Echium candicans

E. candicans from Madeira (common name Pride of Madeira), a subshrub in the borage family, is flowering dramatically in the Mediterranean Climate Garden (Area L) for the first time. The 12in cylinders of intense violet-blue flowers stand atop rosettes of softly hairy grey-green leaves on woody stems. Full of nectar, they are a magnet for bees and butterflies. As the specific epithet candicans (meaning shining white) suggests, there is also a white form. Contact with the foliage should be avoided as it can cause skin irritation. This plant was a gift from the national collection holders, Echium World, of Thoresby Park, Notts. E. candicans has been given the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.