Hebe Elegance Pink

Hebe 'Elegance Pink' (Hebe hybrid) is a neat rounded shrub to about 1m tall and 80cm wide that carries pink flower spikes over an unusually long season. It is a cool climate plant at heart: best in southern gardens, and worth avoiding in humid subtropical summers.

Why you'll love it

• A long flowering season. Pink spikes appear over months rather than weeks, so the border keeps colour well past the usual spring flush.
• It grows into a ball on its own. The dense rounded habit needs no shaping, which is why it works so well in repeated plantings.
• Frost hardy and wind firm. Cold southern winters and exposed sites do not trouble it, and the small leaves resist wind burn.
• Bees and butterflies work it hard. The flower spikes are a reliable nectar source through the warmer months.

Where it works best

Low borders and edging. Plant 50cm apart for a continuous low border. At that spacing the plants touch without crowding.

Mass planting. Use the same spacing in drifts through a cottage or coastal bed; the repeated form does the design work.

Pots and coastal gardens. A 300mm to 400mm pot suits a single plant, and salt tolerance makes it a sound choice for an exposed southern coastal garden.

Growing Hebe Elegance Pink in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering and the tightest habit. This is a plant for cool temperate, warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens: Victoria, Tasmania, southern New South Wales, the tablelands, Adelaide and the cooler parts of Western Australia. It is frost hardy, and it does not enjoy humid subtropical summers north of about Coffs Harbour.

Soil. Free draining above all, with a neutral to slightly alkaline preference. Improve heavy clay with compost and gypsum and plant slightly proud, since wet feet in winter is the usual cause of sudden collapse.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then moderately. It is not a drought plant, so give a deep soak in a long dry spell. Feed a complete slow release fertiliser in early spring.

Pruning. Trim off the spent flower spikes and take about a third of the growth back after the main flush. Light pruning keeps it dense; hebes reshoot poorly from bare old wood, so do not cut into leafless stems.

What to expect when it arrives

Grown as tube stock, plants arrive young and single stemmed, generally under 20cm. That makes it economical for a long border, and worth potting them into 150mm pots for a season if the bed is not ready.

Expect a bushier plant by the end of the first growing season and full flowering in the second. Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Ideas for low growing border plants
• Browse frost hardy plants
• Plants that attract bees and butterflies
• Compare plants for cool climate gardens

Common questions

Will it grow in Brisbane or northern New South Wales?

Not well. Humid subtropical summers bring on leaf spot and the plant thins from the middle out. It is a much better choice for southern and inland gardens with drier summers.

How much frost will it take?

It is frost hardy and copes with regular winter frost once established. Young plants in their first winter benefit from mulch around the root zone.

Why has an established plant suddenly died?

Almost always root rot from wet soil. Hebes will not tolerate winter waterlogging, so replant on a raised mound or improve the drainage before trying again.