ESCALLONIA. South America. I suppose it is time to describe the escallonias, something I have avoided until now simply because several of them are “mainline” shrubs, needing no further words from me. But our collection has grown to include some lesser-known species and cultivars. These are evergreen shrubs and small trees of widely varying size. Nearly all are shapely and well-branched. They have mostly pointed-oval, toothed, leathery leaves. Often they are dark and quite glossy on at least their upper surface. Their flowers have short tubes and flaring 5-parted “faces”, often colored some shade of pink or red, though sometimes white. Escallonias are widely used as foundation and specimen shrubs and even (stifle the thought) in hedges. They can take almost any conditions along the coast but require reasonably well drained soil and moderate to regular watering or light shading in the hot interior. The following are hardy to 15^oF. or less, though sometimes damaged by sudden hard frosts.

bifida—compact form. White escallonia. There is some question about the identity of this attractive cultivar, received several years ago from Barrie Lehrman. It may be a form of E. illinita. This is a bushy shrub, somewhat fountain-shaped if unpruned, with dark, glossy 1-2" leaves. I would guess its ultimate size to be 6-8’ in all directions. It has large, branched clusters of white flowers in late summer.

x exoniensis ‘Fradesii’ (or simply ‘Frades’). This is surely one of the most used and abused shrubs in California. This is reputedly a hybrid between E. rubra and E. rosea (personally, I have some doubts about this parentage). It is unusually bushy, even without pruning, and carries a lush coat of deep green, slightly convex leaves. It flowers most heavily in summer but is seldom entirely out of bloom, producing medium-sized clusters of bright pink flowers.

‘Compacta’ (‘Compakta’ is another version of the same). This is a somewhat squashed-looking mound, ultimately 2-3’ high and nearly twice that in breadth. The growth is quite congested, and the leaves bright and lacquered in surface. It has a scattering of small flower clusters throughout the summer. Their color might be described as deep rose pink, verging on red.

‘Red Elf’. I am not certain of the parentage of this hybrid, which seems destined to outgrow the “elf” category. However, in spite of the wand-like stems, the leaves are small and closely spaced. They are bright green in color, and highly polished. The flower clusters are small but abundant, with bright red flowers in midsummer.

rubra. This is the old standby among escallonias–big, rugged and beautiful. It can easily grow 10’ high and wide but can be kept indefinitely at 6’ by pruning. The leaves are 1-2" long in the current form, broad, dark and extremely shiny. Flower clusters are 2-3" long, carrying deep pink to red flowers. It has many uses but is best in large spaces, where one needn’t hack at it constantly.