Heathers

‘African Phoenix’ (=Erica verticillata)

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Tall, erect shrub, average height 1.8m, old specimens to 2.5m; 1.2–1.4m broad. Flowers medium pink, tubular, 18mm long, to 4mm diameter, in terminal, 3-, 4- or 5-flowered umbels, on very short lateral branches arranged in whorls. Synflorescences neat, spike-like, each with up to 6 whorls of flowering branches, on strong, erect, main branches; terminal apex of the stem continuing growth. Non-flowering lateral branches on the main flowering stems in whorls of 5. Foliage green; leaves to 5mm long. Seed produced.

Origins: clone from Protea Park, Pretoria; cutting taken and introduced to Kirstenbosch in 1984 (accession number 536/84); used for planting in Rondevlei Nature Reserve in 1994 where it has produced seedlings.

Being of South African origin the plant is not regarded as hardy in the UK and is preferably grown in a pot, using ericaceous compost, and brought into a frost free, light and airy environment during the winter months.

® E.2012:05  registered by Anthony Hitchcock, Nursery, Plant Collections & Threatened Species Program Manager Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden.

‘Gnome’

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White flower, shy bloomer; foliage dark green with lighter green tips; height 20cm; spread 35cm.

Raised and introduced by J. W. Sparkes (Beechwood Nursery, Beoley, Redditch, Worcestershire, England) before 1964

So named because of its habit.

‘Michael Sellers’

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Flowers corolla magenta (H14), 6mm long x 3mm diameter; calyx magenta (H14), 4mm long; anthers brown; I -IV(V); foliage: mid to dark green; young growth cream; habit: vigorous plant, spreading to 0.6m, to 0.4m tall, after 10 years (not pruned). Similar to ‘Kramers Rote’ but with brighter flowers and cream new growth.

Origins: Seedling (EES 77-1) raised in 1977 and selected in 1979 by Barry Sellers from among seedlings of Erica erigena ‘Superba’ that had been deliberately cross-pollinated;
pollen parent not recorded but probably Erica carnea ‘Myretoun Ruby’.

Named by Barry Sellers after his late father.

® E.2016:03  registered by Barry Sellers, Norbury, England.

‘Low White’

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White flowers; VIII-X;  foliage green with slight bluish tinge; habit low, flat; height 10cm; spread 30 cm.  One of the best, creeping varieties.

‘Josi’

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❁ Bright red flowers; VIII-IX; foliage dark green; habit erect; height 30cm; spread 40cm.

‘Susie’s Blush’

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Buds relatively long and narrow, slightly curved; corolla white at base flushed pale pink towards tip (deeper pink in bud); style tip dark red; anthers brown (darker than ‘Shining Light’). Flowers: (June) July–September in cultivation. Bushy heather which responds well to pruning, with vigorous upright shoots to 0.35m tall, to 0.5m across (after 8 years in cultivation; pruned); leaves densely and evenly arranged on shoots, bright green, paler than ‘Shining Light’; marginal cilia may be gland-tipped.

A selection from wild plants growing near Cabo de Peñas, Asturias, northern Spain, noticed by members of The Heather Society during a field trip in 2007.

Named as a compliment to Susie Kay, Conference Manager of The Heather Society, in whose Connemara garden it has been grown, and who has propagated it.

® E.2016:02 registered by The Heather Society.

‘Pat Turpin’

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Flowers, magenta (H14) above and mauve (H2) below and are produced continously throughout summer and autumn; VII-XI; foliage Grey-green.

Seedling, selected from a deliberate cross between Erica andevalensis and Erica tetralix ‘Foxhome’; raised by Kurt Kramer.

Registered in 1991, registration no. 100 (see Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (10): 68). Named as a tribute, on his retirement, to Major-General P. G. Turpin CB, OBE (1911-1996), who served as chairman of The Heather Society for 15 years (1977-1992) (see Yearbook of The Heather Society 1997: 1-4). This clone was formerly placed in Erica x stuartii, but as Erica andevalensis is regarded as a separate, distinct species that name is not correct, and no new binomial has been published.

‘Stoeke’

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Flowers beautiful dark pink; foliage grey-green; height 25cm.

Found in 2004 by J. Baron as a seedling in his garden in Nieuw-Weerdinge, Netherlands.

“Stoeke is een aantal van 10 turven twee bij twee opgestapeld” ( … is a quantity of peat, ten
turves stacked two by two).

‘Jana’

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❁ Double flowers darker red than ‘Annemarie‘; IX–X; dark green foliage; height 46–60cm; spread 46–60cm.

Sport on ‘Annemarie‘; found by Jürgen de Vries (Apen, Germany); introduced in 1998.

‘Pink Melanie’

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♤ Pink buds(H8).

Recorded and bred by Kurt Kramer, Edammer Straße 26, D-26188, Edewecht-Süddorf, Germany. 27.01.1998.

Kurt Kramer, EU PBR given on 23.03.2000.