No Idea What This Is

[zigs]

But its huge

 

[zigs]

Just had an id from the other side of the pond

Echium pinniana, grows to 10 foot in the West Country

 

[Bootsy]

The slightly smaller version of it, Echium candicans, is the national flower of Madeira and known as Pride of Madeira.

Some of their 'slightly smaller' ones grow up to 7ft high!

 

[Becky]

For a second I thought that was a really small lamp post... crikey, that's enormous!!

 

[zigs]

Yep, that's a full size lamp post

 

[DeborahJane]

Echidna are very impressive. I have a big one but not that big. I love it when it's flowering with its huge purple spears, then they turn green and still look great. I cut mine back after googling instructions and luckily there is new growth. I was scared it might not survive. They can get leggy when left. Of course echidna are cute but I meant echiums.

 

[ChanellG]

Odd and yet interesting looking plant. It never ceases to amaze me how vast and varied the plant world is. Must really be something to see it in person; it really is enormous!

 

[Bootsy]

The small version is attractive as well.

 

[Marck]

Tower of Jewels (Echium pininana) is a wonderful plant, native to La Palma, in the Canary Islands. it is one of a number of species of woody giant Viper-buglosses (Echium) native to Macaronesia, a collective term for the archipelagos of the Azores, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, Madeira, and the Savage Islands. On these islands a number of short-lived woody shrubs and biennial species have evolved, with flowers in various shades of blue, purple, red, pink, and white. Other species I have grown and personally recommend include Echium candicans, Echium thyrsiflorum (formerly E. gentianoides), Echium webbii, and Echium wildpretii.
Though Echium pininana is considered perennial, in my experience it does not always survive its spectacular, perhaps over-exuberant, floral display. Also, the flowers of all Echium are beloved of bees.
For those in colder climates I should also recommend the smaller but quite attractive annual and perennial species of Echium, native to Europe, northern Africa, Arabia, and southwestern & central Asia, such as Echium amoenum, E.plantagineum, and E. vulgare, as well as the intriguing red-flowered member of a monotypic genus: Pontechium maculatum, formerly known as Echium russicum.