Japanese name: エキウム カンディカンス Scientific name:Echium candicans
[Overview]
A large perennial or subshrub 1.5–2.5 m tall.
The whole plant is thickly covered with hairs and looks grayish green.
The leaves are simple and opposite, lanceolate to linear, about 20 cm long, and have no petioles.
In the first year after germination it forms a rosette; from the second year onward, scorpioid cymes gather in a cone shape to form cymes up to 1 m long at the stem tips, densely bearing many blue flowers.
There are 5 red stamens that project far out of the flower.
The fruit is a schizocarp.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, though cuttings are also possible.
It dislikes being transplanted, so sow directly where it will grow, or sow in plastic pots and then plant out.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated site, and sandy, slightly alkaline, poor soil suits it.
Take care not to overwater: for potted plants, water thoroughly after the soil has dried; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Water collecting on the leaves can cause disease, so water at the base of the plant.
Too much fertilizer causes leggy growth and poorer flowering and flower color, so limit it to slow-release fertilizer as a base fertilizer.
