Echium pininana

Large fast growing plant with a thick, tapering stem, up to 4m (just over 13 feet) tall. The tall stem, which is put out in the second or third year is a flower spike loaded with blue flowers, very attractive to bees and hoverflies. If you have free draining soil, and somewhere sunny and sheltered to grow it, it's worth growing this very impressive exotic giant from the Canary Islands.