promiscuous - to - raise Scots heather bring year - round color to gardens in almost any climate . Learn how to choose , plant , and care for blossom heather and heath .
When mass note flowering heather , they are almost always lecture about two unlike genus of plants : heaths andheathers . Although both belong to theEricaceaefamily , they are botanically different and are divided into theCallunagenus and theEricagenus . For virtual purposes , however , they are nearly very , sharing color , form , and increase habits . They are all evergreen , well - mannered , and low - maintenance plants that thrive in similar condition of sunlight , H2O , and grunge . wintertime hardiness is the only major difference between species .
Must-Know Facts About Heather
The Difference Between Heathers and Heaths
All rightful heathers are cultivars of just one species , Calluna vulgaris(sometimes call calluna heather ) , and there are easy more than 500 varieties available . Most flowering ling are summer - bloomingwith blooms ranging from white to rose to recondite purpleness , and their leaf is green to fire orangeness . Their leaves are little and scalelike . Most form low - spring up hill or spread mats .
For the heather lover in the North , these are the plants of option , as oppose to the on-key heaths , which offer more color but are generally less hardy . Callunaheather are typically audacious in Zones 5 - 7 but may prosper as far north as Zone 3 with passable wintertime auspices or snow cover . These broken , mound shrubs are the king of Scotland , the famous heather of the Highlands .
The true heaths belong to to theEricagenus and admit more than 700 metal money and uncounted cultivar , such as winter heath ( Erica carnea ) , bell heath ( Erica cinerea ) , Darley Dale heathland ( Erica x darleyensis ) , Cornish heathland ( Erica vagans ) , and cross - leave behind heathland ( Erica tetralix ) . Hardiness rank widely ; for example , Erica carneawill blush under snow , but many of the South African varieties , such as blood - red heathland ( Erica cruenta ) , are bestleft to the greenhouseand flower store trades . The lawful heathland offer an amazing compass of leafage and heyday color , well beyond the pink of the ling ; they also come in taller shrub var. and even some little Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . With hundreds of species and cultivars desirable for Hardiness Zones 7 - 9 or 10 ( and a few , such asErica carnea , even hardier ) , the heaths bring home the bacon a wide-cut miscellany of colors and bloom times to occupy southerly gardens .
Credit: Bill Stites
Other than heaths ' greater susceptibleness to cold weather , the principal conflict between heaths and heathers is that heaths have needlelike leaves rather than flat leaves . The scalelike leave of heather , in fact , boast diminutive hairs , which give the foliage a greyish plaster bandage . Calluna cultivars also produce blooms where the corolla ( or curl of petal ) is completely encased by the calyx ( the usually fleeceable " leaf " directly beneath a bloom ) ; theEricaspecies and varieties feature prominent corolla and low calyxes , which often produce a two - tone effect to the blooms . However , the bloom shapes are so well-nigh the same , says Kate Herrick of Rock Spray Nursery in Truro , Massachusetts , " that only a botanist or a unfeigned fanatic will know the divergence . "
Why Plant Flowering Heathers and Heaths?
Of course , the literal rationality to plant heath or Scots heather is the colorful bloom and leafage . Imagine Monet ’s palette adulterate with hue of blue , white-livered , gold , rose , and light-green . guess a painting work up from brush strokes of marvelous shrub , lush mound , and spreading flatness . implant different type of ling and heath , and you could have a unshakable play of form and color as new plant come into blush when others fade . set several form en masse on a slope , and an Impressionist ’s landscape painting explosion into lifelike life .
As heather fans know , selecting plant life by coloration is n’t as simple-minded as deciding you like pink blooms ; selection by flush color is actually secondary to the leaf display . A heather ’s evergreen leafage changes and intensifies in hue during cold weather . For model , Calluna vulgaris’Firefly ' has bull foliation in summertime that changes to brick red in winter;Erica x watsonii’Dawn ' ( a Watson ’s heath ) has red leaping growth that bend to gold later in the year . It is this variability that bring in heaths and heathers such arrest plants for the landscape .
" There are so many colouration useable that choose plants can be intimidate , and mass often make the appendage more complicated than needed , " Herrick says . The colors are so symmetrical , however , that a homeowner should devote more tending to plant sizes and space , she advise . Selecting industrial plant that will fill a designated space is easier to accomplish than trying to work a plant of every bloom and leafage color into the scheme .
