Other Names:  Shrubby Veronica

Description:

A compact, rounded evergreen shrub featuring olive-green and creamy-yellow leaves, beautifully tinged with pink to purple in colder weather; lavender flowers appear in summer; will tolerate some mild frost; great for border fronts or containers

Ornamental Features

Purple Shamrock Hebe has masses of beautiful clusters of lavender star-shaped flowers at the ends of the branches from early to late summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. It has attractive buttery yellow-variegated olive green foliage. The small glossy pointy leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of pink and in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. The dark red stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Purple Shamrock Hebe is an open multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Purple Shamrock Hebe is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Purple Shamrock Hebe will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. It has a low canopy. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Purple Shamrock Hebe makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.