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* = picture + = Award of Garden Merit, UK |
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Erica carnea is one of the hardiest of heathers. Provides good winter color with its long blooming season. Established plants need little care. When spaced properly, they form a carpet for a good ground cover. Plants can be sheared lightly after flowers fade but not any later as flower buds are formed during the summer. Annual light shearing, especially while plants are young, makes for a bushier plant that does not form a bare, woody center with age. Most carneas are prostrate in habit and grow quickly. These are excellent for rock gardens, slopes and drifts of much needed winter color. New tip growth is often cream colored. Erica carnea are some of the easiest heathers to grow and thrive in almost any soil. Any winter damaged stems can be pruned in spring. Grows in Zone 3 if good snow cover but won’t catch much blooming under the snow.
Hardy to Zone 4 (-30 degrees) with protection and warmer. |