You don't have to have Scottish roots to have a heather bed

Just when I think I can't possibly develop a new plant infatuation, it happens. Yes, I've found something new to nurture and collect and become besotted with. And it's all the fault of a few plant enthusiasts whose collections caught me off guard, when I was least expecting it.

This time it's not a particularly flamboyant plant that has caught my attention. Oh, I still hanker after floriferous but hardy roses, and walk around grinning blissfully when my blue poppies show off in late spring. Perfect tulips can cause me to go into raptures of delight, and of course I can list a dozen annuals that are a salve to the soul. But this new love is a quieter one. I've been smitten with the heather bug, or more specifically, with the heath and heather bug.

The Appeal of Heathers

One of the people I blame for my developing obsession is Jill Covill of Bunchberry Nurseries in Upper Clements, NS. Jill and I went to the Nova Scotia Agricultural College together in Truro (longer ago than either of us care to admit), and in 1985, she worked at a garden centre in Switzerland where, as she describes it, she was exposed to a "phenomenal plant selection." She was especially drawn to heaths and heathers, which at the time weren't commonly available here. "The opportunity was there to introduce these plants here," Jill says, and from that inspiration came the idea for Bunchberry Nurseries.

Heaths and heathers are terrific plants to grow in Atlantic Canada. They tend to love acid soil, which is common here. "They offer four-season appeal," Jill adds, "with different bloom periods and a lot of variation in foliage colours." All you have to do is understand the needs of each species, and repeat this mantra: prepare before you plant.

First, a quiet little talk on botany will help shed some light on these wonderful plants. Heathers and heaths are evergreen members of the Ericaceae family, which includes such familiar plants as blueberries, cranberries, rhododendrons and azaleas. More often than not, when people talk about heathers they're referring to two different genera, Erica and Calluna. They are similar in appearance, with low, creeping growth forming into tidy mats, tiny scale-like or needle-like leaves, and flowers in shades of rose, lavender, fuchsia, cream and white, purple and magenta.

The easiest way to remember the difference between heathers and heaths? Heath (Erica, various species) loosely rhymes with Easter, and plants generally bloom in late winter through to spring. Heathers (Calluna vulgaris, many cultivars) bloom from mid-summer into fall.

From Scotland to New Scotland

Imagine growing up in the northern uplands of Scotland, walking knee-deep in heather when out roaming the hills-or heath. This was John Allen's experience as a young lad, and he remembers well trying to find the lucky white heather, much as children here look for four-leaf clovers.

In time, John's profession as an ocean and coastal engineer brought him to Canada, where he planted heather gardens at his homes in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Having spent so much time among these plants in his youth, he knew they were durable, and ideal for city gardens where dogs and children are prone to taking short cuts.

After retiring in 2000, he and his wife, Marilyn, developed Glebe Road Gardens, in Chamcook, NB, where they specialize in heaths and heathers. They also produce fresh flowers and berries to sell at the local farmers' market.

Siting Heathers: Location is crucial

As with any garden plant, from asters to zucchini, heaths and heathers need the right location in your garden, John says. Both prefer a sunny location, especially important for plants that have different coloured foliage-the more sunlight they receive, the better the display of colour.

Where you plant-and how many plants you use-also depends on your garden design and personal taste. "Some like to plant five to 11 plants each, of perhaps four or five cultivars, to give a real impact in August to September or April to May. Others like a few plants to edge a pathway or simply to have one or two plants to provide a different interest."

It's best to have three to five plants of a cultivar to provide an impact, even in small, suburban gardens, he says. And just as with planting bulbs, annuals or perennials, you'll get a better effect if you mass single colours together, avoiding the polka dot effect when you intermix half a dozen plants of half a dozen different varieties.

Somewhere in my gardening life I aquired the wisdom to "dig a $20-hole for a $10-plant." This means that preparing the soil and the planting hole properly will pay you big dividends. It's not enough to simply scoop a trowel-full of soil out of the ground and stick a plant in. This is especially true in the case of heathers and heaths-and I was guilty of it with my first attempt to grow them. While they don't need particularly rich soil, heaths and heathers will sulk and die if they don't have good drainage and an acid soil.

