June 16, 2014…Three echiums made it through the winter, but it looks like they are not going to bloom this year. Sometimes it’s the second year and sometimes it’s the third year. I guess I’m going to have to wait a year. 😦
12-29-14…There are still 3 echium plants going into winter, although one looks a little sick. I wanted to shoot a photo before I covered them up with tarps prior to the big freeze this week.
March 9…This echium has also been adding height. I started noticing it when I tried to pull the tarp over the top to protect it from frost. We haven’t seen any bud starts yet.
March 19…I just noticed the tallest echium (in the picture above) is starting to send out bud starts. Hooray!
Read Full Post »
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 