Heathers

Rose-pink (H7) flowers, VII–IX; dark green foliage; height 21–25cm; spread 46–60cm.

Seedling; raised by U. Schumacher (Winnekendonk, Lower Rhine, Germany) by 1971.

Name probably alludes to the colour of the flowers.

Ruby (H5) flowers, VII–XI; dark green foliage; height 16–20cm; spread 46–60cm. Has a distinctive flower colour and is a good ground-cover.

Wild-collected; found east of St Ives, Cornwall, England, by J. F. Letts (Windlesham, Surrey); introduced by J. F. Letts by 1964.

Named after the finder’s home and nursery, and the foliage colour.

Dusky rose-pink (H7) flowers, VI–X; dark green foliage; upright; height 26–30cm; spread 46–60cm. Despite its upright habit, it provides a neat ground-cover plant when pruned annually.

Wild-collected; found at Corfe Mullen, Dorset, England, before 1921; introduced by Maxwell & Beale (Broadstone, Dorset) in 1921.

Named after the finder, a maid employed by the Maxwell family.

Pale cerise (H6) flowers, VII–X; mid-green foliage; compact; height 21–25cm; spread 31–45cm.

Possible seedling; found by D. Waterer (Bagshot, Surrey, England) in 1954; introduced by Knap Hill nursery (Woking, Surrey) in 1965.

Named after Frederick H. D. Corston was a director of Knap Hill Nursery (Woking, Surrey) from 1968.

Striking ruby (H5) flowers, VIII–X; dark green foliage; sturdy habit; height 16–20cm; spread 21–25cm.

A seedling found in a batch of ‘C. D. Eason’ at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland, by 1960.

Named after the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, where it was raised, and the flower colour.

Magenta (H14) flowers, VI–VIII; dark green foliage, shoots especially when young with distinctive red tips; height 26–30cm; spread 46–60cm.

A sport on ‘C. D. Eason‘; found at Moniaive, Dumfries, Scotland by J. Wilson of Oliver & Hunter; introduced by Oliver & Hunter by 1970.

Named after a parish near Moniaive, Dumfries-shire, Scotland.

Pretty lavender (H3) flowers, VI–X, with ebony sepals and stalks; dark green foliage; spreading; height 26–30cm; spread 31–45cm.

Wild-collected; found in Dorset, England, by George Osmond by 1924; introduced by Maxwell & Beale (Broadstone, Dorset) in 1929.

Named after George Osmond who worked at Maxwell & Beale in the 1920; later he established his own nursery at Wickwar, Wooton under Edge (Gloucestershire).

Large purple (H10) flowers, VII–VIII, freely produced in long spikes; dark green foliage; broad erect habit; height 31–45cm; spread 46–60cm.

Commercially available in England about 1867 from Robert Veitch & Sons (Coombe Wood Nurseries, Exeter, Devon, England)

Named from grandiflorus = large-flowered

Purple (H10) flowers, VI–VIII; lime-green foliage, shading bronze in winter; tight prostrate habit; height 10–15cm; spread 31–45cm. Like ‘Guernsey Plum‘ and ‘Guernsey Purple‘, suitable for sink-gardens and small rockeries.

Wild-collected; found on Brecqhou, off Sark, in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, by David McClintock (Platt, Kent, England), and Ken Beckett (Stanhoe, Norfolk) in 1968; introduced by P. Zwijnenberg (Boskoop, Netherlands) in 1973.

Named after the Bailiwick of Guernsey, where it was collected, and the foliage colour.