<em>Echium</em>, viper's bugloss: sow, plant and care for

Description and botany

Genus Echium, commonly called Viper’s bugloss is part of the Boraginaceae family such as comfrey or borage. It comprises plants of very different appearances and includes around sixty species. It is made up of annual, biennial, perennial, herbaceous or shrubby plants, all covered with tuberculate bristles and stiff hairs that sometimes cause skin irritation.

In biennials such as E. pininana or E. vulgare, a two- or three-year-old plant produces, at the heart of a rosette of narrow silvery-green leaves, one or more panicles of more or less dense flowers, mixed with small greyish leaves, the bracts. This flowering signals the plant’s death; the plant usually self-seeds abundantly in light soil.

The hairy, spiny leaves are alternate unlike those of sage, and have smooth margins. They form a basal rosette 30 to 50 cm in diameter that lengthens in Echium pininana and branches in Echium fastuosum, forming thick cylindrical hairy stems of soft wood. Roots form a deep taproot that makes transplantation somewhat delicate.

Among herbaceous viper’s buglosses, Echium vulgare is a European biennial species hardy to -15 °C, fairly common in France, found along roads, in meadows, steppes and rocky areas on dry soil, between June and September. Basal leaves are ovate or lanceolate, 10–15 cm long and petiolate, while upper leaves are narrow with a single prominent vein and the lamina is attached directly to the stem.

Echium vulgare – botanical illustration

Common viper’s bugloss can form slender bluish spikes up to 1 m tall. Echium plantagineum, with plantain-like leaves and more Mediterranean, is found on sandy sites as far north as Vendée. It is distinguished by heart-shaped basal leaves, softly hairy, and flowers slightly larger, up to 3 cm in diameter (2 cm in E. vulgare).

Flowering of Echium is generally springtime in shrubby species while extending through summer in herbaceous species such as E. vulgare and E. plantagineum. Inflorescences are in the form of oblong panicles composed of flared bell-shaped flowers 10–20 mm long, most often ranging from pink in bud to a vibrant blue when the corolla opens, then to purple when faded. The calyx has 5 lobes and the asymmetrical corolla forms a funnel or bell with 5 lobes, hairy on the outside. Stamens, often bright pink and protruding beyond the corolla, are five in number and make the flowers sparkle. The white pistil, also prominent, ends in two points. Flowering of Echium attracts a myriad of pollinating insects — butterflies, bees and bumblebees — which enjoy a bounty for many months. One hectare of viper’s bugloss could produce 400 kg of delicious honey with a sweet floral fragrance, a lovely amber colour and very slow crystallisation.

Dry fruits, 2–3 mm long, are formed of four small rough achenes.

Name Echium comes from Latin echis or Greek ekhion meaning “viper”, alluding to seeds shaped like a viper’s head but also to the pistil that protrudes from the corolla, evoking the forked tongue of snakes. Trunk of shrubby viper’s buglosses suggests scaly body of the serpent. Vernacular name Viper’s bugloss has nothing to do with beliefs that plant attracts vipers or cures their bites. However, its dried flowers are used as a medicinal plant, notably for purifying, diuretic and pectoral virtues. Seeds of Echium plantagineum contain an interesting concentration of Omega-3 and stearidonic acid with anti-inflammatory properties.

Echium vulgare and Echium pininana

Main varieties of Echium

Shrubby varieties

Herbaceous varieties

Echium pininana Seeds - Tower of Jewels

Giant biennial variety forming a spectacular bush of silvery leaves that bears a large conical bluish spike more than 1.50 m above ground. Plant in light soil, sheltered from frost, on a seaside bank or in a pot.

• Flowering time August, September
• Height at maturity 3 m

See the product sheet

Echium candicans

Viper's bugloss native to Madeira with a short-lived habit, exotic character and highly unusual appearance, but tender. In 2–3 years it forms a shrubby clump 1.50 m high by 2 m wide, clothed in villous grey-green foliage from which magnificent blue spikes emerge. Not very hardy, it favours warmth, full sun, and well-drained to arid soils, as well as seaside locations.

• Flowering time April to July
• Height at maturity 1,50 m

See the product sheet

Echium russicum

Viper's bugloss native to eastern Europe, highly ornamental, producing long, fine dark-red spikes made up of small old-rose and claret flowers mixed with white bristles. Sometimes grown as a biennial, this plant is perennial in well-drained soil and in winters not too cold (to −10°C).

• Flowering time July to September
• Height at maturity 80 cm

See the product sheet

Echium vulgare Blue Bedder Seeds - Vipers Bugloss

Viper's bugloss with compact habit, annual or biennial, very melliferous, ideal in dry gardens and in full sun. Produces numerous intense-blue spikes, notable for their fineness and vibrancy, emerging as pink buds and fading to purple. This robust plant tolerates poor, lime-rich, well-drained soils.

• Flowering time August to November
• Height at maturity 30 cm

See the product sheet

Echium vulgare

Wild biennial species with very long melliferous flowering, suitable for dry places, fields, fallow land, by paths or in rockeries. Used as an infusion to soothe coughs.

