Gardening information for zone 6 Ohio in neutral clay soil. The backbone of my gardens Hosta, Heather,
Heuchera, flowering shrubs, perennials, ground covers, conifers, and trees.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Heather Hill Heath Summer Bloomers

Heather and Heaths are beautiful evergreen shrubs year round in my zone 5/6 area. I love Heather, these are such beautiful plants with their fine needle foliage and are evergreen. Most are smaller ranging in size from 6 inches to 18 inches. The ones shown here that are blooming right now are Heath Erica's except for the one Williamsii and are all summer bloomers and tolerate alkaline soil. My soil being both neutral and clay, these are a few that have worked out for me.

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Mrs Donaldson is a beautiful Heath Erica and is putting out full blooms now that are lovely and is one of my favorites.

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Heath E. Yellow John. This is one that I got strictly for it's stunning yellow foliage, but the white flowers are also lovely and are just starting to open some buds. You can't ask for more than lovely blooms, lovely foliage, and evergreen.

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This lovely Heath Williamsii is Ken Wilson, another stunning plant when in full bloom. You can see how lovely already and just starting to open up buds.

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Heath E. Ida M Britten has been in bloom a little longer and starting to lose some of hers now but still lovely.

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Heath E. Mrs D F Maxwell is a lovely Heather and just starting to display and open some blooms. She's another stunning one in bloom.

49 comments:

Makarimi Abdullah said...

The most I like is Mrs Donaldson ;) so beautiful, never seen before and really hope can touch the real one. Thanks for sharing these beauties.

Rosor och Pioner said...

That flower must be what we call "Ljung " in Sweden. It´s an autumn flower in Sweden and in about september/october everyone grow them in pots.
Very lovely one´s you show us and I like Mrs Donaldson at the most.
Hugs
Susanne

Larry said...

What a valuable post... I'm bookmarking it for future reference. I've tried heathers often in the past and had extremely poor luck... I would so love them mixed with my dwarf conifers, but our soil is also neutral and we are zone five. I truly appreciate the info that you've provided... may I ask what your source is on these cultivars? Than you, Larry

Diana LaMarre said...

Interesting plants that I am not very familiar with. I love the foliage as much as the flowers.

Autumn Belle said...

Lovely bushes. Nice names too!

Mark and Gaz said...

A lovely little collection of heather and heath there Cher :) Glad to see some doing well in alkaline soil too!

E said...

gorgeous! I love the names too!

Andrea said...

These are aliens in the tropics, but i saw some semblance in temperate climes. I love the names Heather and Heaths, my first time to hear such names. They are beautiful.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

I have never seen this plants before. So cute!

Paula said...

I have never seen these plants before - thanks for sharing the lovely blooms! Paula from Idaho

Christine @ Stonehouse Living said...

Hi Cher,
I love the texture and the unique little blooms. So nice and tidy.
Great focal impact in your garden. Thanks for sharing them!
All the Best,
Christine

Darla said...

Very interesting plants today.

The Darby Creek Diaries said...

Wow you sure pack alot into your garden! I wouldn't remember most of the varieties of my stuff. Is there anything you need that I might have tho?

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

Hi Cher
I enjoyed seeing all your named plants, to me that's important for reference and recommendations.
I'm not sure if I could grow these in our area even though I have the clay. Might have to just enjoy yours.
Judith

miruku said...

You use a lot of mulch that makes your garden always looks so neat. Beautiful plants. Great idea ;)

About JollyJilly said...

Hi im a new follower from the blog hop
I really enjoyed your blog and hope you will visit me over in the uk anytime
www.jollyjillys.blogspot.com

Diane at My Cottage Garden said...

Oh, they are stunning and colourful. I've definitely never seen these before they are very interesting to me!

Like an above poster said, the mulch you use really adds to the neatness of your garden.

Happy weekend to your, Cher.

About JollyJilly said...

Hi I'm already following from jollyjillys my blog is
http://www.jollyjillys.blogspot.com
Hope you will visit

Rebecca said...

Heather. I MUST try it. I appreciate your post. It has whetted my "appetite" to try some & see how they do in our soil here.

Jada Rocks said...

Happy Friday...This is such a peaceful blog. New follower from the boost:))

Forest Rose
http://homeschoolmama3.blogspot.com/

deb said...

Love those!!
*hugs*deb

Saucy Siciliana said...

Beautiful flowers, I didn't know Heather is a flower. I don't know much about flowers actually, except roses and daisies and carnations. But I have basil, rosemary and coriander on my balcony back home in Sicily. Luckily my husband remembers to water them, I don't have a green thumb. I do love gardens though. I'm following you from Rome, we're here for the summer. I found you through my friend melogranoantico and I'm following you from now. Have a nice weekend!

