Is this Cannock plant the tallest in the country?
This garden flower stands at a whopping 14ft 3 in – taller than an average female giraffe.
It was planted as a seed 18 months ago by Linda Ball, who lives in Cannock, and she believes it is the largest of its kind in the UK.
This Echium pininana, a plant native to La Palma in the Canary Islands, is one of the many exotic flowers Linda has in her garden, and survived the winter thanks to some sterling work from her husband, David.
"It is 14 ft 3 in, and that's a straight measurement with a straight ruler," she said.
"It could be even bigger though as its leaning to one side, it was quite a difficult task to measure it – but we did.
"My husband really looked after it in the winter, wrapping polythene bags around it and keeping it protected from the cold and wet weather."
Of course, Linda is not the first who thinks she has the tallest garden plant of its kind in the UK – and will not the be the last.
In the last week, Devon man John Phillips revealed a 14ft Echium in his back garden, while a 16ft plant resides in the glass house of the Botanic Gardens of Wales.
"I've heard of one being 16ft but that grew in a glass house, indoors, not a garden," said Linda.
"Then there was one in Devon, but it's harder to grow one here than there – they get more sun than us."
And while the Echium stands proudly among Linda's vast collection of plants, it will have to be cut down soon.
"I planted a seed, it's only 18 months old and they last around 24 months so they are short-lived and I'll have to take it down quite soon," added Linda.
"I have got 15 altogether in the garden and some of them have not flowered yet. I just bought some seeds off of Ebay.
"I bought pink, blue, white and red seeds. I've got two blue plants, and a white one, that have flowered and now I am hoping for red and pink ones to come through.
"Me and my husband are both retired now and we love our plants."
