Echium vulgare
Viper's bugloss
Common names: Blueweed
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 30 cm, rows 40 cm
- Lifespan
- Biennial
- Sowing
- Apr–Jun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −20 °C
- Water need
- Low
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Description
Echium vulgare is a biennial wild shrub that produces deep blue, sometimes violet‑shimmering flowers from June to September. It thrives on dry, poor soils such as vineyards and roadside edges and is well suited to sparse garden corners that are difficult to plant otherwise. The entire plant is toxic; it contains compounds that can damage the liver over time, and its leaves and stems are covered in rough hairs that can irritate sensitive skin.
Care instructions
Choose a sunny, warm spot with well‑drained, somewhat poor soil. In its first year it needs little water and tolerates drought well; avoid waterlogged soils. A rosette of leaves forms in the first year, and the plant produces tall flower spikes in the second year. If you allow some seed heads to remain, the plant will self‑sow and provide a reliable bee habitat for years. Deadhead spent stems close to the ground if you find the self‑sowing too profuse. Wear gloves when pruning, as the rough hairs can irritate skin and all parts of the plant are toxic.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–Jun
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 10 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 10 to 21 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 0.5 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, lean, dry, lime-loving
Viper's bugloss loves lean, well-drained soils and even tolerates pure sand or gravel. It does not like waterlogging at all; a sunny site with barren subsoil suits it best. It feels especially at home on calcareous soil; soil that is too rich in nutrients tends to produce soft, floppy growth.
Feeding
Light feeder
As a wild perennial, viper's bugloss needs no extra feeding. A thin layer of mature compost at planting is entirely enough. More nutrients tend to lead to lodging rather than strong, sturdy growth.
Overwintering
In the first year, viper's bugloss forms a leaf rosette that usually overwinters in the bed without problems. Winter protection is not necessary in most areas, as the plant is adapted to lean, open sites. In very wet, heavy soils, waterlogging in winter can harm the rosette more than cold.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
Viper's bugloss is easiest to propagate by sowing, preferably directly where it is to grow from mid-April · weeks 16 to 18. The seeds are light-germinating, so just press them down lightly rather than covering them with soil. As a biennial it flowers only the following year, but in return it readily self-seeds at suitable sites. The taproot does not tolerate transplanting well, so it is better to sow straight at the final spot.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
Borage attracts pollinators and is supposed to keep tomato pests away from the nightshade family.
For example PotatoTomatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberry and 14 more species in the catalogue
Source: organic greenhouse companion planting practice
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Viper's bugloss yourself
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