100 Echium vulgare 'Vipers Bugloss' Wildflower of Britain and Ireland 100 Echium vulgare 'Vipers Bugloss' Wildflower of Britain and Ireland Echium vulgare is a rather exotic native plant which makes a rosette of oblong hairy leaves from which arises a stout flowering spike with blue conical flowers up its length. Each flower has protruding red stamens. Used in the border or as part of wildlife friendly planting schemes, the buds of start off pink at first, the flowers turn the most exquisite shades of intense blue and as the flowers fade they become tinged with crimson. Echium vulgare is a valuable plant and is exotic enough to earn a place in a flower border or used it as near to your allotment to ensure pollination. If you dont want plants that honeybees simply visit, but want to select plants that honeybees clearly love, choose Echium for your garden. Viper's bugloss is one of, if not THE very best plant to attract bees to your garden. Along with Borage and Phacelia, the plant is much loved by almost all bee species, especially bumblebees. For months this plant is a stable source of nectar: The plant repeat blooms throughout the summer into autumn, providing nectar for bees for overwintering. Unlike many flowers. Echium has a most unusual feature. The nectar inside the flower is protected inside the flower, from vaporization (when its hot) or being flushing away (when it rains). This plant produces nectar throughout the day unlike most plants which produce nectar for a short period of time. If the bees have a good access to Echium they can collect between 12-20 lbs of nectar a day. The plant continues to bloom throughout drought periods. The concentration of sugars in the nectar varies, from 22.6 to 48.3% depending on the quality of the soil, and not on the amount of rain.