Rare cuttings for a hebe freak

Press, 28 April 1989, Page 8

Rare cuttings for a hebe freak

WARDENERSjI B DIARY

Derrick Rooney

A friend sent me a welcome present the other day — an envelope containing cuttings of a couple of uncommon hebes. One is a semi-whipcord hybrid, “Edinensis,” which originated at the Edinburgh Botanic Gar-

dens. It is quite an old plant, having been around since about 1904, but is not common in New Zealand gardens. A low-growing shrub, it has green stems which spread outwards first, then grow up, to about 20cm.

One parent is Hebe hectori, a whipcord species from the southern ranges, and the other is said to be the more familiar H. pimelioides, although there is some doubt about the latter. This treasure is not readily obtainable here; my friend imported it from Graham Hutchins’s County Park Nursery, in Essex.

Graham, who has been to New Zealand several times to collect seeds and cuttings, is a rarity — an English nurseryman who specialises in New Zealand plants and not only grows a wide range of species but hybridises them to create new garden plants.

The other hebe is more of a curiosity than a garden plant — it is Hebe urvilleana, a loosely

branched shrub which is of botanical interest because of its very limited distribution. It is also of historical interest because it bears a name which is a constant reminder that if it had not been for a bit of nifty sailing by a Brit the South Island might have been a French colony.

The name is that of Jules Sebastien Cesar Dumont d’Urville, the French explorer, seafarer, and naturalist. D’Urville Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, is named for him, and is the main habitat of Hebe urvilleana.

Scattered plants of the species are also found on the east Nelson coast. The species grows up to 1.5 metres tall, has distinctive yellow-green leaves, and white

flowers. As a garden proposition it is of interest only to hebe freaks (of which I’m one).

Mere gardeners might be more interested in a third hebe that I acquired recently. This is Hebe x affinis, another vintage plant: it was first cultivated in the nineteenth century. A natural hybrid which occurred on the Auckland coast, it is the offspring of a cross between Hebe macrocarpa and H. stricta. The latter is the North Island equivalent of H. salicifolia, which has a very wide distribution in the South Island.

The hybrid, which grows about 1.5 metres tall, is quite hardy in ’Christchurch, where it flowers through winter and spring. The large leaves are an attractive pale green and the flowers are pure white.

Hebe "Lewisii” is a South Island equivalent of “Affinis” — its origin is doubtful but its parentage is reasonably certain: a cross between H. salicifolia and the southern

coastal species, H. elliptica. It is reputedly a natural hybrid found on the downs country near the sea at Timaru in the 1880 s, but this seems unlikely, since the northern limit of H. elliptica on the east coast is a considerable distance south of Timaru. “Lewisii” has been out of fashion recently, because it grows into quite a big shrub, but it is a good choice where space is available. The foliage is always neat and the pale, silvery-lilac flowers appear mainly in the winter, when colour is welcome. On the exotic front also, a few treasures have arrived. One is appropriate to the season: Poliothrysis sinensis, a small, deciduous Chinese tree with brilliant autumn leaf colour. It is a member of a rather exclusive family, the Flacourtiaceae, and is the only species in its genus. Among the relatives of Poliothrysis, one is fairly familiar in the warmer parts of New Zealand: Idesia polycarpa, which is grown for the heavy

winter crops of bright red berries that it sets in the North Island. Though Idesia is hardy in the South Island, it rarely fruits here. Poliothrysis has dry, brown capsules instead of pretty berries, but in other respects is superior to Idesia. A native of Hubei. China, it was introduced to cultivation by that indefatigable plant collector and naturalist. E.H. “Chinese” Wilson, in 1908, but after 80 years remains rare. My plant came from the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust.