Heather News Quarterly

Volume 34 Number 4 Issue #136 Fall 2011 North American Heather Society

Your guess is as good as mine Donald Mackay...... 1

Editing the heather garden Ella May T. Wulff...... 6

In memoriam: Judith Wiksten Ella May T. Wulff...... 18

My other favorite heathers Irene Henson...... 19

Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ Pat Hoffman...... 24

Misleading advertising department...... 27

Calendar...... 28

Index 2011...... 28

North American Heather Society Membership Chair Ella May Wulff, Knolls Drive 2299 Wooded Philomath, OR 97370-5908 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED issn 1041-6838 Heather News Quarterly, all rights reserved, is published quarterly by the North American Heather Society, a tax exempt organization. The purpose of The Society The Information Page is the: (1) advancement and study of the botanical genera Calluna, Cassiope, Daboecia, , and Phyllodoce, commonly called heather, and related genera; (2) How to get the latest heather information dissemination of information on heather; and (3) promotion of fellowship among BROWSE NAHS website – www.northamericanheathersociety.org those interested in heather. READ Heather News Quarterly by NAHS CHS NEWS by CHS Heather Clippings by HERE NAHS Board of Directors (2010-2011) Heather Drift by VIHS Heather News by MCHS Heather Notes by NEHS Heather & Yon by OHS PRESIDENT ATTEND Society and Chapter meetings (See The Calendar on page 28) Karla Lortz, 502 E Haskell Hill Rd., Shelton, WA 98584-8429, USA 360-427-5318, [email protected] How to get published in Heather News Quarterly FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT CONTACT Stefani McRae-Dickey, Editor of Heather News Quarterly Don Jewett, 2655 Virginia Ct., Fortuna, CA 95540, USA [email protected] 541-929-7988. 754 Wyatt Lane, 707-725-1394, [email protected] SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT Philomath,OR 97370-9022 OK for ideas and last-minute news. Pat Hoffman, PO Box 305, Swedesboro, NJ 08085-0305, USA DEADLINES 21st March, June, September, and December 856-467-4711, [email protected] How to pay membership dues SECRETARY Susan Ewalt, 2850 Sykes Creek Road, Rogue River, OR 97537, USA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS include an electronic subscription to the Quarterly, participation 541-582-3338, [email protected] in Society meetings and elections; borrowing privileges for book library and slide TREASURER programs; discounts from Storefront, some nurseries. John Calhoun, 31100 Country Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437, USA DUES NAHS: $15/year, $28/2 years, $40/3 years with electronic newsletter. 707-964-0804, [email protected] To receive mailed copies of the newsletter add: PAST PRESIDENT $11/year in US, $15/year in Canada, $22/year outside of US and Canada Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95410-0673, USA Chapter dues can be paid when paying NAHS dues, by adding: 707-937-3155, Fax 707-964-3114, [email protected] CHS $5/year; HERE(1 person), MCHS, OHS, VIHS $10/year; HERE(family), DIRECTORS NEHS $15/year Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95410-0673, USA REMIT TO John Calhoun, NAHS Treasurer 707-937-3155, Fax 707-964-3114, [email protected] 31100 Country Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 Mendocino Coast Heather Society (MCHS) (707) 964-0804, Ramona Bloomingdale, P.O. Box 1136, Gold Beach, OR 97444-1136, USA 541-247-6017, [email protected] DETAILS Ella May T. Wulff, Membership Chair Oregon Heather Society (OHS) [email protected], 541-929-6272, NAHS website Don Jewett, 2655 Virginia Ct., Fortuna, CA 95540, USA 2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370-5908, USA 707-725-1394, [email protected] Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire (HERE) How to buy from The Storefront Karla Lortz, Shelton, 502 E Haskell Hill Rd., Shelton, WA 98584-8429, USA BROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersociety.org CONTACT Ella May T. Wulff, Storefront Manager, (Address: see above.) 360-427-5318, [email protected] Cascade Heather Society (CHS) Joyce Prothero, 281 Cudmore Hts, Saltspring Island, BC V8K 2J7, Canada How to borrow books from the NAHS library Phone/Fax 250-537-9215, [email protected] CONTACT Sharon Hardy, 50 Del Point Drive, Klamath, CA 95548-9331, USA. Vancouver Island Heather Society (VIHS) [email protected], 707-482-6755, NAHS website Mary Matwey, 7 Heights Court, Binghamton, NY 13905, USA 607-723-1418, [email protected] How to borrow slide programs Northeast Heather Society (NEHS) CONTACT Janice Leinwebber (Slide Librarian for members in USA) 8268 S. Gribble Road, Canby, OR 97013, USA Board Appointments (For details, see inside back cover) [email protected], 503-263-2428, or NAHS website