ANGEL said...

nice flowers sunray! never heard of them before, but they're very pretty. happy gardening!
~ANGEL~

GirlSprout said...

I've always wanted to grow heathers because they seem so romantic, but they don't do well here. Yours are so healthy. The Ken Wilson is a pretty shade of pink.

Kit Aerie-el said...

Love heathers, not just cuz of a Scottish background either! Yours look great!

Fishtail Cottage said...

Fabulous Heather (my middle name) i too enjoy Heather in the gardens - its a great filler & not to fussy! Thanks for sharing your gardne post this week at Cottage Flora Thursday's! xoox, tracie

louise said...

I like to plant heather in tubs and hanging baskets for winter colour. You can't beat seeing it in it's natural habitat like the Scottish Highlands.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Always good to meet fellow gardeners x

orchideya said...

Like them all, such lovely display. Ken Wilson is the best. And thank you for visiting my blog.

Sissy said...

Cher, I loved seeing those heathers! I don't think they do well, here, in the midwest...I rarely see them. We saw them when traveling the east coast, I think you hit on the head about the acidity, whatever your pH is, you got it right!
They almost look like sedum, don't you think?

Rosor och Pioner said...

Thank you for the tip, I´ll try a Sedum Angelina and hopefully it will make me like the "autumnchair"
better.
Have a nice weekend.

Hugs
Susanne

Marlee said...

Man I love a good garden, nice pics! Great blog, am a new follower :).

http://marleeindebt.blogspot.com/

Melynda@Scratch Made Food! said...

We have Heather in the front yard on the street side of the fence, some of them bloom, others not. I do like that they are hardy, you have to be to survive in my front yard!

Dig Brooklyn said...

I have been looking to add some evergreen shrubs to my garden and these are perfect, both in size and shape. Will they do well in dappled sun areas?

Anonymous said...

These look great Cher. I might try some later when I get the other things done I am doing, but it will be a while yet.
Craig

Terri @ A Creative Princess said...

What a beautiful blog! Thank you so much for linking up!

dorothy said...

I really like the texture and colors of those heaths. I don't think they will grow in our climate, but I enjoyed seeing the varities in your lovely garden! Happy Bloom Day!

JC said...

Hello, I found you blog on the Meet Me Monday Blog Hop & I'm a new GFC follower :)
http://www.savingwithsaveone.blogspot.com

very pretty photos :)

The Sage Butterfly said...

I like the feature of heath...so much texture and character. Happy GBBD!

Malar said...

I never seen this plant before! Very beautiful. Are those leaves pricky?

kitchen flavours said...

Beautiful flowers, have not seen these before. I like the Heath Williamskii, the contrast between the lovely pink flowers and their needle foliage is really strikingly beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

greggo said...

very interesting that they do well in your clay. They seem to rot out for me.

Donna Heber said...

Your heather and heaths are just gorgeous, especially the Ken Wilson! I did try to grow one years ago, but for some reason it didn't come back. I hope you are having a wonderful week.

Donna @ The House on the Corner said...

So wish I had a green thumb! I just love an environment that crowded with plants and fragrance!

Thanks so much for joining the Tuesday Train!

Jennifer @ Just Peachy in Dixie said...

Beautiful! You have such a lovely garden. I would love it if you would stop by my very first blog hop debuting today and share one of your great posts!

Have a wonderful day!

Olga Poltava said...

These plants are very pretty. I especially like the one in the second picture, such beautiful bright color.
Have a lovely day!

Unknown said...

What a pretty collection of Heathers. I've never attempted to grow them in my southern Ontario garden, but I should, They'd be great as stand-alone plants or along borders to break up the lavenders. Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
Lorraine at RomanticGardening.com And thank you for stopping by my blog earlier today.

Unknown said...

Absolutely Beautiful!

I wanted to stop by and thank you for participating in the Get Wired Blog Hop. I am following you.

Have a wonderful day!

Vickie
http://victoriasvoice44.blogspot.com

ann said...

Hi. I have come to you by way of Heather's Fields. What a sad post today about the brute of an Elk destroying her garden. I love your hydrangea and am quite curious as to your secret for getting them to do so well. I planted one last summer and it failed to come back this spring. I want to plant another one this fall. Any tips for zone 5 (Northern Colorado) on how to amend soil and protect it over the winter? Love your heathers too.

Sunray Gardens said...

Hi Ann. Hydrangeas depend on the type you get. I only buy the Hydrangea Paniculata. A lot of people buy the Macrophylla which doesn't do well here way too often. The ones I have listed do well up North. I don't amend my soil period. I have clay and I'm not going to try and make it anything else. It has to survive here period. :)
Any other questions please feel free to ask. You can email me also from my profile.
Cher