Hebe Garden Beauty Purple

Hebe Garden Beauty® 'Purple' is an excellent variety of hybrid Shrubby Veronica, with small round evergreen, dark green leaves that literally cover themselves in abundant spikes of purple flowers in May-June. Much appreciated by pollinators, this relatively hardy small bush is easy to grow in regions where winters are not too harsh. This variety naturally forms a beautiful, compact and dense evergreen cushion, ornamental all year round. The plant is disease-resistant, undemanding about soil type and drought resistant once well established in the garden. It is also an excellent plant for the terrace.

Hebe Garden Beauty 'Purple' is a hybrid cultivar selected in 2005 at Lowaters Nursery in the United Kingdom. It belongs to the Plantaginaceae family and is similar to perennial veronicas. It forms a small regular bush with a compact habit of about 60 cm (24 in) in all directions. Its reddish stems, which lignify with age, bear small, round, thick and leathery leaves of a shiny dark green colour. The winter foliage is a very rich purple. Flowering mainly occurs in June-July, sometimes with a second bloom in autumn. It takes the form of simple lateral inflorescences resembling thin spikes. They are composed of a multitude of small flowers: the flower buds, slightly tinged with white, reveal the delicacy of their purple robe when they bloom. Over time they fade, adding to the overall aesthetics of the plant: on the same spike, one can observe a truly sublime range of violet shades. Pruning after flowering is recommended to maintain a compact habit and a neat appearance to this shrubby veronica.

With relatively slow growth and being relatively hardy (down to -10°C for 'Garden Beauty ‘Purple'), Hebes are generally offered alongside perennial plants as their use is closer to these than to shrubs. The Garden Beauty® 'Purple' variety, on the other hand, naturally has a compact and dense growth habit that is well suited for ornamenting terraces and balconies, mixed with heathers or creeping rosemary, for example. In favourable climates it can create neat and flowering borders all summer long. In colder regions, Hebes can be grown in large pots on the terrace, to be stored in a bright and unheated room during winter.