Sharon Hardy - Book Librarian Elaine Scott (Slide Librarian for members in Canada) Janice Leinwebber - Slide Librarian for United States 2836 Oceanside Lane, Mill Bay, BC V0R 2P2, CAN. Stefani McRae-Dickey - Editor, Heather News Quarterly [email protected], 250-743-0965, NAHS website Elaine Scott - Slide Librarian for Canada Ella May T. Wulff - Membership Chair, Storefront Manager How to contribute to the NAHS website COVER: Design, Joyce Descloux BROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersociety.org IMAGE: Erica carnea ‘Pink Spangles’ CONTACT Karla Lortz, See inside front cover.

HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 Your guess is as good as mine Calendar Donald Mackay 135 Deerfield Lane, Pleasantville, NY 10570-1401 August, 7-11, 2012 [email protected] NAHS Conference, Shelton WA The title is the easiest evasive answer to why a few of Mary Matwey’s gray-foliaged callunas developed non-brittle brown foliage on Index 2011 by Author stems on one side of the . Actually, it is not, since I have Canovan, Richard The future of Cherrybank Gardens 134:23 spent interminable time trying to find an answer. However, there Ewalt, Susan A special man 133: 9 may not be an answer: meaning that your unrefined guess is as Gardner , Ben Tall Heathers 135:24 likely to be right as my most carefully constructed one. One is Henson, Irene My other favorite heathers 136:19 not so much right in picking the winning lottery number as just Hoffman, Pat Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ 136:24 Kay, Susie Mingling 135: 4 plain lucky. Lortz , Karla Reflections on David Small 133: 2 Mackay, Donald David Small: reflections on a giant 133:10 This philosophical self-flagellation is the result of trying to Mackay, Donald The Plants of Acadia National Park 135:21 determine why heather should suddenly lose their green Mackay, Donald Second thoughts on pruning 133: 6 color, leaving a brown stem with a little green tuft of foliage on Mackay, Donald Your guess is as good as mine 136: 1 Matwey, Mary Calluna vulgaris ‘Amethyst’ 134:11 top. There is obviously the potential for loss of all leaves, leaving Nelson, E. Charles No News? 135: 2 bare stems and, in the background, the more ominous potential Plumridge, David David Small – A Personal Appreciation 133: 4 for eventual loss of all stems and death of the . However, Plumridge, David Some thoughts on mingling 135: 6 induviae (persistent withered leaves) are usual on some plants, Taylor, Bryan David Small as educator 133: 6 e.g., beech and elm. Taylor, Bryan Pruning Erica × darleyensis 134: 2 Wiksten, Judy David Small, no Pooh-Bah 133: 7 Wilson , David Arctic wind: A cold killer 134:13 It is tempting to think that the cause lies in a plant disease caused Wilson , David Long-distance collaboration with David Small by a microbial infection, more likely a fungal than a bacterial 133: 3 one: perhaps three-quarters of plant diseases are fungally caused. Wulff, Ella May T. Editing the heather garden 136: 6 But a plant – even our nearly impregnable heathers – can suffer Wulff, Ella May T. In memoriam: Jos Flecken 135:19 from other causes. Among them are stresses caused by unsuitable Wulff, Ella May T. In memoriam: Judith Wiksten 136:18 Wulff, Ella May T. The irreplaceable David Small 133:12 soil, unsuitable location, unsuitable weather, and unsuitable Wulff, Ella May T. Mingling – or mugging? 135: 9 expectations on the part of the gardener. But while soil and location can set the stage, it is often the vagaries of weather that can bring the sudden change of condition that we see and attribute Annals of the World Wide Web 135:23 to disease; though the disease, even if there, may or may not be Annual Financial Report 135:27 Misleading advertising department 136:27 causal, just incidental. NAHS Board minutes 133:24 There are hundreds of microbial agents in your garden waiting for the opportunity to infect your plants. As with humans, the

