LOCATION: Fletcher Moss, Manchester
The Hebe genus is native to New Zealand, French Polynesia, Falkland Islands and South America and have between 90-100 species. This plant is a Rakai Hebe characterized by dense growth, it has curvy, elliptical-rounded pale green foliage with a spiky tip and a brighter edge of the leaf. The plant is categorized as an evergreen shrub (or in some cases - a small tree).
I found the shrub growing in Fletcher Moss under a residential building where it was growing around a wooden bench in the garden. The leaf bud as shown on the photograph above is ready to split into two leaves. As it was an early winter, the flowers were already dried out but they stayed on the shrub. The soil it was growing in looked well drained, probably because of the recent rainfall. The plant in general looked very healthy.
The photograph underneath shows Hebe x franciscana 'Blue Gem' which was growing near the Rakai Hebe but was showing large deep pink ornamental flowers. The leaves were longer and more spiky with a leathery green surface.
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