Elaeagnus 'Viveleg' (Silverberry) – Cream Variegated Evergreen Shrub (3L Pot)

One of the toughest evergreens we sell, and the one to plant where wind and salt spray beat everything else.

Elaeagnus x ebbingei, the silverberry or oleaster, is a dense bushy evergreen reaching 1.5m to 3m tall and wide, and it can be kept to any size with a clip. 'Viveleg' carries elegant cream margins around a green centre, a softer look than the gold forms and easy to place beside other planting. In autumn small creamy flowers open, hidden away in the foliage and easy to miss until the scent finds you across the garden, and they are a valuable late feed for insects.

Give it sun or light shade in most soils and it will look after itself, though it can go yellow on shallow chalk. It grows fast, takes hard clipping and makes a dense informal hedge or screen in a few seasons. Variegated forms throw the odd plain green shoot, and those want cutting out as soon as you see them or they take over. Once established it needs little water and no feeding.

Cultural Information

• Common Name: Silverberry, oleaster
• Fully Grown Height and Spread: About 1.5m to 3m tall and 1.5m to 3m wide, and easily kept smaller
• Growth Habit: Dense, bushy, fast growing evergreen shrub
• Perfect For: Hedging, screening, windbreaks, coastal gardens, mixed borders and large patio pots
• Foliage: Leathery evergreen leaves with cream margins
• Flowering Time: Autumn, with small creamy flowers hidden in the leaves and a powerful scent
• Planting Position: Full sun or partial shade, including exposed and seaside gardens
• Soil Type: Moist but well drained. It can go yellow on shallow chalk.
• Hardiness: Fully hardy across Britain and one of the best evergreens for wind and salt spray
• Maintenance: Low. Clip to shape in spring or summer, and cut out any plain green shoots.
• Seasonal Interest: All year, with scented flowers in autumn
• Type: Hardy evergreen screening shrub