Companion plants for Echium (viper's-bugloss)

In a sunny border

Viper’s bugloss thrives in sun and heat, in very well-drained soil year-round. Frost hardiness varies by species. Large shrubby Echiums, Echium pininana and Echium candicans (syn. fastuosum), suffer at 0°C and are reported to withstand brief frosts of around -5°C in well-drained, dry winter soil. They are best grown in USDA zones 10a to 9a.

Echium fastuosum is more floriferous in cool, rich soil, but this shortens its lifespan to around 5–7 years. It forms a shrub about 1.5 m high by 3 m wide. Also called Madeira viper’s bugloss, its silvery rosette foliage is accompanied by long, dense 25 cm spikes of intense blue. It is a very beautiful, architectural and spectacular species, while also a wild plant that rambles and self-seeds where conditions allow.

Plant it in a dry border, for example alongside sages such as Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ and Salvia jamensis ‘Reve Rouge’, together with Fuchsia magellanica var. gracilis. Seedlings of the annual Nigella papillosa ‘Midnight Blue’ punctuate the planting with touches of deep blue.

Nigella papillosa ‘Midnight Blue’, Echium fastuosum, Fuchsia magellanica var. gracilis, Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’, Salvia jamensis ‘Reve Rouge’

As a specimen

Fine, large specimens such as the Macaronesian echiums, Echium pininana and Echium fastuosum, are certainly best showcased when planted as solitary specimens. Echium fastuosum, mentioned above, makes a striking solitary specimen that draws the eye.

Let us look here at Echium pininana, giant viper’s bugloss, particularly impressive, with immense spikes that can reach 3 to 4 m in height! It produces a pretty basal rosette, relatively modest compared with the later growth of the plant’s flowering stem. It is a biennial, flowering 1 to 2 years after foliage appears and then disappearing, while self-seeding. If you have several plants, for a short time you will have a truly impressive display. In an open, sunny position, its spikes grow upright and often brush the tops of large shrubs and palms.

Echium pininana

Container-grown

In containers or large pots, you can grow all Echiums. The Canary Echium, Echium Pininana, produces one stem per rosette, so it can also be grown in a pot. This is an interesting option for anyone whose soil is unsuitable for growing these captivating plants. It is also a good choice for those with harsher winters, provided the plant can be overwintered in very bright, frost-free conditions, such as a conservatory or greenhouse.

Echium candicans, or Madeira echium, requires a very large container. Smaller Echiums, which we will explore later, are easily potted and can be mixed with perennials or annuals suited to dry soil.

Exotic ambience

You may have noticed that the two giants discussed in previous chapters have a distinctly exotic appearance. The conditions they favour naturally make them companions of many mild‑climate plants, many plants from far‑off lands. Plant it with Cordylines, Agapanthus, Melianthus major or Geranium maderense.

Let’s create an exotic scene for our charming Madeira viper’s bugloss. Here, Echium fastuosum is accompanied by Aloe arborescens, an Euryops chrysanthemoides or African bush daisy, about 90 cm tall, and a large honey‑scented Euphorbia, Euphorbia mellifera.

Echium fastuosum, Euphorbia mellifera, Euryops chrysanthemoides, Aloe arborescens

In a Mediterranean garden

More specific than the sunny border, the Mediterranean garden brings together all conditions necessary for growing viper’s bugloss: dry, poor, stony soil, very well drained to filter winter rains, without risk of waterlogging. It is well suited to cultivating wanderers, those short-lived plants that self-seed in light soil.

Accompany viper’s bugloss with plants typical of Mediterranean gardens: Cistus, lavenders, euphorbias…

For example, plant Echium pininana in a walled garden, well sheltered from wind that might break its stem, in a green garden or an herb garden. Here with a Pittosporum tobira ‘Nana’ providing rounded contrast, long stems of fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, and a Phyllirea angustifolia, with narrow leaves reminiscent of the olive.

Echium pininana, Foeniculum vulgare, Phyllirea angustifolia, Pittosporum tobira ‘Nana’

Coastal

Seaside gardens on the Atlantic coast can readily accommodate the large Echiums from Madeira and the Canary Islands; they tolerate sea spray very well. Take care, however, to protect them from wind.

Imagine an Echium fastuosum with a Tetrapanax papyrifera ‘Rex’, Hedychium gardnerianum, Brugmansia arborea and a giant reed, Arundo donax.

Echium fastuosum, Hedychium gardnerianum, Brugmansia arborea, Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’, Arundo donax

On the edge

Let’s now turn to the more modest viper’s-bugloss species: Echium russicum, Echium vulgare and the variety Echium vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’. All three are different and lack the monumental character of shrubby species. That does not detract from their appeal.

Let’s mention the Echium vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’, a dwarf variety of Echium vulgare that grows to 30 cm tall. Annual or biennial, it is used in borders, rockeries, embankments and at the front of beds. It offers a remarkable, long flowering on spikes packed with a multitude of tiny, intense-blue flowers, drawing the eye. Flowers open from pink buds and fade to purple, with refined elegance. It self-seeds freely in light, fairly dry soil and is a favourite of pollinators.

For fun, an all-blue combination with several annuals: Phacelia, cornflower Centaurea cyanus, Nigella papillosa ‘Midnight Blue’, around Echium vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’ and a perennial: Perennial flax.

Phacelia, Centaurea cyanus, Perennial flax, Nigella papillosa ‘Midnight Blue’, around Echium vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’

On a slope or in a rockery

On a slope or large rockery, plant the handsome Echium russicum, with long dark-red spikes and small dusky-pink and claret flowers. Grown as a biennial or perennial in well-drained soil in mild winters, it is hardy down to -10°C. Like Madeira viper’s bugloss, it is more luxuriant in fresh, rich soil, but its longevity suffers.

90 cm tall, plant it in very natural-looking scenes, alongside golden grasses that suit it perfectly, with summer- and late-summer-flowering perennials.

Here the Kniphofia ‘Nancy’s Red’, with coral-red spikes, and Echinacea ‘Tangerine Dream’, brilliant mandarin-orange, combine beautifully with Echium russicum, together with Pennisetum orientale ‘Karley Rose’, a handsome blue globe thistle, Echinops bannaticus ‘Taplow Blue’, and Stipa tenuifolia.

Kniphofia ‘Nancy’s Red’, Echium russicum, Echinacea ‘Tangerine Dream’, Pennisetum orientale ‘Karley Rose’, Echinops bannaticus ‘Taplow Blue’, Stipa tenuifolia

In a natural meadow with bees and butterflies

Let’s finish with the pleasure of pairing plants and butterflies! Common viper’s bugloss, Echium vulgare, is a magnet for bees and butterflies. It is remarkably melliferous. Biennial, growing like a bush, it bears spikes 15 to 30 cm long with flared bell-shaped flowers, purple in bud then violet-blue.

A meadow plant like the two previous ones, it establishes in rockeries, borders, beds and wildflower meadows. It tolerates arid soils very well.

Here in a wildflower meadow of wild, annual and self-seeding flowers, with Briza media, Echium vulgare, Centaurea cyanus, Matricaria recutita, Chrysanthemum segetum, Papaver rhoeas.

Briza media, Echium vulgare, Centaurea cyanus, Matricaria recutita, Chrysanthemum segetum, Papaver rhoeas