Check soil acidity

If you aren't certain about your soil's acidity, purchase a soil testing kit or send a soil sample to your provincial agriculture department to be tested for a fee. Readings below seven are considered acidic, seven is neutral, and above seven is alkaline. A soil acidity of between five and six pH is considered suitable for most heath and heather cultivars. With soil that's alkaline, a yearly application of aluminum sulphate will lower the pH; mulching with conifer needles or peat moss will also help increase acidity. John Allen says that commercial brands of peat moss are often not overly acidic, although when mixed into heavy soil they help improve drainage. Amending the soil with sharp sand also improves the drainage, but won't increase the soil acidity. Heathers have very fine roots, and are susceptible to drying out at all times of the year-yet at the same time they require good drainage, so they don't drown in wet soil.

Winter Protection

John advises gardeners to water their heather beds before the onset of winter, and adds that he has often watered in late March if the winter has been dry, with little snowfall.

Although many heaths and heathers are technically hardy to Zone 3 or 4, some are finicky about winter conditions. Where I live, in Scotts Bay, NS, the wind comes screaming in out of the west and northwest with great regularity during winter. I mulch the bed with boughs cut from evergreens, starting around Christmas time or when the ground first freezes hard. You can also use straw or hay-anything that protects the plants from the wind and from variable temperatures works well.

"Dry cold is believed to be the most damaging," says John. "Dampness is one blessing the Newfoundland and Fundy fogs bring to heather gardens."

People often wonder whether to prune or shear their heathers. I'm not inclined to prune other ericaceous plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons, yet other people's heather beds look tidy. Jill Covill says to give heaths what they want in terms of soil and other growing conditions, and they require little maintenance-you don't have to prune them and they will flower faithfully every spring without fail. Heathers, on the other hand, are a little more temperamental. "Cut them back to below the previous year's spent flowers every spring," she says.

Take heart, too, that if your heathers have experienced winter-burn due to a lack of snow cover or other winter protection, they will often bounce back after their spring shearing.

Finally, for those of you who are plagued with roaming deer that regard your yard as a salad bar, be of good cheer-deer don't usually browse excessively on heathers and heaths. Take heed not to plant them in the path of what they do nibble on, however. You never know, they might think they're knee-deep on the Scottish moors, and start roaming in search of the elusive white heather.

Hale & hardy heaths & heathers

While there are a dizzying number of heath and heather cultivars available, some are more suitable to our region and its various hardiness zones than are others. Jill Covill has found that heath (Erica carnea) cultivars tend to be the hardiest, to Zone 3 or 4, while some of the heather (Calluna vulgaris) cultivars are hardy to Zone 4 or 5 with winter protection. Heather cultivars with green foliage tend to be more hardy than those with different coloured foliage.

From 'Alba Mollis' to 'Wickwar Flame', here are a few good picks to pique your interest:

Heaths (Erica carnea, other Erica species and hybrids)

'Alba Mollis' - White flowers with silver-green foliage.
'Foxhollow' - Yellow foliage tinted bronze at the tips, turning bronze-orange in winter, with pink flowers.
'Golden Starlet' - Luminous gold foliage that turns lime green in winter; white flowers.
'Porter's Red' - Deep magenta (almost red) flowers with deep green foliage.
'Springwood Pink' and 'Springwood White' - These are the two hardiest heaths, with pink and white flowers respectively.

Heathers (Calluna vulgaris)

'Boskoop' - Lavender flowers with gold-salmon foliage that turns orange with red tinges in winter.
'Con Brio' - Ruby flowers with dramatic, contrasting yellow-green foliage that turns to bronze-red in winter.
'Cuprea' - Lavender flowers with chartreuse-copper foliage that turns bronze-red in winter.
'Hibernica' - Deep green foliage and mauve flowers in late summer through fall.
'Jimmy Dyce' - Double pink flowers with deep green foliage that bronzes in winter.
'Martha Herman' - Brilliant green foliage with white flowers showing a tint of lilac colour.
'Silver Knight' - Silvery grey foliage that turns more of a purple-grey in winter; lavender flowers in late summer.
'Spitfire' - Gold foliage that turns orange through to red in winter, with attractive mauve flowers in late summer/early fall.
'Velvet Fascination' - Foliage is silvery blue-green; doesn't have to be in flower to look marvellous.
'Wickwar Flame' - Mauve flowers with gold foliage in summer, turning coppery-orange and then red in winter. It's one of the best for winter foliage colour.