28 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 1 healthier your plant is, the less likely it will be to succumb to Misleading advertising department attack. If, however, it is stressed by unsuitable location (too much dampness, too little air circulation) or poor nutrition, or insect How many mistakes were you able to find in the big box store damage, or mechanical damage (due to ice or snow or wind- advertisement reproduced on p. 26 of the summer 2011 Heather blown sand or even rough handling, any of which can provide the News Quarterly? entry point for disease), the plant will suffer. On top of all these possibilities is the obvious one that the plant shed its leaves for We found the following: its own good reasons, perhaps to conserve moisture, or to balance root and resources, or just to get rid of leaves that have lost “Mediterranean Heather” – this is the incorrect and extremely their functionality due to disease, drought or cold weather. The misleading common name sometimes given to Erica x darleyensis, last two are unlikely candidates for causing leaf drop in early but the plants pictured are Calluna. We count this as two errors. fall after a very hot and rather wet summer, so it is reasonable to suspect some disease vector is present. Plants that lose some of “cascading foliage” – the two shown are upright their root function due to Phytophthora root rot are likely to lose varieties. leaves even though the attack is on the roots and not on the leaves directly. “Excellent for winter gardens•Blooms winter to spring” – plants pictured are summer bloomers. Leaves that turn brown and persist may reflect a different condition from leaves that turn brown, become brittle and drop off. I expect The advertisers do give themselves some wiggle room in the ad: that brown leaves will eventually dehisce (the fancy word for fall “Actual plant material at store may vary.” Somehow, we don’t off), but I well recall the futile wait for the dark brown interior think that they meant it to vary quite so much from what was foliage of many yellow-foliaged callunas to dry and remove itself described. We NAHS members definitely have our work cut out from view. The brown, discolored foliage that detracted from our for us in educating the general public about heathers. enjoyment of the yellow foliage was always interior to the plant, the outside being little or not affected. If you found other errors in this advertisement, please let Stefani McRae- Dickey know what they are. We’ll print them in the winter 2012 issue. When leaves of a plant are affected, the condition is usually called a blight. Some pest control manuals describe blight as leaf loss, If you come across other misleading or incorrect information/advertising but the term has been broadened to cover many kinds of plant about heathers in the media, please send it to [email protected]. damage. Another common cause of leaf loss is attributed to mildew, which can be powdery, downy, gray or some other color depending on the organism producing the symptoms. But, once again, the mildew can be subsequent to insect attack that allows the fungus easy entry and growth on plant exudates to produce Authors, photographers and illustrators submitting work for publication in Heather News Quarterly implicitly agree that such work may also be published the visible mycelial webs we call mildew, which can collapse to on the NAHS website or in other NAHS eductional materials, and reprinted reveal the brown remains of the leaf. by NAHS chapters for educational purposes. Any other use will require separate permission from the author, photographer It is worth noting that Mary’s affected plants were the hairy-leaved or illustrator.

