I have a “Pride of Madeira” monster growing in my garden. It is a mutation of nature that just “sort of happened” It’s kind of a Monster Bloom. It appears that multiple blooms fused together and created a two-foot cupped blossom of sorts. It is quite scary and brings back memories of the famed “Audrey” in the Little Shop of Horrors Show in the 1980’s.
But, the beautiful Pride of Madeira (Echium candican) is one of my favorite Mediterranean plants. It never ceases to amaze me that the one area of my garden that receives no water, no plant food, and no attention yet supports huge, spectacular, Pride of Madeira plants. These plants are common all over Cambria. They are loved for their beautiful purple-blue and sometimes pink and magenta, colorful blooms and for the resistance to deer. They are also valued for their drought-tolerance, adaptation to poor soil, and their ability to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
The Pride of Madeira is a shrubby perennial that grows to about 7 feet with blooms to 2 feet. The blossoms appear in spring and summer along the Central California Coast. The lance-shaped leaves with rosettes around the stems have a covering of tiny silver hairs. A great defense for these hearty plants. Whenever I work with Pride of Madeira, I wear long-sleeved shirts, as the hairs irritate my skin.
The Pride of Madeira is a low maintenance plant. The blossoms should be cut back after they finish blooming. The seeds germinate easily and will spread if not controlled. The offspring often come up in my garden in unwanted areas but are easy to remove when small.
Check out this website for more of these “monsters”. Thank you
Your Echium is fasciated! This happened to one of my E. wildpretii (“Tower of Jewels”).
Here’s a link with pics and an explanation of how it occurs: https://wimastergardener.org/article/fascinating-fasciation/