PERENNIALS & GROUND COVERS

Erica ‘Kramer’s Rote’ blooms bravely through the snow; Erica ‘White Perfection’ shows how it earned its name!

During our latest Seattle area snowstorm, you may have spotted some splotches of color bravely poking through the snow. You gotta love those winter-blooming heathers! Actually, many in the gardening world prefer to call these specimens heaths. One way to help remember the difference between heath and heather is through the recitation of the rhyme: Heathers have feathers, and heaths have teeth. Sure enough, on close inspection the needle-like, or toothy, foliage of heath is quite different from the feathery foliage of heather.

Currently we have a wonderful selection of heaths, either budded up or in full blooming color. The Erica carneas are known to be the hardiest of the bunch, but all of the heaths listed here will do just fine in the Northwest. E. carnea ‘Nathalie’ produces deep purple-red blooms on dark green foliage. Long-blooming (November-April) ‘Winterfreude’ has lush crimson flowers. ‘Rosalie’, a January-to-April bloomer, exhibits bright pink flowers.

We also have numerous specimens of Erica x darleyensis gracing our shelves. We have some nice white-bloomers, including ‘White Perfection’ and ‘Silberschmelze’ — difficult to pronounce but easy on the eyes. Well-known ‘Kramers Rote’, which has bright-reddish purple flowers, lights up the garden from December to April. ‘Darley Dale’, named for a place in Derbyshire, England, where winter heath was first grown during the Victorian era, is a reliable and much-loved pink bloomer. ‘Goldrush’ and ‘Margaret Porter’ are two varieties which find appeal as much for their yellow-gold winter foliage as for their cheery pinkish flowers.

Heath does best when planted in full sun. It’s generally not too picky about soil, but slightly acidic conditions are preferable. Good drainage is a must. Heath’s spreading habit makes it a good weed suppressor. It’s fairly low maintenance once established, requiring only moderate watering and a slow-release low-nitrogen fertilizer every two to three years—and then only if it’s not performing well. Pruning is not always necessary, but when done it should occur immediately following the bloom time — because new buds begin to form quite quickly, and you surely don’t want to prune off next year’s potential color!

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