2 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 27 it came time to review and name the 9,000 photos that I took in ones that give a gray or silvery look to heather foliage. Beijerinck, in 2011, I did question my reason for taking so many shots.) his monograph on Calluna, tried hard to subdivide C. vulgaris into different , but the only division he found some evidence As you might imagine, I cannot pass by the colorful heathers at the for was to put the hairy-leaved callunas into a . If the nursery without taking pictures of them. We presently grow 15 to leaf loss we are discussing is, indeed, confined to callunas with 20 varieties of Calluna and Erica in 2.5-gallon pots, and many of hairy foliage, then there may be a genetic basis for what appears the callunas are in my favorite colorful-foliage category. Although to be susceptibility to a disease that causes loss of leaf function. the callunas in my garden may never reach even half the size of However, Mary says that no other silver/gray heather was affected, those in other parts of the world, I am quite lucky to enjoy many only ‘Silver Knight’ and ‘Silver Queen’. beautiful specimens at the nursery (photo page 15). Beijerinck studied Calluna leaves very carefully and noted the      multiplicity of leaf forms, even on the same plant, finding at least twelve of them. For the hairy forms, he proposed the name hirsuta, NAHS Store with subdivisions for typica (white to greyish felted leaves with long hairs) and pilosa (the short-haired gray-green foliage forms with typical white ). However, I found no mention of leaf Back issues of the Heather News Quarterly are available for purchase type affecting either the susceptibility or resistance to disease. at the following prices (postage not included): When you refer to heather texts, even the recent one by Small 2009 and 2010 @ $2.50 per issue ($10/year). Some issues are in short and Wulff (2008), you find some, but not all, of the symptoms supply. reported by Mary. In Gardening with Hardy Heathers, fungal blight 2003 through 2008 @ 2 per issue ($8/year). caused by Botrytis cinerea is characterized “as if a blow torch had Issues from 2002 and earlier years @$1 per issue. Not all years and been applied to the tips.” In Mary’s case, it is the stem leaves that issues available. have turned brown; it is the tops that are showing new growth. Small (1997) wrote an excellent article that points to Rhizoctonia and Pythium fungi, perhaps due to nursery practices, causing leaf Hardy Heather Cultivars Originating in North America loss on lower growth of heathers. The brown discoloration due A few copies left of this 24-page booklet compiled by Joyce Prothero to the former can affect all stems of stressed plants in humid for the Third International Heather Conference (2008). Describes 70 conditions, but the latter tends to affect only some of them. With cultivars, most illustrated with a color photograph. Nursery sources Rhizoctonia, the dead foliage harbors the fungus and can cause included. $5 each plus postage. further infection. Remove the plant, at least to a remote location, if Rhizoctonia is suspected. Before ordering, please send inquiries about availability and postage costs to: My vote goes to the description I’ve read last, which is of thread mold (Rhizoctonia solani). Describe a disease and I shall be sure to find my plants at risk from it. Ella May Wulff ([email protected]) 2299 Wooded Knolls Drive, Philomath, OR 97370, Some years ago, sudden leaf loss in heathers growing close to the

26 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 3 car park at Mendocino Botanical Garden was tentatively attributed Chapman’, ‘Roland Haagen’, ‘Sesam’, ‘Sunset’, and ‘Wickwar to car exhaust. Samples sent out to the California State Extension Flame’. When it comes to foliage, yellow seems to be my color of Service came back with the finding that Pestalotia was the only choice. Besides heaths and heathers, I also enjoy yellow-foliaged fungus that could be cultured from the submitted samples. Little Spiraea (‘Ogon’ and ‘Golden Elf’ are favorites), as well as Sorbaria attention was paid by the horticultural community to this result, ‘Sem,’ and Weigela ‘Ghost’. I am attracted to variegated plants, as the finding being tentative and Pestalotia then unknown as a well. heather pest. If I must choose a favorite heather , it will have to be a heath Since then, there have been sporadic reports of a fungus called that I have been growing and enjoying for the last six years. While Pestalotiopsis, a name that means only “resembling Pestalotia.” attending the 2006 NEHS Conference on Cape Cod, I purchased More recently, Pestalotiopsis was definitely identified by a Scottish E. carnea ‘Golden Starlet.’ I planted it along the outside of my laboratory as being a cause of losses experienced by UK heather courtyard in full sun. This heath is a lovely shade of yellow most nurseries. The fear was expressed that this fungus was being of the year, but in winter it appears greener and is also loaded with spread by the commercial distribution system, the problem arising white flowers. (See photo page 15.) from the techniques used to accelerate growth and bring cuttings quickly to a saleable size. This plant has slowly grown into a beautiful, faithful plant. It stayed compact and petite for its first four years in my garden, a little My discovery of this latest finding through the aid of Wikipedia gem. Recently, it has begun to fill out and is now approximately was only moderately rewarding, but I did get the impression 24” wide and 12” tall. Luckily, I planted my ‘Golden Starlet’ that Pestalotia and Pestalotiopsis are actually the same fungus, along the border of a six-foot-wide bed. It loves this location and the suggestion being made that both names revert to honoring must enjoy the sandy loam from many previous plants, as well as Pestalozzi. Wikipedia is helpful but not authoritative; but I feel an annually replenished layer of mulch. Some of its gardening that it is on the right track. Pestalotia (Pestalotiopsis) has not made companions in this bed are Clematis, various Delosperma, black it into the heather texts, but maybe it should. mondo grass (Ophiopogon), blue Salvia, low growing sedums, and Spiraea. There are at least two major types of plant hormones that govern the functionality of leaves beyond the primary one, photosynthesis. ‘Golden Starlet’ has never let me down. The color always catches These hormones are called abscissic acid and cytokinin. They are my eye, and I have given it absolutely no care: no trimming, no produced mainly in the roots, and their amounts and movements removal of dead branches (I have never noticed any), and no in plant tissue allow no simple one-on-one equation. Both seem sheared-off branches from deer browsing. involved in a complicated manner with regulating the function of the guard cells that line the leaf stomata – the pores, often at I have the privilege of enjoying many thousands of varieties of leaf edges (but not in heather), that regulate the passage of water plants daily at Overdevest Nurseries, the wholesale nursery or water vapor in or out of the leaf. These regulate leaf turgor, in Bridgeton, N.J. where I work. My job entails ordering all of closing to prevent water loss in dry conditions, opening to get rid the plant liners (plugs) for growing on each season, plus taking of excess moisture. pictures of all of the plants in the nursery when they are looking their best: for our website, catalog, and plant label use. Yes, I have At some time in the life of the plant (annually for temperate the perfect job for an avid gardener. (A few months ago, when

