Echium Fastuosum Candicans * Pride of Madeira * Rare Purple Flowers * 20 Seeds

Echium fastuosum , is also known as pride of Madeira, being native to Madeira and is part of the Boraginaceae family. Echium fastuosum is big, bold and beautiful. This half-hardy biennial is a showy, evergreen, perennial plant that can reach up to 5 - 8 ft tall and 6-10 feet wide. It is a large picturesque plant with coarse heavy branches and an excellent foliage plant. Spike like clusters of bluish purple flowers standout above the foliage in the spring. Use Echium against walls and at the back of flower borders or on slopes for a dramatic effect. Pride of Madeira makes a bold addition to any xeric landscape. In their natural habitat they grow on windswept limestone outcrops. The striking blooms make it attractive to bees, butterflies or birds. This Echium has evergreen lanceolate leaves, which are about 8 in (20 cm) long. The narrow, hairy, gray-green colored leaves form round irregular mounds at the ends of the stems. The gorgeous purple-blue flowers have petals with a typical white line, and they appear on broad cylindrical to egg shaped inflorescences of 2 ft (60 cm) long, in spring. Once Pride of Madeira has completed its flowering, it leaves only the green spires that should be removed and the entire plant cut back hard before winter. Hardiness zones :9-11 (-5c/25f, 4c/40f) Echium fastuosum is a stunning sun lover for coastal windy gardens, that can withstand negative temperatures down to 26°F (-3°C). This Echium requires a well-drained ground and dry soil.