Q This plant recently sprouted in my garden. What is it?
Linda, by email
AMATT SAYS You have an Echium pininana. It forms a rosette, then the following year produces blue flowers, attractive to bees, on a 2m-plus spike.
Echiums dislike winter damp, so cover the rosette with an open cloche or pane of glass for protection and good air circulation. Plants die after flowering, but freely self-seed.