Escallonia laevis Pink Elle

The Escallonia 'Pink Elle' laevis is an adorable small evergreen bush, suitable for mild climates, very floriferous in summer. With its low and bushy habit, easy to shape through appropriate pruning in height or width, it is perfect for terrace decoration and easily fits into a small garden. Forming a beautiful mass of foliage with a vibrant, shiny, and aromatic green color when touched, it is adorned for a long period with panicles of pink flowers streaked with white. Generous, accommodating, and resistant to summer drought, it is hardy down to -12°C (10.4 °F), in well-drained soil, once established. The Escallonia laevis (also known as Escallonia organensis) belongs to the escalloniaceae family. It is a dense and low evergreen bush with an aromatic habit, native to Brazil, where it grows on rocky cliffs and ravines in the Serra dos Órgãos, not far from the sea. This species, discovered in 1841 by George Gardner, was brought to Europe by William Lobb in 1844. The Pink Elle cultivar is a French horticultural variety with reduced growth, resulting from a spontaneous sowing discovered by Ludovic Ladan in his nursery near Pointe du Raz, in Brittany. It is a bush that reaches 80cm (31.5 in) in all directions, with a nest-shaped habit, composed of thick, angular branches with resinous glands and adorned with persistent and rounded dark green leaves. Measuring 4 to 5cm (1.6 to 2 in) long, the leaves have dentate edges and emit an aromatic scent when touched. The flowering period, particularly long, occurs from June-July to September-October, depending on the climate. The intense pink flowers streaked with white are semi-open tube-shaped and clustered in dense panicles at the ends of the branches. This variety seems to be more resistant to cryptogamic diseases that affect regions with cold and humid winters. Escallonia 'Pink Elle' is a decorative plant, easy to shape, perfect in a nice pot on the terrace, but also in a dry garden, in a low bush massif. It only fears wet soils and icy winds; it is the most cold-resistant variety. It is not afraid of heat, dry summers once established, or calcareous soils, and manages to flower even in scorching or shaded situations. It is useful in coastal gardens because its pink flowers, like those of Olearias, brighten up the gray foliage of Atriplex, Bupleurum fruticosum, or Correa alba rosea, for example. It is a good companion for cistus, lavender, and rosemary, or deciduous azaleas and rhododendrons. Widely used as a coastal hedge in English gardens, Escallonia is also a boon for dry gardens, which often lack flowers in summer. It requires very little maintenance: a simple pruning with shears just after flowering is necessary to maintain its compact habit, and older specimens can be pruned more heavily at the end of winter when frost is no longer a concern.