Um, I have never managed to keep alkanet azurea going for very long either although I have better luck with Loddon Royalist than with Dropmore. I was advised to cut mine back hard after its first bloom cycle - it often blooms again later in the season - then do another hard chop in order to stimulate a nice fat basal rosette for over-wintering, which I dutifully did.. We shall see. I would also not be adding anything extra...and especially anything which has even a whiff of fertilser - they just get really, really tall and rank, fall over and die. Pretend it is a husband - treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen. I grow mine with cow parsley and ox-eye daisies, in a 'wild' part of the allotment (actually, the idle, weedy part but it looks great for a few weeks in June)

I think I agree with Camp's suggestion to avoid too fertile a spot, since mine is in a fertile area and gets floppy enough to need propping up. It seems perfectly happy with acid soil and moisture since it has returned for 3 years in my garden in what is probably the moistest spot I have; though it is reasonably well drained, it is never dry and is in a spot that gets moisture from the roof plus a good slope.

if its been in the house... the most important thing.. will be hardening off to sun

ken

Thanks everybody for all these helpful comments!

Here is the same clump starting to flower. You can see in the second shot the two different colors of blooms too. They start purple and then transition to a true blue color. It makes for a great show when it's in total bloom. Now hopefully we won't have any hard windy downpours.... it causes this guy to flop. After the first bloom you can dead head it all and get a smaller show later in the year.

Wow that is gorgeous! I sure hope mine will put on a show even half that nice. I do hope I started it early enough that it'll do it this summer, though, because I just have never yet successfully gotten one through the winter! Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful photos!

They will only flower in the second year though... so you gotta make it through the winter. How large are yours right now?

It is an astonishing true vivid blue - worth the effort of staking and fussing. I have viper's bugloss (echium vulgare) growing with mine, in with ox-eye daisies in a 'wild' part of the wood edge...and so far, the rosettes are spreading and looking set fair to put out a good show.

Nevermore, mine's a big rosette now - about a foot across. The individual leaves are about 7 inches long. Think there's any hope? Of course I'll try to get it through the winter but past experience has not been good, so I'm really, really hoping there's a chance it can bloom this year. If I could buy 2nd year ready-to-bloom plants, I'd be happy to, but everybody I know of just sells first year plants. Campanula, your setting for anchusa sounds heavenly!

Campanula... the echium looks nice. Assuming that it's always damp in the UK... based on no actual knowledge.... it overwinters for you fine? I will be added that to the list.

Frances... that's sounds like you are on the right track then. Being in NJ.. you get our weather a day later... so I would think you are set. For the plants that you haven't been able to get through the winter... were they as large as what you have now?

Mine did survive the winter - I think the sandy soil is crucial as it sinks a whopping taproot down through the loose soil (it struggles on clay) which provides enough energy to get it through winter and raring to go in it's second and subsequent springs. The echiums though, are purportedly biennial - in actual fact, like nicotiana, they will have a third go round but essentially, it makes a self-sustaining colony by reseeding (and more easily pulled out than anchusa which can be a bear). I wouldn't consider any of the borage tribe in a neater or more formal garden but for a loose cottage styling ), they are a far better splash of blue than tricky delphiniums.

Scratchy ungainly leaves though - best to grow in a tight scheme with companions huddling close by to hide the foliage which, like oriental poppies, can look a bit sordid later in the season. True, it needs cutting back hard but it can leave a large gap...or you could do the garden designers trick of popping a pot of lilies in place until the second flush of foliage.

I can't exactly remember, but I don't think the ones I lost in the past were as big, so maybe it'll work out - here's hoping! Campanula, my soil is rather clay-like, but I tried to add a lot of sand to where I planted it so hopefully that'll help it make it through the winter.

The sun catches all the evil fuzz in the morning quite well...

Full bloom. A bit over 6 foot

Gorgeous!!!!!

Aaaaaaand now it looks like hell... I will save some seed (which i noticed goldfinches coming for), and then it will be hacked out.