4 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 25 Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ deciduous plants), abscission cells in the leaf stalk start to grow to shut off the flow of water and nutrients to the leaf. As the leaf dies, Pat Hoffman underlying pigments are revealed, and the leaf is shed. A brown P.O. Box 305, Swedesboro, NJ 08085 [email protected] leaf that is not shed is a strong indicator that something has gone wrong in the natural process of aging. Callunas are evergreen, Growing my favorite plants, heathers, in the Mid-Atlantic States is which doesn’t mean that leaves are kept forever, only that new not easy. (Choosing a favorite heather is even harder.) The hot, leaves before the old ones are shed. humid summers, lack of significant snowfall in winter (except Browning of Calluna leaves can be seen most obviously in yellow- recently in 2010 and 2011), and hungry deer make a gardener foliaged plants, where presumably self-shading causes interior wonder if it is worth it. After seeing the beautiful, large heathers foliage to become brown or even black but to remain flexible and in the Pacific Northwest while attending the 3rd International attached to the stem. Yellow-foliaged heathers vary considerably Heather Conference, upon my return home I wondered about my in their tendency to form dark interiors, but a disease scenario has love for my small, meager plants. Always enjoying a challenge, I yet to be proposed to account for this. Self-shading is a plausible decided even the small, somewhat attractive plants that I can grow answer for the brown interior of yellow-foliaged heathers but is are better than none. hardly applicable to the exterior stems of Mary’s silver-foliaged plants. In 1996, I planted my first 15 heathers, which were purchased from Rock Spray Nursery. Out of those 15, there is one survivor sixteen In order to finish on a positive note, let me recount what happened years later. Although this plant is not my favorite, it definitely is a when Mary took her diseased plant to the doctor. “Don’t worry, hardy plant in southern New Jersey and gives me hope for others. Mary. I know exactly what the problem is.” “Yes?” said Mary This lone survivor, Erica x darleyensis ‘Darley Dale’, is now four to breathlessly. “Yes,” said the doctor. “It’s exactly the same as last five feet wide. About five years ago, it developed a large hole in time.” the center. I thought about planting another heather in the center to fill the hole, but instead I just left it alone. Today I am happy to Note: Growers of Erica carnea have probably, like me, seen say that it has completely filled in. leaf damage and even loss on some plants as the end of winter approaches. The foliage looks grayish and dried out, as if the If I could successfully grow my favorite heathers, they would be branches had split or broken; but it eventually recovers, probably callunas with yellow/chartreuse foliage that changes to crimson red by growth of new foliage rather than by resuscitation of the old. in the fall. I would not care if they even had flowers (with small, It’s hard to tell. Whether this is the same problem, or even the meager plants, the flowers don’t show up that well anyway). The same or related fungal problem, I have little idea. Be sure to write beautiful foliage is all I need! I can dream of my six-acre farmette if you think you have the answer. Your guess could be much better ablaze with changing colors all year long. What a sight that would than mine. be, especially in a region where heathers are scarce in gardens and garden centers. Oh, well. I guess I shall have to settle for small Mackay, Donald. 1994. Decussate Leaves. Heather News 17(3): 27–ibc. clumps of color here and there in my various garden beds. Small, David. 1997. Fungal Diseases of Heathers. Heather News 20(2): 9–12. Small, David and E.M.T. Wulff. 2008. Gardening with Hardy Heathers. Portland/London: Timber Press. Some of the color-changing callunas I have grown (and will Note: A condensed version of this article may be found in Heather Notes 22(1). continue to grow) are ‘Blazeaway’, ‘Cuprea’, ‘Firefly’, ‘Robert 24 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 5 Editing the heather garden ‘Winterfreude’ has to ‘Kramers Rote’ is the deep grey-green color of its foliage. These plants usually are only about 6” to 8” tall, with an approximate spread of 16” to 18” (again, in England at Ella May T. Wulff age four), and they have a neat, tidy, rounded growth habit. All 2299 Wooded Knolls Drive, Philomath, OR 97370 [email protected] of the E. carnea cultivars in my yard have masses of flowers every year and are extremely hardy, but they tend to be relatively slow Say “editor”, and people assume that you are referring to a person growing. who works for a newspaper or publishing company. Editors polish the writing of others. My favorite summer heather – hands down, no contest – is the lovely Daboecia cantabrica ‘Arielle’. ‘Arielle’ has large, intensely Could a different word better convey the author’s meaning? Would bright, hot pink flowers, and the plants start their show inmy moving a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or even a chapter make garden by mid to late May. My original plants were planted four or the work flow better, its message more cohesive? Does a comma five years ago, and they bloomed the first year they were planted. I need to be added or deleted to avoid confusing the reader? A was pleasantly surprised to see a few blossoms continuing through skilled editor can turn a good but rough manuscript into a great mid November even after a couple of light frosts, and they’ve book. continued to be reliable for color from May through November since then. A few years ago, I stuck some starts after the early Long-time gardeners are often accomplished editors: moving, spring trimming. Apparently this cultivar roots easily, because I removing, adding, or replacing plants that have proven to be was blessed with many thriving plants from these cuttings. In September 2011, I used some of these plants to extend the original unsatisfactory where they were planted. Garden editing can be bed and also planted 35 to 40 in a new bed on the south end of driven by a number of factors: the death or disfiguring disease the yard. Many of them rewarded me by flowering within two to of a plant, plants outgrowing their allotted spaces or to sizes four weeks of being planted. Maybe they would have flowered in significantly out of balance with the rest of the garden, encroaching the pots, anyway, but it was a real joy to see them flowering in the shade as nearby trees grow or, conversely, exposure to full sunlight ground – until the local rabbits found my new plants and gave at when a source of shade is removed. least half of them a severe “hair cut” that included those lovely blossoms. Sometimes a major rewrite, er, redesign, is required – more than switching out a few plants here and there – when the primary use There are many other heather cultivars in my garden, and I enjoy of the garden changes or the gardener must face the limitations all of them. However, the ones mentioned here are definitely “My of advancing age and/or physical disabilities. Unlike the work Favorite Heathers”. of a literary editor, the work of a garden editor is never finished. 1 Whether next week or next year, the garden will require additional Henson, Irene. 2009. Calluna vulgaris ‘Winter Chocolate’. Heather News Quarterly 32 (1): 17–20. editing. 2 Small, David and Anne Small. 2001. The Heather Society’s Handy Guide to A garden is all about harmony. When there is the right balance of Heather. Ipswich: The Heather Society. shape, size, texture, and color, the garden will “feel” right. When 3 Irene Henson is not alone in her admiration for ‘Firefly’. Barbara Allison wrote about one or more of these elements is out of balance, the garden will it as her favorite cultivar. See Heather News Quarterly 33 (2): 25. be either boring or jarring – not a tranquil or intriguing place that

