Re: Re. Hebes
Re Moira's comment:
>There must be a lot of Hebe breeding being done in Europe or somewhere
>else, as most of the cultivars you mention are unknown to us here. I
>have seen 'Great Orm', for instance, mentioned a few times in overseas
>lists but here it doesn't get an entry even in our latest and most
>authoritative accounts.
True, Moira - though how far it's deliberate breeding and how far
simply keen-eyed gardeners/nurserypeople spotting a natural hybrid or
variation I'm not sure. Rather more of the latter than the former, I
think, at least until very recently. Now, particularly in Holland
(where the 'Rosie' Glenn mentioned earlier was bred, I believe: and
'Rosie' is in fact an illegitimate name, given it when it was
'smuggled' into the UK), breeding is much more conscious and much more
intensive.
'Great Orme' BTW (note final e!) is a hill on the coast of North
Wales. A Welsh friend with a keen interest in garden history thought
it had perhaps originally occurred in a late Victorian garden nearby
belonging to Henry Pochin, eventually the first Lord Aberconway, who
at the end of his life was the initial creator of Bodnant.
>
Tim Longville
