Stuff Magazines

JACK HOBBS ON HEBES

- There’s a variety of this blooming native plant for every garden from North to South.

PHOTOS & STORY: JACK HOBBS

Ihave always been fascinated by hebes despite the challenges they can present in gardens. I have also been challenged by the name change to veronica, and I still refer to them colloquially as hebes despite conceding I cannot argue with DNA. Although their popularity seems to be on the rise here, they seem to me to be more highly esteemed in Europe and the UK. When I visit European nurseries, I am blown away by the vast numbers they grow. Their popularity in the UK is such that they often feature prominently in flower shows, display gardens and containers, and they even have a Hebe Society.

Hebes exhibit remarkable diversity of foliage, form and size, varying from prostrate groundcovers to small trees. This is unsurprising given they are our largest genus of flowering plants and occur naturally throughout the country from coastal cliffs to mountains.

The fact they grow wild in such a range of habitats accounts for some of the difficulties they can present in gardens. The key is finding the right plant for your location. Alpine species from the Southern Alps are unlikely to thrive in a warm humid northern garden, while frost tender coastal species from the north do not appreciate a hoar frost. For example, the beautiful magenta flowered napuka (Veronica speciosa) will remain healthy and blemish free in a windswept coastal garden, but the same plant usually becomes disease ridden in sheltered inland locations.

A key to keeping them healthy is to treat them tough. They love open sunny spots with free-draining soils, and the more wind whistling around them the better. Fertilisers high in nitrogen should be avoided as this promotes soft new growth susceptible to disease infection. A light trim after flowering keeps them compact and increases longevity, and there is not much else to it.

I confess to some bias when suggesting hebes as my experience is largely confined to growing them in Auckland, and I have produced a number of hybrids. Therefore, I asked a couple of noted experts for their recommendations including Jill Simpson who created the magnificent Fisherman’s Bay Garden on Banks Peninsula where she grows numerous different hebes.

Jill uses Veronica pinguifolia ‘Sutherlandii’ for structure throughout the garden. Although it does not usually flower well, this tight mound of attractive fleshy greygreen foliage provides year-round appeal. This species also performs well in the north and certainly deserves greater popularity.

Jill finds ‘Wiri Mist’ is always reliable, a sentiment echoed by another hebe enthusiast Fiona McDonald who grows a remarkable array of hebes in her Awhitu garden overlooking the Manukau Harbour. It stays particularly compact and makes an attractive small hedge; Fiona says she knows of one hedge that is still going strong after nine years.

‘Wiri Mist’ was one of my early releases, and I still regard it as one of the best, having seen it looking healthy and attractive in gardens from the Far North to Southland. Peak flowering is in late spring or early summer when masses of white flowers smother the foliage.

Jill also rates ‘Beverley Hills’ highly as it produces lots of violet-blue flowers every year and is easy to grow.

Fiona and Jill both like ‘Pride’ for its foliage and flower colour, and general good health. Although it can get quite large, it responds well to cutting back.

The fact that hebes grow wild in such a range of habitats accounts for some of the difficulties they can present in gardens. The key is finding the right plant for your location.

Fiona grows ‘First Light’ effectively in her garden where it spills over a retaining wall. At its best, it makes a good groundcover with bronze new growth and pink flowers, but it remains an enigma, thriving in some locations and doing poorly elsewhere in conditions that seem similar. It is another one of my hybrids and was named for the new millennium.

Many hebes I have tried with bronze new growth have disappointed, but I have been quite impressed with ‘Pretty ‘n’ Pink’. This relatively healthy compact shrub is grown more for its dark new growth than its smattering of pink flowers in summer.

‘Wiri Charm’ produces flushes of rose-purple flowers, mostly in summer. I prefer ‘Wiri Splash’ for its flush of early summer lilac-hued flowers set above attractive yellow-green foliage, but it is harder to track down.

‘Wiri Desire’ is an attractive Hebe speciosa hybrid best grown near the coast. Although I love the purple flowers of ‘Wiri Prince’ in winter, it is another that needs plenty of wind to prevent disease and it can get leggy if not pruned after flowering. ‘Sandra Joy’ also has purple flowers and is generally a better garden subject.

Veronica diosmifolia is hard to beat in northern gardens. It varies in the wild from a small compact shrub to a tree with flower colour ranging from white to lavender.

As a result, several selections are available that all make wonderful reliable garden plants where frosts are not too

This relatively healthy compact shrub ‘Pretty ‘n’ Pink’ is grown more for its dark new growth than its smattering of pink flowers in summer.

severe. ‘Wairau Beauty’ is a reliable old cultivar with mauve spring flowers, and there is a popular compact form that makes a good groundcover.

Veronica townsonii is a beautiful but underrated coldhardy shrub that still flowers and performs well in the north. V. topiara has lovely glaucous foliage and makes an attractive compact hedge that seldom needs trimming. In cooler climates it produces white flowers in summer, but it has never flowered in my garden.

Gardeners in cooler climates probably have a wider range of hebes to choose from than their northern counterparts where diseases can be so disfiguring. This includes the intriguingly beautiful whipcord types that in my experience eventually peter out in the north and rarely flower, whereas in cooler climes they make wonderful garden subjects.

‘Karo Golden Esk’ is a deservedly popular hybrid whipcord resembling a small conifer that turns golden in winter. It does better than most whipcords in the north but still performs and flowers better in cooler areas. Recently, I admired it in David Hobbs’ impressive Broadfield NZ Landscape Garden in Weedons, Canterbury, where it featured in magnificent long borders comprised entirely of native plants.

My advice is to keep trying if some hebes do not initially perform to expectations, as there will be some that thrive and add real value to your garden.

Gardeners in cooler climates probably have a wider range of hebes to choose from than their northern counterparts where diseases can be so disfiguring.

CONTENTS

en-nz

2022-01-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuffmagazines.pressreader.com/article/282754885018568

Stuff Limited