6 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 23 to four years’ growth, and I kept wondering how I could soften entices you to linger or return. that summer foliage. Suddenly, I had an epiphany. I envisioned a couple rows of E. x darleyensis ‘White Perfection’ planted next Choosing companion plants that will be lasting assets to a heather to ‘Robert Chapman. And that’s what materialized. So ‘Robert garden is not easy. Most hardy heathers are low growing, finely Chapman’ has been spared the spade and is again giving us a textured mounds. Companion plants for these heathers therefore spectacular autumn foliage display, this time next to the winter should have at least one attribute that differs significantly from flowering ‘White Perfection’, the perfect companion for this short, fine, and mounding. calluna in both summer and winter. Plants in the Kniphofia (pronounced “Kih-NIP-HOF-ee-ah”) Other winter blooming heathers enliven dreary autumn and differ from heathers in all three attributes. Their leaves are grass- winter days in my heather garden. Foremost among them is E. like – long and narrow, and may be either stiff or quite flexible darleyensis ‘Kramers Rote’. My original three were planted five x and drooping. The basal rosettes of those with drooping leaves years ago. ‘Kramers Rote’ is the one I measure all other winter can mound up, but the mound illusion quickly disappears when bloomers against for length of bloom time, color (including intensity of color), and hardiness. This is a fabulous plant, and they begin to . The common name “red hot poker” refers if I could have only one plant that blooms in winter, it would be to the shape of the strongly vertical bloom spikes, which rise well ‘Kramers Rote’. When this cultivar is blooming, the plants brighten above the foliage, and to the color of the flowers of the more up the dreariest of winter days with masses of glowing magenta commonly grown species, e.g., K. caulescens. I personally prefer flowers. Here in the mid-Willamette Valley, I always see the few kniphofias with yellow, green, or white flowers, which I think are first blossoms opening by mid October. Generally the plants are more pleasing with heather purples than the fiery red-orange hues in full bloom by mid to late December and last at least until late of typical pokers ( photo page 14). March or early April. The foliage is a deep grey-green year round, with a bronze cast in the winter. Its bushy growth habit is much When the late Jim Thompson bought the Manchester, California broader than tall, rounded, and dense. The largest plant in this property that became the most photographed heather garden group is now 16” x 34”. in North America, he inherited some of these striking plants. Jim had the great wisdom to leave the kniphofias in place and Another winter wonder I’m incorporate them into his heather garden. They were still in that delighted with is E. carnea garden when I visited it in 2010, and they still looked wonderful ‘Winterfreude’. I planted the standing sentinel among the waves of heather Jim created. original plants three years ago, rooted several of their cuttings For my garden, in addition to choosing cultivars with green, the following spring, and yellow, or white flowers (sometimes all three colors on the same planted those starts last fall in a spike as the flowers mature in progression from bottom to top), new heather bed. ‘Winterfreude’

