Bright winter foliage and pretty summer flowers make this little shrub (it grows less than a metre) a valued addition to the garden. It’s highly regarded overseas, having gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious Award of Garden merit in 2002, and looks destined to become a popular plant here.
The foliage of this cold hardy Hebe takes on appealing dark red tonings in winter and early spring, adding a warm glow to the garden when it’s most appreciated. In summer there are showy violet flowers, lots of them, over a long period. The compact habit makes it an ideal small shrub for gardens where there is little space and it’s also an attractive foreground shrub for borders of larger shrubs or to mix with free flowering perennials and annuals.
In winter and early spring it looks good with the lime flowers of Euphorbias, including the variegated foliage variety ‘Silver Swan’ which has pale creamy-green flowers. Other early season companion flowers include Hellebores in shades of plum, pink and lime, and wallflowers in fiery red, orange and yellow colours.
During warmer months of the year it’s fun to mix Hebe ‘Caledonia’ with showy perennials including mini daylilies ‘Stella Bella’ and ‘Stella d’Oro’, which have sunny flowers for months on end, lavenders such as ‘Foveaux Storm’ and ‘Purple King’, penstemons in plum and dusky pink shades, and sweet scented Cosmos ‘Hot Chocolate’ and Heliotrope ‘Baby Marine’ with its deep purple, vanilla scented flowers on a low, spreading plant.
Add other low growing, pretty plants such as Iberis ‘Mauve Ice’ and the ground covering, cold hardy Geranium ‘Rozanne’ for an additional long lasting display. Also good for ground cover among Hebe ‘Caledeonia’ is Geranium incanum, an all summer flowering Geranium with dense, tiny, dark green foliage, just right for smothering weeds. It has masses of small, dark purple flowers which just keep on coming. Mix it with the golden foliage of Sedum ‘Mexicana’, which grows to the same (minimal) height for a planting that’s both practical and pretty.
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Schemes & Themes
using Liddle Wonder Plants