Hebe
Once you get to know this eternally appealing genus, it is easy to see why it was named after the Greek goddess Hebe who symbolized youth and immortality. With trim, tidy habits that convey a chipper attitude, our evergreen selections hail from New Zealand, serving up an irresistible dose of small dapper leaves aligned in alternating pairs all year long, and from summer until fall slender tapered racemes borne at foliar axils. Indispensable for seashore gardens, these former members of the Veronica genus make top-notch container plants in colder climates, appreciate a light spring shearing and can handle wind, some drought and sunshine galore.
A pint-sized gem tailor-made for a small spot, ‘Champagne’ offers neatly arranged, tiny slender leaves in deep olive-green and purple hues dramatically set off by wine-colored stems, and quantities of white spikey blooms tinged with mauve.
This handsome Hebe quickly fashions a low spreading frost hardy ground cover that guarantees year-round appeal whether it’s positioned in the rockery, in a container or clipped as a small hedge.
Blooms August–early November.
Size: 2' 0" high x 3' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 8.
Known as the Boxwood imposter, this strong growing, compact Hebe is the perfect choice for hedging or topiary. Shoot tips and small, stiff pointed green leaves show off polished yellow-tinged hues while densely clasping light, sunny green stems. If left unclipped, it still looks impeccably ordered, forming a perfect little bun that occasionally cuts loose with white tapered blooms unfurling from green buds.
Blooms May–June.
Size: 20" high x 2-1/2' wide.
Hardy to zone 8.
Hebe pimeleoides ‘Quicksilver’ (S-0590)
Each $11.00
Indigenous to New Zealand, this AGM-winning evergreen shrublet promotes a versatile low-growing wiry habit. The arching whipcord-like black stems sparkle with spiky pale lilac blooms and petite, silvery blue-green leaves that are neatly arranged in closely set opposite pairs. Enjoying cool summers, mild winters, adequate moisture and fast-draining nooks, ‘Quicksilver’s unique colors and remarkable texture can grace containers, mixed borders and cut arrangements.
Blooms June–July
Size: 12" – 18" high x 2' 0" – 3' 0" wide.
Zone 7/8.
Each $10.25
Shrouded in hushed gray-greens, Hebe recurva’s rounded visage conveys its composed character. A bushy array of glaucous, sickle-shaped narrow leaves, whose tips curve downward, elegantly garbs the red-tinged, slender stems and come summer, broadcasts infinite, snowy white Veronica-like spikes. One of the hardiest Hebes, this cool-colored shrub will easily fit in any garden, and looks especially alluring when sited amid Geranium lancastriense and Helianthemum ‘St. Mary’s’.
Blooms June–July.
Size: 2' 0" high x 2' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 8.
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