There are many things I miss about living in Guernsey, and one of them is the flora that just doesn’t grow in the wilds of North Yorkshire, where we’ve lived now for 20 years or so. Amongst the plants I really love is the Echium – a biennial plant which, in its second year, grows an enormous flower spike which becomes a complete bee-magnet. Sadly, it cannot overwinter in the Yorkshire temperatures, so until now I had never had one in my garden here.
So a couple of years ago, a friend sent me some seeds, which my sister (who has a conservatory) sowed and germinated. When the plants grew large enough, she planted them out, and then brought them back inside again when it started to get cold. Two survived this treatment, and have been planted out again – one in her garden, and one in mine.
I can see my Echium from my office window, and it’s huge! It looks very exotic and, as you can see from the photo, it’s now taller than me (although many of you will know that doesn’t take much!). What you can’t see from that picture is the beginning of the flower spike, and the start of the helical twist that will showcase the blossoms when they appear.
How do we know when to give up, or when to carry on trying, when there is something we have been trying to achieve for so long? Well, we can’t know – all we have is hope. I saw a fabulous quote on Instagram earlier today (@in_otternews) which said “When you feel all is lost, and there’s no hope left… remember the lobsters in the tank at the Titanic’s restaurant.” That says it all.
All the Echiums in Guernsey have now finished flowering, but our Yorkshire Echium is only just beginning. It took a lot of nurture and a lot of hope to get to where we are now, but I don’t think the bees will have too much longer to wait.
