Winter flowering heathers are an outstanding source of colour in the Lower Mainland. The loss of all our lovely fall foliage often makes November seem far more bleak than other winter months.
The fresh appearance of new heather buds, however, can really transform a dull winter garden into an attractive show place and with a little careful planning, you can stretch that colour from September until May of the following year. There are, however, a few secrets to planting and displaying these colourful plants.
One of the finest features of winter heathers is their ability to grow in areas where other plants have some difficulty. Certainly they perform well in good soil but they are also ideal for rocky, gravelly areas or sloping hillside gardens.
Over the years, I have had the most success by preparing the planting hole with a 50% mixture of bark mulch and sand. Heathers will not tolerate heavy clay soils or wet feet but I'm surprised at how much shade they'll accept. Although they are sun loving plants, heathers bloom just as profusely, perhaps a little bit taller, in shady locations.
One very important feature to remember is the fact that heathers have hundreds of finely textured roots. Unless you moisten the rootball thoroughly and ruffle up the root system, your heather will probably get into trouble fairly quickly. A rootbound plant has difficulty pushing its roots out into new soil unless the outer mat of solid roots has been carefully ruffled and loosened.
Winter heather is very hardy but we have always recommended planting them out of the coldest winter winds. Throw a bit of 'Remay' cloth or the new 'N-Sulate' fabric over your plants if we get a bitter cold spell without any protective snow covering to keep those precious blossoms fresh looking.
Heathers can be used in many ways. They make ideal ground covers when planted at 24-inch centres. They're a good, compact summer cover that becomes a sea of colour when you need it most in the winter. They make ideal border plants and just sensational small hedges.
I love to use them in containers, especially in winter colour gardens. At this time of year, heathers would certainly liven up your outdoor planters. No rock garden would be complete without a grouping of heather and blocks of white heather planted among your evergreen beds would create quite a pleasing effect.
But the most impressive way to use heathers is to plant them as groupings in a bed by themselves.
You may wish to mix in some summer blooming varieties as well. If you can blend a few colourful dwarf conifers, like 'Blue Star' juniper orange toned 'Rheingold' cedars and 'Sungold' thread cypress in with the heathers, you have the beginnings of a well textured planting.
Add a few carefully chosen stones and some early flowering shrubs like viburnum 'Pink Dawn', corylopsis and Chinese witch hazel and you will have a beautiful winter flowering floral bed around your home.
A few spring blooming bulbs and summer evergreen perennials, blended into the bed, will make an outstanding display during the spring and summer months as well.
A wide range of heather varieties are available but the old favourites are still the most in demand. For a good white variety, try 'Schneekuppe' and 'Springwood White'. My choices for pink varieties are 'Wintersoone', 'Rosalie' and 'March Seedling'. My favourite varieties are the vivid carmine flowers of 'Kramer's Red', 'Tanja' and 'Nathalie' that have beautiful dark winter foliage.
Most heather flowers come in shades of white, pink and reds but you can add a great deal of contrast by using some of the new golden foliage varieties like 'Golden Starlet' (white flowers), 'Mary Helen' (pink flowers) and 'Eva Gold' (dark pink flowers).
Heathers have always been one of my favourite plants and I sincerely hope you plant some newer varieties now to create more vibrant colour in your winter garden.
