The RHS are to run an Award of Garden Merit trial of the top 88 commercially grown winter flowering Ericas, cultivars of Erica carnea, Erica x darleyensis and Erica erigena. The trial is to be planted up in September 2015, on two sites, in the south at Whitehall Nursery, Hampshire, and in the north at Threave Gardens, Dumfries & Galloway, a National Trust property.
Five one year old plants of each of the one hundred eighty-eight varieties will be planted (five hundred) (four hundred and forty) at each site. Threave will plant up the Ericas across five island beds, on an open, sloping elevated site. The soil is clay with a pH of 5.5. Ericas were successfully grown here previously. Varieties will be planted depending on flower and foliage colour, eventual height & spread, habit etc. as this will remain as a permanent display. At Whitehall Nursery the planting will be purely on a trial basis, A-Z by species, in separate one metre square blocks. The soil here is Bagshot sand, ideal for heathers. Also at Whitehall Nursery 3 plants of each of the 88 varieties will be grown in 7.5-Litre 3-Litre pots, in a proven peat free growing media.
List of 88 Ericas, click the cultivar names to get a complete description
Erica carnea
‘Adrienne Duncan’
‘Ann Sparkes’
‘Antje’
‘Atrorubra’
‘Aurea’
‘Aztec Gold’
‘Bell’s Extra Special’
‘Branton Bamford’
‘Challenger’
‘Claribelle’
‘Columbia’
‘December Red’
‘Diana Young’
‘Dorset Sunshine’
‘Eva’
‘Foxhollow’
‘Golden Starlet’
‘Heathwood’
‘Hilletje’
‘Ice Princess’
‘Isabell’
‘John Pook’
‘Kathy’
‘King George’
‘Lohses Rubin’
‘Loughrigg’
‘Margaret Benson’
‘March Seedling’
‘Memory’
‘Myretoun Ruby’
‘Nadja’
‘Nathalie’
‘Pink Spangles’
‘Porter’s Red’
‘R.B. Cooke’
‘Rosalie’
‘Rubinette’
‘Ruby Glow’
‘Saskia’
‘Schneekuppe’
‘Springwood Pink’
‘Springwood White’
‘Tanja’
‘Treasure Trove’
‘Vivellii’
‘Westwood Yellow’
‘Whitehall’
‘Winter Beauty’
‘Winterfreude’
‘Winter Rubin’
‘Winter Snow’
‘Wintersonne’
Erica × darleyensis
‘Bert’
‘Bing’
‘Darley Dale’
‘Epe’
‘Eva Gold’
‘Furzey’
‘George Rendall’
‘Ghost Hills’
‘Golden Perfect’
‘Jenny Porter’
‘Jack H. Brummage’
‘J. W. Porter’
‘Katia’
‘Kramers Rote’
‘Lena’
‘Lucie’
‘Margaret Porter’
‘Mary Helen’
‘Moonshine’
‘Phoebe’
‘Rubina’
‘Silberschmelze’
‘Snow Surprise’
‘Spring Surprise’
‘Tweety’
‘White Glow’
‘White Perfection’
‘White Spring Surprise’
‘Winter Surprise’
‘Winter Treasure’
Erica erigena
‘Brightness’
‘Golden Lady’
‘Irish Dusk’
‘Irish Salmon’
‘Thing Nee’
‘W.T. Rackliff’
RHS Award of Garden of Merit – click here to see criterea