The attraction of tree heathers

John N Anderson explains why tree heathers should be grown in more gardens

- John N Anderson

LOW-growing and wide-spreading hardy heathers are increasing in popularity all the time. And with good reason, for they are long-flowering, undemanding and are rarely attacked by pests or diseases. But to be effective they should be massed; unless on the small scale of a rock garden, one plant by itself looks very lonely.

Not so the tree heathers, those that grow to heights of 4-8ft [1.2-2.4m] – sometimes more in mild and wet parts of the country. Individual specimens or small groups can justify a place in the garden as well as any of the better known and more widely planted flowering shrubs. Although listed by most shrub nurserymen, the tree heathers are not seen as often as they might be.

All but one are winter or spring flowering. This one exception is Erica terminalis (also known as Corsican heath), an upright, branching shrub reaching 4-5ft [1.2-1.5m] high in most situations, and with a spread of 3-4ft [0.9-1.3m]. The mauve-pink flowers open in clusters at the tips of the new growths, beginning usually towards the end of June or early July and continuing well into autumn. In my Cornish garden the flowers show colour almost up to Christmas, given a mildish autumn, though by then the plant’s value lies in the russet-brown seed heads that top the light-green foliage and show up golden in the winter sunshine.

Summer flowering on limy soils

Erica terminalis is especially valuable because it is the only summer-flowering species, to my knowledge, that will grow well on limy soils. Although a native of Corsica and western Mediterranean coastal regions, it is hardy in all but the coldest parts of this country.