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About Hardy Shrub Roses
About Heathers
About Flowering Crabs
wildlife habitat
Annuals Biennials Perennials
Culinary Herbs
The Healing Herbs
The Fragrant Herbs
Shakespearean and Bible Herbs
Do you Really Need A Tiller
Insect Attack
Flowers for Cutting
Pruning Pointers
Houseplants Clean the Air
Recipes Fresh from the Garden
The Gold Plated Gardener
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| About Heathers |
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| Heathers have finally come into their own in Central Maine. A mature heather bed in almost any season can take your breath away! These unique plants truly have three-season interest. Their foliage begins as one color in early spring, and deepens and intensifies as the season progresses. From July through September, they burst into colorful bloom. Coming into fall, the foliage hues change again, and the combinations of bloom and foliage color are almost limitless. Given the wide array of height (6" to 20"), habit (upright, arching, mounded, spreading) foliage color (green through gray-green through gold, orange and red) and flower color (white through every nuance of pinks and purples), heathers can be massed in a single bed, underplanted around other shrubs, or placed in the perennial bed...and will furnish three-season interest wherever they are! Because they are, technically, evergreen sub-shrubs, they require a winter mulch of pine needles and boughs in Zone 4 to protect against the drying effect of sun and wind. Their tips must be pruned back about 6" in early spring to promote branching and flowering. Other than that, they are virtually maintenance-free. Plant in acid, humus-rich but well-drained soil, and water weekly the first growing season. Heathers are happy in full sun but will tolerate light shade. A word about price. Most nurseries offer heathers in 4" pots, but expect the price to be higher than, say, a perennial in the same size pot. Remember that what you are purchasing is actually a shrub, very slow-growing when young. The plant in that 4" pot may already be 3-4 years old. However, once in the ground, your heathers will rapidly fill out and reach mature size in three to five years. So don't crowd them! Read the description on each plant so as to be sure to allow them enough space at maturity. |
| Palmyra | ME | 04965-4033 |
 shepherdsgdn@hotmail.com |
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| Visitors: 01579 |