Viper's bugloss Echium vulgare

Best time to see: Jun to mid Sep

Key facts

Short sprays of vivid blue flowers with long red stamens, and rough, hairy stems and leaves

Grows on dry, light soils, including chalk grassland, coastal cliffs and brownfield sites such as abandoned gasworks

Its seedheads resemble adder's heads, hence its name; a good nectar plant for bees