Jun 24, 2018
Plant of the Day
Sunday 24 June 2018
The bees were busy on Echium candicans (pride of Madeira) which was growing in the shelter of the walled garden at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran, Scotland. The natural habitat for this plant are the rocky cliffs and plateaus of Madeira’s central mountain range. It thrives in mild coastal gardens, tolerating windy sites and nutrient poor, sandy soils. It is a fast growing but short-lived (5-6 years) subshrub with an umbrella-shaped canopy of hairy branches, each tipped with a rosette of felted, grey-green leaves. The flower spikes vary in colour from pink to deep indigo blue with striking pinkish-red stamens.
Jill Raggett