Hebe Tip Top

Hebe 'Tip Top' is a superb variety of hybrid Shrubby Veronica, with evergreen variegated foliage, decorative all year round. The small cream-white leaves display a silver-green centre and a fine purple-pink margin. The young shoots are beautifully tinged with pink. In June they are covered with abundant pink flower spikes. Very popular with pollinating insects, this relatively hardy small bush is easy to grow in regions where winter is not too harsh. This variety naturally forms a beautiful compact and dense evergreen cushion. The plant is disease-resistant, undemanding regarding the type of soil, and drought resistant once established in the garden. It is also an excellent plant for the terrace.

Hebe 'Tip Top' is a recent hybrid cultivar. It belongs to the family of Plantaginaceae and is related to perennial veronicas. It forms a small regular bush with a compact and rounded habit, about 40 cm (16 in) in all directions. Its reddish stems, which lignify with age, bear fairly round, thick and leathery leaves, white with a silver-green centre, finely edged with pink. The young foliage is delicately suffused with pink. Flowering mainly takes place in June-July, sometimes with a second bloom in autumn. It takes the form of simple lateral inflorescences resembling thin spikes. They are composed of a multitude of small flowers: the flower buds, slightly tinged with white, reveal the delicacy of their pink dress when they open. Pruning after flowering is recommended to maintain a compact habit and a neat appearance to this shrubby veronica.

With relatively slow growth, and being relatively hardy (down to -15°C (5 °F) for 'Tip Top'), Hebes are generally offered alongside perennial plants as their usage is closer to these than to shrubs. The 'Tip Top' variety, on the other hand, has a naturally compact and dense growth that is well suited for ornamenting terraces and balconies, mixed with e.g. heathers or creeping rosemary. In favourable climates it can create neat floral borders all summer long. In cold regions, Hebes can be grown in large pots on the terrace, to be stored in a bright and unheated place during winter.