Erica carnea
Winter heath
Common names: Spring heath, Snow heath
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −20 °C
- Pruning
- Mar–Apr
- Flowering
- Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec
- Spacing
- 35 cm, rows 35 cm
- Water need
- Medium
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Kurt Stüber [1] · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The winter heath, botanically Erica carnea, is an evergreen dwarf shrub that grows only 15 to 30 cm tall and spreads into flat mats up to 50 cm wide. Its fine, needle-like leaves stay green all year, and in the middle of winter, depending on the variety, from December to April, dense flower spikes appear in white, pink, red, or purple. On mild days, bees and bumblebees find some of their first food sources of the year here. The winter heath is native to the Alps and their foothills, where it grows in open pine forests and on limestone gravel. Unlike the common heather, it tolerates lime and therefore thrives in ordinary garden soil. It is used as a ground cover, in heather beds, in planters and balcony boxes, or for grave planting.
Care instructions
Plant the winter heath in spring or autumn in a sunny, at most lightly partly shaded spot with well-drained soil. Set several plants about 35 cm apart, and the area will close into a dense carpet after two to three years. In the first year, water thoroughly during dry spells; later, rain is usually sufficient. In winter, water on frost-free days when the soil is dry, because sun on frozen evergreen shoots dries them out. Cut the shoots back right after flowering, just below the flower clusters, to keep the plant dense. Waterlogging is the most common mistake, as the plant rots in heavy, wet soil. Too much shade and pruning only in summer also reduce flowering.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringJan–Apr, Dec
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, sandy, lean, humus-rich
Winter heath grows in free-draining, sandy, humus-rich soil that is rather lean than nutrient-rich. Among the heathers it is an exception, because it tolerates lime and thrives at pH values from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline. What matters is that water drains away: on heavy soils mix in sand or fine grit and plant it slightly raised.
Feeding
Light feeder
Winter heath is undemanding and needs no fertiliser in the bed. On very poor sand, after pruning you can scatter a thin layer of mature compost or horn shavings every few years; in a container, give a sparing top-up once after flowering. Too much food makes the shoots soft and reduces flowering.
Pruning
Cut winter heath every year straight after flowering, in March or April depending on the variety. Shorten the faded shoots just below the flower spikes and leave the wood that still has leaves. Do not cut only in summer, because then you remove the buds for the next flowering. Winter heath regrows poorly from old, bare wood.
Overwintering
Winter heath is fully hardy and flowers in the middle of winter. Frost and snow do not bother it, and in the bed you need to do nothing. Dryness on sunny frosty days becomes a problem: then water on frost-free days when the soil is dry. In a container, stand the pot against a sheltered house wall and wrap it in fleece so the root ball does not freeze through.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
The easiest way to propagate winter heath is by layering. It often lays its shoots on the ground by itself and roots them there. Separate such shoots in spring or autumn and plant them in a new place. Cuttings also work: in July or August, cut non-flowering shoot tips 3 to 5 cm long, remove the lower leaflets and insert them into sandy soil. Bright but out of blazing sun and evenly moist, they root after a few weeks. Propagate varieties only in these ways, so that they come true to variety.
For your garden
Grow Winter heath yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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