Re: A hedge by the sea
Moira wrote:
>I was bemused to see you recommend H salicifolia. In this area, where it
>is our commonest Hebe, It is regarded as a no-good weed and nobody would
>willingly give it garden room!!
Well it wasn't that much of a recommendation really Moira, but it is
widely (too widely IMO) used for sea side planting and tends to be
more compact as a result. Given shelter and a bit of shade it hits
3.5 metres in no time, getting progressively bare around the ankles,
then the knees, then the thighs..... On a coastal bluff it tends to
retain a bit of modesty and hold its skirts down a bit! It is pale
and uninteresting but fills a gap. One or two half-decent colour
forms have done the rounds in recent years and these aren't nearly so
bad. Maybe H. brachysiphon is a better bet.
Hebe speciosa in its myriad of forms is far finer with more vibrant
flowers, although I've seen it get badly salt burnt on several
occasions. I love 'Simon Delaux' with its rich crimson spikes and
'Alicia Amherst' has excellent deep purple blue flowers. Both of
these seem fairly salt tolerant. My absolute favourite - H. speciosa
'Tricolour' - is very salt sensitive and appears to be rather
intolerant of very dry conditions. It has me babbling with delight on
account of its wonderfully coloured leaves, but seems to grow best in
moist, well drained soils in dappled sunlight.
Substantially tougher, more drought resistant and salt tolerant is H.
'Autumn Glory' with its rounded, leathery, purple flushed, glaucous
leaves and masses of short spiked, purple flowers from midsummer until
early winter and often throughout the year. It would make a rather
nice, informal hedge to around 1.8 metres eventually and would rarely
need much trimming. It's just dawned on me that this would look
absolutely stunning with a perennial Tropaeolum such as the orange
scarlet T. tuberosum clambering up through it.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK Zone 9b
