Hebe “Great Orme"

This was a definite unexpected add to our front garden.

Looking for a smaller, hardy evergreen flowering shrub, I hadn't anticipated choosing a hebe, as the ones I'd always seen in the nursery were nothing I'd ever been drawn to. In fact, I actively disliked them! But two varieites I'd never seen before at our local nursery ultimately changed my mind, with a much greater diversity I'd never known about.

This "Great Orme" variety was really cool to watch come into bloom, as it's incredibly pretty in each of its varying stages. You can see in the photo that there are small catkin-like spikes which is how they begin, then the pink starts to turn into tiny little flowers, then slowly fade to white (as some in the photo are just starting to do).

Plus - they bloom til fall. Yessss!