Escallonia Donard Radiance

Escallonia virgata 'Donard Radiance' is a vigorous evergreen bush with a rounded, compact and upright habit, essential in mild climates and coastal areas, whether planted in the ground or in a container. Adorned with beautiful dark green foliage, this excellent flowering hedge plant is beautiful all year round. It offers a long summer flowering period with small flowers in a deep and radiant magenta pink, clustered at the ends of the branches. Like many escallonias, it loves the sun, tolerates shade in hot climates, salt spray, limestone soils, and summer drought once established. This variety only dislikes heavy frost. If your climate allows, plant Escallonia, these rewarding shrubs grow quickly, are floriferous, often fragrant, and truly undemanding!

Escallonia 'Donard Radiance' is a horticultural hybrid bred in Northern Ireland, at the Slieve Donard Nursery, which has produced many hybrids such as 'Pride of Donard', 'Donard Beauty' and 'Donard Seedling', all excellent garden plants in mild climates. Escallonias belong to the Escalloniaceae family and are native to temperate areas of South America and Chile. In the wild, these shrubs grow among the thickets covering hillsides or on exposed coastal areas. Escallonia virgata, the ancestor of the 'Donard Radiance' selection, is a compact shrub with white flowers, native to Chile and Argentina.

The 'Donard Radiance' variety forms a branched shrub with a bushy and upright habit, of fairly rapid growth, reaching an average height of 1.5 metres (4 feet 11 inches) at maturity, with a similar spread. It is distinguished from other varieties by its slightly larger leaves, evergreen, leathery, alternate and ovate, with serrated edges, and a shiny dark green colour. They are densely arranged towards the end of the branches. Flowering occurs between June and August, for about two months, earlier or later depending on the climate, sometimes as early as May in hot climates. At the end of each branch, a cluster of 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) is formed, composed of small five-petal, tubular, bell-shaped flowers, in a deep pink to red colour, enclosed at the base in a red and green calyx.

Escallonias are a great alternative to Weigelas in mild climates and coastal areas, as well as in dry gardens. 'Donard Radiance' is an excellent shrub to contrast and enhance white or red roses, and only dislikes icy winds and harsh winters. Well-known to Breton, Irish, and English gardeners, it is also happy in Mediterranean climates, after careful planting and regular watering for the first two or three years. It tolerates heat, dry summers once established, and limestone soils, and manages to flower even in scorching or shaded situations. It is essential in coastal gardens: its flowering, just like that of Olearia, brightens up the grey foliage of Atriplex, Bupleurum fruticosum, or Correa alba rosea. In a large bed, it can be associated with cistus, Polygala, Grevillea (in neutral to acidic soil), or spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs, brooms, Kolkwitzia amabilis, or buddleias.