ECHIUM fastuosum (=E. candicans)

Vigorous evergreen shrub, quickly growing up to 3 meters tall and large. Its branches, woody at the bottom and herbaceous at the top, bring a thick foliage made up of small lance-shaped green-blue leaves. From the end of winter to the start of spring, this plant produces showy and lasting erect inflorescences that take the place of the foliage and are made up of small blue flowers, very appreciated by bees.

It needs sunny position and a good drainage. It tolerates calcareous soils and salinity. It has a fast growth and can be used as a single specimen in the garden or cultivated in containers of appropriate sizes. Although it tolerates quite well dried soils, this plant grows better if it's regularly irrigated in spring/summer. After blooming, a light pruning could stimulate a better tillering of the shrub.