PlantFiles: Ling, Scotch Heather, Scots Heather
Calluna vulgaris

Giving a neutral note for the plants finickness and so so garden merit.... Pretty overall but sometimes not worth the trouble.... pretty little leaves and flowers but has hard time surviving winter without lots of die back if at all.... One finally survived the winter but is all brown and will probably need lots of time to recuperate which also means look decent! Probably nice in slightly warmer zones I'm in 6a 7b in fairly to very acidic soil.....

A small, evergreen shrub from Europe, Russia, parts of Asia Minor and North Africa and the Azores. It's a very variable plant and although it's the only species in the genus Calluna it's given rise to a huge number of cultivars. The RHS Plant Finder currently lists 637 cultivars although the full number might well be somewhere around the 1000 mark.

Has small, arrow shaped, greyish to dark green, hairy or hairless leaves. Bears narrow, crowded spikes of pink, red, purple or white, bell or tubular shaped flowers. It usually has 4 lobed calyces, longer than the corollas but of the same colour (which help distinguish the plant from Erica species (the latter information from RHS A-Z)).

Flowers July-October/Early November

Calluna requires well drained, acid soil in full sun, it will sicken and die within a couple of years if not on acid soil. It doesn't cope well with too much shade or wetness in the soil either.

They make excellent plants for ground cover and awkward areas such as dry open, acid banks. It's cultivars come in a wide range of shapes and colours so a rich Heather tapestry can be made using the different plants.

Also it's a superb bee plant which offers nectar at a time when other flowers are dwindling. The bees make a wonderful clear honey from Heather.

The plant itself has had a number of uses including; roof thatching, basket weaving, cleaning brushes, fuel and for flavouring ale. Sheep also make use of it over winter when the grass is low and has very little nutrients in it.