Back in 1997, Jan Verschoor set the ball rolling on a mission to create a whole new series of Veronicas.  

Working in a controlled environment and using established favourites such as 'Red Fox' and 'Heidekind' together with some of his own seedlings from previous crossings, Jan set out to create plants to meet a number of criteria, such as having a lot of flowers, a compact and uniform habit, and interesting colouring.  

Plenty of seedlings were produced, which were planted out in the field. These flowered in the second year after the crosses were made, since which time Jan began to select the best performers.   

The plants remained in the field and also produced their own seedlings, further adding to the range of possibilities.  

Jan continued to observe them and make selections, until finally in the summer of 2003, 5 varieties were chosen to be introduced.  

'High Five' produces long flower spikes up to 20"/50cm in length, which develop over stems that are just 8" tall. The spikes are also thicker than usual, and the blue flowers bloom over a period of several weeks starting from the bottom of the spikes and gradually moving upwards.

V. 'High Five' growing behind its fellow Darwin PlantSpotters variety, V. 'Baby Doll'

The foliage and flower spikes are rich green and combine harmoniously (in Jan's words!) with the rich blue flowers as they appear.

He is also proud of the quantity of individual flowers per spike and has actually counted them! In case you're curious, there are 180 to 200 flowers per spike!