• Flowering time May to September
• Height at maturity 90 cm

See the product sheet

Planting

Where to plant Echium?

Viper’s bugloss prefers warm, sunny sites in rather dry, poor, sandy, rocky, even calcareous soil, not too acidic and above all very well drained. However, species such as fastuosum and russicum are more exuberant and floriferous in fresh, rich soil, even though that shortens their lifespan. Under no circumstances do they tolerate more than one season in heavy, compact, wet soil.

Take care with very low frost tolerance of Macaronesian species such as Echium fastuosum and pininana, which suffer from 0°C but may withstand short frosts down to about -5°C in perfectly drained soil that is dry in winter. You can grow them in a large pot in most of our regions because of their low tolerance to transplanting. Echium russicum tolerates down to -10°C in perfectly drained soil and common viper’s bugloss down to -15°C.

When to plant?

Plant them in September–October in warm climate; otherwise prefer early spring north of the Loire and in mountainous areas.

How to plant?

In most of our regions, you will grow large cold-sensitive species in a large pot because of their considerable growth in a very bright place such as a conservatory or an unheated greenhouse.

• Add a 10 cm layer of gravel or clay pebbles to the bottom of the container.
• Make a mix of potting compost, sand and loam.
• In open ground, dig a deep hole, avoiding smoothing the sides.
• Add sand or compost if necessary to lighten the soil and a dose of horn meal if the soil is very poor.
• Sink the rootball into a bucket of water to thoroughly soak it.
• In heavy soil, choose planting on a raised mound or within a rockery.
• Place the plant in the planting hole without burying the collar.
• Replace the soil and firm lightly.
• Water.

Echium at Jardin des Capucins (29)

→ Also see: Grow an Echium in a pot.

Care

• No need to water Echium in open ground during summer, even in dry climate. In pots, water once or twice a week during growth and more frequently in summer.
• During winter, overwinter plant in a frost-free, very bright place and water very sparingly.

Note, in biennial species such as Echium pininana, plant forms only a compact rosette of foliage during first year following sowing, and it persists through winter. Flowering occurs the following year provided no severe frost below -5 °C has destroyed plant.

• Collect seeds from biennial species to carry out new sowings or let nature take its course.

Echiums are not very susceptible to pests but beware slugs, which are fond of young shoots.

In a greenhouse, whiteflies (whiteflies) and mites (red spider mites) can invade foliage. It is then advisable to move plant to a well-ventilated, sunny spot during the growing season.

Propagation: propagation by cuttings, sowing

Propagation most often involves sowing annual, biennial and perennial species. Propagation by cuttings of perennials such as fastuosum and russicum is also possible at any time of year.

Propagation by cuttings

Carry out in August with semi-woody cuttings or at any other time of year.

1. Prepare a deep pot by filling it with potting compost mixed with sand.
2. Take tips of semi-woody shoots about 10 cm long that have not borne flowers.
3. Remove leaves located near the base of the cutting.
4. Insert them to two-thirds of their length, ensuring they do not touch each other.
5. Firm the compost gently around them to remove air pockets and ensure good contact between compost and cutting.
6. In autumn, separate rooted cuttings and plant them in buckets which you keep under a cold frame until spring.

Sowing

Self-seeding is quite common in light soil and mild climates. Otherwise, sow from late May to late July:

• Sow viper’s bugloss seeds 3 mm deep in compost specially for sowing.
• Germination takes 7 to 14 days at 18–20 °C.
• Mist regularly to keep the substrate moist until seedlings emerge.
• When you can handle them, transplant the young plants into 7.5 cm diameter pots; overwinter them in a cold greenhouse, a conservatory or on a well-lit windowsill at around 7 °C.
• Plant out in the ground the following spring, spacing plants 1 m apart in a very sunny site with well-drained, even stony, dry soil.
• Do not overwater this plant, which loves dry conditions.

→ Find out more about the sowing of Echium pininana in our tutorial sheet!

Uses and companion plants

Echium russicum, vulgare, plantagineum and Blue Bedder are plants of prairies that will find their place on slopes, in rockeries, borders and very sunny naturalistic beds associated with poppies, flax, ammis, sainfoin, lucerne, annual cornflowers, phacelia and tuberous pea, Ebenus cretica with downy pink spikes…

An exotic mood idea in mild climate: Echium fastuosum, Cordyline australis, Agapanthus, Geranium maderense and Osteospermum

Madeira viper’s bugloss (fastuosum) or Canary viper’s bugloss (pininana) are, in turn, excellent plants with an imposing architectural presence for mild Mediterranean or Atlantic coastal gardens as they cope perfectly with sea spray. They can be paired on a rocky slope or in a container with exotic plants such as Euryops (yellow daisies), Beschorneria, agapanthus, Euphorbia mellifera, Melianthus major, large shrubby or perennial sages such as Salvia leucantha, Salvia canariensis, Salvia guaranatica, Salvia involucrata ‘Bethelii’, Aloe arborescens, rockroses…