Hebe
A purple-spiked hybrid shrub of coastal gardens; its short-tubed flowers give honey bees easy nectar and pollen from June into autumn.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0,5-1,2 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Hebe is a hybrid of two New Zealand species that arose in cultivation and is common as a hedge and ornamental shrub, especially in the mild coastal areas of Western Europe. The small flowers in its dense purple-violet spikes are short-tubed; nectar and pollen are within easy reach of honey bees. Because of its long flowering season, bees visit it constantly in late summer.
Flowering
It starts in June and continues into October or November in mild autumns. In a mild maritime climate scattered flowers can appear even in midwinter.
Honey and pollen
Besides nectar it also gives a small amount of pollen. It is not harvested as a separate honey.
Note for the beekeeper
It tolerates salty winds and suits coastal gardens; it is damaged by hard, prolonged frost. In current classification the genus Hebe has been merged into Veronica (speedwell); nurseries still use the name Hebe. In Turkey it can be grown as an ornamental on the Marmara, Aegean and Black Sea coasts, where it supports late-summer forage.