Veronica hulkeana F.Muell. ex Hook.f.

A loose-habited, straggling shrub, occasionally reaching a height of 4 to 6 ft, or even more when grown against a wall – as it usually is in this country. Leaves in pairs somewhat far apart on the branches, broadly ovate, 1 to 2 in. long, 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. wide, broadly wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, coarsely toothed, the teeth and apex either blunt or sharp, dark glossy green; stalk 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long. Flowers 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 in. diameter, of a delicate lavender or lilac shade, produced in May and June in huge branching panicles which terminate the shoots. These panicles are sometimes 18 in. long, with side branches 3 to 7 in. long. The flowers themselves arc without stalks, but the ramifications of the panicle are downy. Bot. Mag., t. 5484.

This species, of remarkable beauty and distinction, is a native of the north­eastern part of the South Island of New Zealand, where it inhabits dry rocky cliffs and bluffs, often in association with Pachystegia insignis; introduced about 1860. It received a First Class Certificate in 1882 as a plant for the greenhouse, and until recently was reckoned to be a very tender species. But in southern England it survived the testing winters of 1961–3 in some gardens, and at Belhaven House in East Lothian it has lived out-of-doors for forty years and seeds itself into the crumbling mortar of garden walls. Possibly there are two or more strains in cultivation, of differing hardiness (in the wild it ranges from sea-level to 3,000 ft). Or it may be that its reputation for tenderness is partly the result of giving the plants too rich a soil or too cool a position. It is most likely to succeed if planted against a sunny wall, in a well-drained rubbly soil. Plants raised from autumn cuttings will flower well in their second summer, so this lovely species could become a feature of any garden where there is a frost-free greenhouse or frame for overwintering the young plants. It is advisable to remove the panicles as soon as the flowers fade, for these are produced so abundantly that seed-setting may weaken the plant.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

For an interesting illustrated article on this species and its allies by Graham Hutchins, see The Garden (Journ. R.H.S.), Vol. 109, pp. 58–60 (1984). He has reintroduced this species by means of seeds collected in the north-east corner of South Island, where it grows with two other well-known New Zealand species – Brachyglottis monroi (syn. Senecio monroi) and Pachystegia insignis. Some of the seedlings have proved to be distinct from the form usually seen in gardens here.