Greek Goddess

On a 4-day getaway, we came across the Greek goddess of youth while site seeing and of course shopping. This Greek goddess is the plant Hebe.

So while we were walking around this big outdoor shopping center, admiring their beautifully maintained landscaping that had a variety of plants and trees. My eyes went to the small bushes covered in dark pink blossoms and dark variegated leaves, that were planted everywhere. On a closer look, I saw that they were Hebe plants as well as Hebe mid-size trees.

I have had a Hebe that's about 8 years old or more, mine is 'Patties Purple' Hebe. Now there are more colors to choose from pink, white, blue and crimson as well as purple. There was only the purple available when I bought mine.

What I didn't know about them until I saw the trees that there are varieties that can grow tree-like up to 6 feet tall. Some Hebe's have large leaves others have very small ones. There is also a variety with variegated leaves.

The Hebe plant doesn't really need much attention, you can fertilize it but really once a year is enough. Deadheading will promote more flowers but I have to confess I don't deadhead mine. Maybe that's because it doesn't need a lot of attention I forget about the plant, but it grows and blooms anyway. An occasional pruning helps to keep it in shape if you like neat looking plants.

Because I have a lot of shade in my yard it still does very well, but really does well in full sun which it prefers.

Some days after working in my yard, deadheading, pruning and cleaning up that is required on some plants I have, gets me thinking why don't I have more easy plants like Hebe?

Pattys Purple Variegated Hebe (singing gardens nursery.com)