Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Hebe
Species: H. Amy
Cultivar name: Hebe ‘Amy’
Synonym: Hebe ‘Purple Queen’
Other names: Lady Ardilaun, Lady Amy, Ruth.
Hebe ‘Amy’ forms an upright, evergreen shrub, with dark purple stems, which in time reaches 90 cm high and 60 cm. The leaves are deep shiny green, tinged with burgundy, 50 mm long and 2.5 cm wide, with purple new growth, especially in winter.
It has rich violet flowers in 6 cm long spikes; these are seen in summer and throughout autumn.It will grow in sun to part shade in poor to moderately fertile soil with moderate water.
This hebe is not fully hardy, so is best grown in gardens near the coast, or in a protected frost-free garden. It is a hybrid of the tender Hebe speciosa. It was introduced by a nursery in Cornwall in the UK.
Photographed at Te Kainga Marire Gardens at Spencer Place, January.
A young branch flushed with purple.
Top surface of a leaf.
The underside of a leaf.
