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Do you have acidic soil, full sun and live in zones 4-6? Think you can't grow anything in such an area except rhododendrons and azaleas? Well, why not try heaths, heathers and some of their close relatives? By planting a variety of these plants, they can provide attractive foliage colour and form in the garden year-round as well as blooms from March through to November. Few flowering plants offer the gardener such an extended display.
Anyone who has visited the moorlands and highlands of Europe, especially, the British Isles, will be quite familiar with heaths and heathers, since they are a major constituent of these habitats. Heath (Erica) and heather (Calluna) are members of the Ericaceous family of plants which include such garden favourites as Rhododendron, Azalea, Mountain Laurel and Japanese Pieris. There is often confusion between heath and heather. The heaths are generally spring-blooming, flowering from March to late May. They have needle-like evergreen leaves and form mat-like growths which may reach to 30 cm. Heather, on the other hand, are summer-fall bloomers, with flowers from late July till frost. Their evergreen leaves are scale-like and the more upright bushes may reach up to 60 cm. The flower colour is the same for both; white, pink, red or purple. The foliage is mostly deep green, but colour-foliaged cultivars exist on both sides.
Cultivation
In my garden, they seem to thrive on a spartan diet provided by a combination of peat, sand and leaf-mold. They are confirmed acid-lovers, so you should never add lime to their growing area. Heaths and heathers are not heavy feeders; a yearly topdressing of leaf-mold usually provides their nutrient needs. Another key to success is to maintain a well-drained soil (hence the sand). Nothing kills them faster than wet, soggy soil. Due to their special soil requirements, they are best grown in a bed to themselves. That does not mean that you cannot grow them in association with other plants. Many dwarf ericaceous plants, such as dwarf Rhododendron, Pieris, Gaultheria, Andromeda and Kalmia make wonderful companion plants. Other good additions would be many ferns, several gentians and primroses.
Heaths and heathers prefer a sunny site, but one protected from cold winds. Being evergreens, they are prone to winter desiccation when exposed to cold, dry west and northwest winds. The best protection is a steady snow cover. If this is not a guarantee, then evergreen boughs placed in and around plants, will help. Their hardiness rating is zone 5-6 however, with a sheltered site, they can survive in a zone 4 area.
The Plants
Not surprisingly, heaths and heathers are far more popular in Europe than in North America, and while there are relatively few cultivars available on this side of the Atlantic, in Europe, many hundreds of cultivars exist. The heaths begin flowering in February-March in southern areas and along the Pacific coast. In my area of northeast North America, late March to early April is the norm. There are several species of heath, but the hardiest and most popular are cultivars of Erica carnea (zone 5). Among the best cultivars are ‘December Red’ (deep rose-pink), ‘Vivelli’ (deep purple-pink), ‘King George’ (magenta-pink), ‘March Seedling’ (rose-purple), ‘Pirbright Rose’ (bright pink), ‘Springwood Pink’ (medium pink) and ‘Springwood White’. A few colour-foliaged cultivars exist, but perhaps the best is the bright yellow ‘Anne Sparkes’(rose-pink). The other popular spring heath is Erica X darleyensis (zone 6). Good cultivars include ‘Darley Dale’ (pale mauve), ‘George Rendall’ (deep pink) and the golden-foliaged ‘Jack H. Brummage’ (mauve).
Also hardy in zone 6 is the Cornish heath, Erica vagans and the Dorset heath, E. ciliaris. Both of these species can bloom mostly from July until September. Another heath which can fill the gap between the spring heath and summer heathers is the cross-leaved heath, Erica tetralix. This heath has grey-green foliage and either white (the cultivar ‘Alba Mollis’) , pink (‘Pink Charm’) or reddish flowers (‘Con Underwood’). They are hardier than E. carnea(zone 4), although not as tidy, and bloom from June until September.
Heathers (often called Scottish heather) all belong to the species Calluna vulgaris. The earliest-flowering cultivars begin flowering in late July, while late cultivars may not bloom until October-November. Some of the best cultivars are ‘Alba Plena’ (double, white), ‘Alportii’ (purple-red), ‘Corbett’s Red’ (pink-red), ‘County Wicklow’ (double, shell-pink), ‘H.E. Beale’ (double, pale pink), ‘Mullion’ (mauve-pink), ‘Spring Cream’ (white) and ‘Tib’ (early, double, deep pink). For a dramatic colour contrast try ‘Arran Gold’ (golden-yellow; pink flowers), ‘Cuprea’ (orange-red; mauve-pink flowers), ‘Gold Haze’ (bright yellow; white flowers), ‘Multicolor’ (yellow, orange and red; mauve-pink flowers), ‘Robert Chapman’ (yellow summer, orange-red winter; mauve-pink flowers) and ‘Silver Knight’ (grey-frosted; mauve-pink flowers). Some cultivars of heather produce prostrate mats. Among the best are ‘Dainty Bess’ (double, pink) and ‘White Lawn’.
Other heath-heather relatives are Mountain heather (Phyllodoce species) and bell heather (Cassiope species). Both flower in May-July. They are in fact, hardier than many heaths or heathers (both hardy to zone 4), but are what plant ecologists call, snow-bed species. In their natural areas, they would be covered by snow early in the season, and remain snow-bound until late spring. This effectively protects them from cold winds and the freeze-thaw cycle. Thus in the garden, most are challenging, if not down-right impossible! Easier types are Phyllodoce glanduliflora (cream), P. empetriformis (pink), Cassiope mertensiana (white), C. lycopodioides var. major (white) and C. ‘Edinburgh’ (white). The largest flowered of the heath relatives is St. Dabeoc’s heath, Daboecia catabrica. It is hardy in zone 5, but demands a steady snow-cover in northern areas
All the cultivars mentioned are growing in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Here, snow-cover is not a guarantee, our freeze-thaw cycle continues from November until early May and wind is constant; not favoured conditions for heath and heathers. However, on the plus side is our mild winters and naturally acidic soils.