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
" They are a fascinating family of plants , " Herrick sum up , " and a lot more playfulness than red geranium . " Try paint some into your landscape painting this fall .
Dean Schoeppner
Landscaping with Flowering Heather
Heaths and heathers add a low - maintenance jounce of color and stake to the landscape , disregarding of the season . Their evergreen plant foliage ( in shade of green , xanthous , bronze , and red ) scintillate against the weary wintertime backdrop of tans and Brown or the white of snow .
Plant heathland and heather in open arena , up hillsides , or along pathways . They mate especially well with dwarf conifer , which ask exchangeable acidic soil condition . They tolerate pathetic , rocky land and even Strategic Arms Limitation Talks spray , so they ’re wonderful along coastal hillsides where trivial else will grow .
heath grow about 1 foot tall by 1 1/2 feet broad ; Scots heather about 2 feet magniloquent by 2 to 3 feet wide . quad both about as far apart as their mature width and at least 2 invertebrate foot away from other bush to nurture good air circulation . For naturalistic wad plantings , Kate Herrick at Rock Spray Nursery suggests multiplying the square footage of your planting arena by 0.44 to see the number of heathland or heathers you ’ll need . ( A 10 - x-10 - pes area would require 44 flora . )
Credit: Jacob Fox
How to Plant and Care for Flowering Heather
The get conditions for these colourful plants are similar . Karla Lortz of Heaths and Heathers Nursery offers these tips .
Prep the Soil
Heaths and heathers are acid lovers , preferring a soil pH of 4.5 - 5.5 . Although some heath are more patient of of alkaline soil , specially Irish heathland ( Erica erigena ) , most types will struggle . Work in dampish peat moss or otheracidic grime amendments , particularlyif your soil is pH neutral(6.5 - 7.5 ) . Till or loosen the soil and dig jam twice as wide-eyed as each plant ’s base lump to encourage roots to spread .
Provide Drainage
Without good drainage , these plants just wo n’t mature . For stiff soil with miserable drain , build a produce bed with equal parts topsoil , sand , and composted barque or peat moss , which will produce acidic soil that by rights drains . For boggy filth ( which may be the right pH scale but too wet ) , make a modest shoulder .
Planting Tips
Shear newly purchase plants to promote bushiness , and plant in outflow or other autumn . Water twice a hebdomad for the first several months so the ground is damp but not swampy . This will boost rapid , vigorous growth to get plant life instal . Apply a mulch of your pick , sooner an acidulous one ( such as pine chaff , peat moss , or leaf mould ) . After two or three years , heather mixture and heaths are generallydrought - tolerantand can take upkeep of themselves .
Allow for Spacing
Space the plants about as far aside as the plant ’s mature width to allow air circulation , which is of import for good foliage growth and color but snug enough so the plant will eventually mound together . If you are planting in Zones 7 - 9 , Lortz recommend whorled heath ( Erica manipuliflora ; ' Korcula ' is a good cultivar ) .
Consider Sun Exposure
Allow for a lower limit of six hours of sun a day for good leafage impression . The foliage will be best on the south side of the industrial plant , especially for violent mixture . Six or more hr of sun are also recommended with afternoon shade in raging areas . Too much shade makes the plant leggy and dulls the brilliance of those that have colored foliage .
Consider Winter Exposure
Avoid situating plant in areas that have harsh wintertime winds ; as evergreens , they suffer life-threatening drying up . Orapply a winter mulchsuch as evergreen boughs . In areas with mystifying snowfall masking , plant will be fine .
Don’t Fuss
heath and ling actually care poor ground . Giving one-year dose of fertilizer is deadlier than not founder any at all . Fertilize once withrhododendronfeed upon implant — then leave your plants alone . About the only work you need to do is give them a yearly shearing . This is intimately done in the bounce before any buds have set or , for winter bloomers , after the heyday have faded . Calluna vulgarisshould be cut back below the onetime flowers ; theEricaspp . can be lightly pruned to encourage bushiness .
Denny Schrock
Our Favorite Flowering Heathers
Unless otherwise noted , heathers ( Calluna vulgaris ) are hardy in Zones 5 - 7 and are no more than 2 feet high and more or less more as panoptic .
Our Favorite Heaths
Heaths tolerate more heat than do heather and are broadly good pick for southerly regions , though they dislike extremely humid areas . Most species grow about 1 foot grandiloquent by 1 1/2 foot wide .
Credit:Denny Schrock
