Re: Hebe ID needed

Hello Fran

I'd like to help.

Are you able post a pic here --should have rigid leaves that curve back sharply. Yes i understand your plant is only a couple of inches in height . ;D

Cheers Dave.

Hello Fran,

Here is a picture of Hebe epacridea; seedlings and juvenile plants especially those grown under garden conditions are likely to look different.

I have a specimen growing in my crevice garden which my cat was chewing on yesterday. Very strange behaviour for a cat.

Dave, that is such a COOL plant!  The square-outlined leaf stack is amazing. When I lived near Seattle Washington for 4 years decades ago, I "inherited" the gardens of a rock gardener (previous house owner), and there were a number of Hebe species in the garden, including some "whipcord" types.  They rarely flowered, maybe just sputtering forth a random flower here and there, the well-formed flower heads on the plant you show are very attractive; is that a photo taken of a plant in the wild?

Fran, I wish you luck growing this plant on, looks like it's definitely worth the effort.

Here's a pic of the plant in the wild.

Cheers Dave.

Dave, that's almost too much to handle... I'm taking deep breaths, fabulous view, fabulous plant! :o :o :o

Stellar photographs of a plant made in the heavens.

  You seem to be on the highest peak around!

Hebe epicridea -why isn't this one for sale here! We can get a lot of different Hebes, but I have never seen this one. Seems to be winter hardy too!

Hi Dave, David, Mark, Rick and Trond:  Yes, I love it too.  Here are a couple of pics of what I have taken this morning.  These look quite different from the pics of the Whipcord Hebe but I think it just looks different at different stages of its development?  Am I right, Dave and David?  Fran

PS - am not sure if it is hardy here to will keep it in a pot.  Right?

Hello Fran,

It certainly is a Hebe and might possibly be Hebe epacridea. It has notched leaves which is very typical of juvenile hebes. Hebe epacridea is a true alpine species that grows on screes of high mountains and is one of the species that attains the highest altitudes here in New Zealand. It grows in rock clefts in the nivial zone at altitudes up to 2900 m. However I have it growing in my garden here near the coast so I would suggest you harden it off and grow it in a pot outside in a well-lighted spot and perhaps protecting it from the more severe frosts; a bit of snow should not bother it. It propagates very easily from cuttings so when you have enough material you could increase it this way.

However it is not possible to be absolutely certain about its identification at this stage as it would depend on the reliability if your seed supplier/ collector. Hebes hybridise readily in cultivation. I have Hebe seedlings coming up in vast numbers in my pots. I should perhaps grow a few on and document them but the smaller alpine hebes are not grown much here in Hew Zealand.

Many thanks, David.  I'm glad to receive the information and am hopeful I can get it going in my garden.  But, as it matures, I'll take cuttings so that chances of keeping it will be better.  Not sure who the donor was - some came from AGS I think and more came from NZAGS - probably the same New Zealander?  In my garden, I like to plant pieces of plants in various places around the yard - shade, sun, high, low, etc. and I have learned quite a lot about my plants just by doing that.  Thanks again.  Fran

Frances Howey
London, Ontario, Canada
Zone 5b

Howey wrote:

Not sure who the donor was - some came from AGS I think and more came from NZAGS - probably the same New Zealander?  

Fran
I can't add much more than what David L has said.His current experience in growing it successfully in his crevice garden mirrors the conditions i gave my plant years ago where it flourished in a crevice sand bed for a few years before we had a dry spell and i neglected to water it.

The donor wasn't me  :) and although I've contributed to the NZAGS list again this year unfortunately i didn't come across any of the Hebe in seed.

David's wonderful close up pic shows the neat looking foliage --I'd be happy to grow it again for that reason alone.

McDonough wrote:

Dave, that's almost too much to handle... I'm taking deep breaths, fabulous view, fabulous plant! :o :o :o

RickR wrote:

Stellar photographs of a plant made in the heavens.
You seem to be on the highest peak around!

Hoy wrote:

Hebe epicridea -why isn't this one for sale here! We can get a lot of different Hebes, but I have never seen this one. Seems to be winter hardy too!

Howey wrote:

Hi Dave, David, Mark, Rick and Trond:  Yes, I love it too.

Thanks all --Pic taken at about 1800 mtrs ,Mt St Patrick ,Canterbury Region ,looking west over the ridges of the main divide.

Cheers Dave.