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Zenger
Zenger
Lifestyle
Ed Cullinane

Couple Grows Plant Over 18 Feet Tall

Pam Betowski, 71, and husband Noel, 70 say the massive flower towers over their home. PHOTO BY SWNS 

A couple have grown Britain’s tallest echium plant – at over 18 feet (5.49 m) tall.

Pam Betowski, 71, and husband Noel, 70, say the massive flower towers over their home.

The 18-foot four-inch echium eclipses the previous UK record of 16ft set by Darren Wilson in Saltash, Cornwall.

Pam, a woven textile artist from Sancreed, Cornwall, credits the huge growth to her husband Noel’s use of hügelkultur cultivation method.

It is a traditional way of building a garden bed from rotten logs and leaf debris.

Massive echium plant towers over Pam Betowski and husband Noel’s home in Sancreed, Cornwall. PHOTO BY SWNS 

The echium pininana is an endangered biennial plant from the Canary Islands – often called a ‘tree echium’ for its immense growing potential.

It is used as a bedding plant or planted in borders and grows best in full sun – particularly in the sunny southernmost counties of England.

Produced in association with SWNS Talker

Edited by Saba Fatima and Asad Ali

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