Plant of the Month - Hebe Rhubard & Custard

Hebes are a perennial and a favourite of mine, giving wonderful colour to the garden throughout the year. They are grown for their stunning foliage and beautiful summer flowers. Their leaves range from classic green to cream, yellow, purple and pink and flowers can be white, pink, purple or violet. They are really easy to grow and require a sunny spot in the garden with free draining soil. Hebes do not respond well to hard pruning so it is essential to keep pruning light and regular. Feed plants in the spring with a general prupose fertiliser such as 'Grow More'.

There have been many new varieties introduced in recent years with Hebe Heartbreaker and Wild Romance being the prominent varieties. As you may have seen in our last blog post this year, Irish Nursery, Tully Nurseries have developed an award-winning new hebe called 'Rhubarb and Custard'. This exciting new introduction has striking cream, pink and yellow foliage all year-round. The tips and edges turn very pink in cold weather. It has violet flowers in June and July which compliments the foliage beautifully. It has a height and spread of approximately 2 feet and enjoys an open, sunny position in the garden. Marianne Caplice, Powerscourt Garden Pavilion Manager Drop into the Pavilion this weekend to see Rhubarb and Cream and our other Hebe varieties To see our latest plant offers, visit our website. Powerscourt Garden Pavilion, your local garden centre in Wicklow. Ph: (01) 204 6014 www.powerscourt.ie/garden-pavilion