Do not grow heaths and heathers if you are looking for a big-bang effect. Their charm is much more subtle. Nonetheless, they are deserving of garden space in those areas fortunate enough to have a favoured climate for these moorland beauties.
About Todd Boland
I reside in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. I work as a research horticulturist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden. I am one of the founding members of the Newfoundland Wildflower Society and the current chair of the Newfoundland Rock Garden Society. My garden is quite small but I pack it tight! Outdoors I grow mostly alpines, bulbs and ericaceous shrubs. Indoors, my passion is orchids. When not in the garden, I'm out bird watching, a hobby that has gotten me to some lovely parts of the world.
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on November 14, 2007 at 7:13 AM:
...my heaths and heathers looked like yours. I have them in a bed by themselves with kalmia and dwarf evergreens. Unfortunately, I did no research before planting and they are in a mostly clay soil. It's a raised bed so it drains decently and they are surviving. Here's Erica x Darleyensis 'Arthur Johnson'
jan
ps nice to see your face!
...
Posted by Todd_Boland (from St. John's, NL) on November 14, 2007 at 11:14 AM:
Hi jan,
Glad you enjoyed the article!
Todd
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Posted by Tammy (from Barto, PA) on November 14, 2007 at 12:59 PM:
I enjoyed the article too Todd. I've been thinking about putting a heath/heather
bed on a south facing hillside. There are walnuts at the top / northern side and
it does get some very light shade from catalpa's a bit to the south. The soil
is very rocky. Do you suppose it might work?
Tam
...
Posted by Todd_Boland (from St. John's, NL) on November 14, 2007 at 2:28 PM:
You will need to improve the soil. I would use Erica is the site is somewhat shaded. They will tolerate more shade than heathers.
...
Posted by Tammy (from Barto, PA) on November 14, 2007 at 3:51 PM:
thank you. I've got so many ideas I just need to find a job that
pays what I earn now but needs only a couple hours of my time per
week. LOL I'll post pictures of the project when I get it going.
...
Subject: Street cred for heath
Posted by DonShirer (from Westbrook, CT) on November 12, 2007 at 10:20 AM:
Several years ago I tried some heaths/heathers in the strip between our sidewalk and the street where poor soil had been defeating my efforts to grow lawn grass. That worked out so well that I am planting more each year, mixing them with thyme and a few dwarf evergreens.
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Posted by Todd_Boland (from St. John's, NL) on November 12, 2007 at 4:26 PM:
We use too much road salt in Newfoundland for that to work for us. Glad it's working for you. Must look really nice!
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Subject: Dare I try?
Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 12, 2007 at 9:31 AM:
I've always yearned for these plants, but felt that I was outside their comfort zone. It's not the wintertime that I'm concerned with, but our brutal summer, plus, our clay soil that you don't dare add sand to.
The specialized bed would not be an issue, but the location is a bit of a question. We can grow the rhodies and the azaleas.
Full sun in west KY is a totally different animal than full sun in Newfoundland. Would 6 to 8 hours of sun, with afternoon shade allow these plants to bloom? That's what we do here for the rhodies and azaleas. The problem intensifies because, what gets the 6 to 8 hours in the summer will get more shade in the winter because of the angle of the sun.
I'm just pondering thoughts as I'm putting my garden to bed and planning for next year.
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Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on November 12, 2007 at 3:00 PM:
Melody, my sister has them in Cincinnati in zone 6a, but yes, you are a zone warmer. I'm wondering if the deer find them yummy. Of course, they've eaten things this year that they normally don't, due to drought.
Pretty pics, nice article! I had no idea there were so many kinds!
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Posted by Todd_Boland (from St. John's, NL) on November 12, 2007 at 4:25 PM:
I would think that mid-day shade would be beneficial in hot areas. They grow in mild areas of Europe but they are not intensely hot like the KY can get. However, if rhodies make it, I see no reason why heaths and heathers would not. In warmer areas try Erica griffithsii and E. X stuartii as they need warmer areas than the Erica I mentioned.
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Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 12, 2007 at 4:31 PM:
We usually put our azaleas and rhodies on the east side of the house. This way, when it starts to cook, they're in the shade. I'm going to pull out all of my barberies in front this winter, the bed can be amended enough for the acid lovers, so I may try them there.
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Posted by Todd_Boland (from St. John's, NL) on November 12, 2007 at 5:48 PM:
They are not very expensive, so try a couple first to see how they do.
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Posted by pepper23 (from KC Metro area, MO) on November 12, 2007 at 8:58 PM:
Great article!! I am tempted to try a few but I have no clue where I could fit them in this yard. lol
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Subject: Heather On The Heights
Posted by jadajoy (from Newport News, VA) on November 12, 2007 at 8:30 AM:
One of my favorite movies is Wuthering Heights in which Cathy and Heathcliff would escape to the hills to sit amongst the heather. Cathys dying wish was to go to the window to see the heather. Thanks for this info about a plant I always wondered about. It is truly beautiful.
