Escallonia Red Dream

Escallonia 'Red Dream' naturally forms a very dense, rounded and slightly spreading dome, dressed in evergreen foliage of an interesting bright green throughout the year. It is also adorned with a summer flowering of a deep red-pink, somewhat scattered but recurring over a long summer period, even autumn if the weather remains mild. Superb when used as a large ground cover, it also thrives in a small hedge or in a container on the terrace, in mild climates or by the seaside. If your climate allows it, plant Escallonia, these rewarding bushes grow quickly, are floriferous, often fragrant and really undemanding!

The 'Red Dream' Escallonia is a hybrid horticultural creation that stands out for its low, bushy and very dense habit. Excellent garden plants in mild climates, Escallonias belong to the Escalloniaceae family and originate from the temperate areas of South America and Chile. In nature, these bushes grow among the shrubs that cover the hillsides or on coasts exposed to sea spray.

This shrub forms a rounded, branching dome with a very bushy habit and moderately fast to quite slow growth, which will not exceed 80-90 cm (31.5-35.4 in) in height at maturity and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) 10 in width. The young shoots of this variety emerge purple and then turn green as they unfold. Its evergreen leaves are 2.5 cm (1 in) long, leathery, alternate, ovate, with wavy edges, and bright medium green. They are densely packed, mostly towards the end of the branches. The flowering takes place from June to August, for about two months, earlier or later depending on the climate, sometimes as early as May in hot climates. A second flowering can occur in September-October. At the end of some branches a short cluster composed of small flowers with five petals, in the shape of carmine pink tubular bells with a white throat, is enclosed at the base in a purple calyx.

Escallonias are a great alternative to Weigela in mild climates, by the seaside as well as in dry gardens. 'Red Dream' forms a beautiful ground cover in front of shrub beds. Its small stature is well suited for small gardens as well as for container cultivation for the ornamentation of terraces and balconies. Well-known to gardeners in Brittany, Ireland or England, Escallonia is also comfortable in Mediterranean climates, after careful planting and regular watering in the first two or three years. It is tolerant of heat, dry summers once established, and slightly chalky soils, and manages to flower even in scorching or shady situations. It is essential in coastal gardens: its flowering, just like that of Olearias, brightens up the grey foliage of Atriplex, Bupleurum fruticosum, or Correa alba rosea. In a flower bed, it can be associated with cistus, Polygala, Indigofera, Grevillea (in neutral to acidic soil) or with spring-flowering shrubs such as evergreen and compact Ceanothus, brooms (Cytisus scoparius), Loropetalum chinense, etc.