A May Bloomday prequel...

I had every intention of posting today for Garden Bloggers Bloomday (which is actually tomorrow), but dammit... SO MANY BLOOMS! Seriously, I couldn't pare down and edit my flower photos in the time I'd allotted so...you get two posts. Today... the echium. Echium wildpretii that is...These are supposed to be biennial—first year foliage, second year blooms. In my experience it rarely happens that fast here in Portland. This beauty has been hanging out for four years now—which is really not a problem, because I love the foliage even more than the flowers. However, since these aren't reliably hardy here, when it takes four years to bloom there's even a better chance that it won't happen (because=winter). 
When they do live to bloom it's a spectacle! 
There are two oldies blooming in my garden this spring, here's the second.
Speaking of "second"—this is the second year in a row I've had blooming Echium wildpretii in my garden. I could definitely get used to this. Oh and I've got plenty of next generation plants in waiting: one that's going on it's thrid year, two that are heading into their second and four that I just planted earlier this spring. Yes, I do love this plant.