Photo by Stefani McRae-Dickey I decided to choose species that have either a very long season of generally blooms at the same bloom or that would bloom in sequence, one coming into bloom time as ‘Kramers Rote’ (E. carnea as another finishes, from late spring through summer and right ‘Myretoun Ruby’ is a parent Erica × darleyensis ‘Kramers Rote’ into fall. This wasn’t particularly difficult. The genus Kniphofia is of both). Its flower color is sets the standard for winter very accommodating in the diversity of bloom onset and duration bloomers, enlivening the landscape a slightly lighter, though still despite March snowfall. intense, pink. Another similarity among its species, though sometimes I had to settle for a pale 22 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 7 orange flower if I didn’t want a gap in the poker flower parade. I would be remiss not to mention two other outstanding Calluna Of whatever color, these architectural plants have strong garden cultivars I’m delighted to have in my garden: ‘Martha Hermann’ presence and can be planted effectively as single specimens, and ‘Spring Torch’. ‘Spring Torch’ was named for the spectacular scattered throughout the garden. (Repetition of form or color colors seen on its new growth in March and April. They’re an is another design trick to balance or unify what might otherwise intense combination of pink, cream, and red. When the fiery new seem disparate elements in a garden. It is an especially important growth appears, the plants do, indeed, remind one of a torch. Those tool for those of us born with the collector gene.) spectacular spring tips eventually mature to a medium green to make a lovely background for the pretty summer flowers. Unlike During the first few years other cultivars whose foliage color is the star attraction, I genuinely enjoy the flowers on of my heather garden, Although ‘Spring Torch’. It begins the kniphofias provided most people blooming in August the welcome contrasts purchase and generally holds its of color and form that Calluna mauve flowers through ‘Spring Torch’ I’d sought – and the most of September. The for its spring deer only occasionally foliage on my plants tip color, Photo by Barry Wulff. Photo by Barry Wulff. nibbled off their flower takes on a deep, rusty this cultivar stalks. I knew that many produces red tinge in the winter, abundant Kniphofia stricta here shelters young kniphofias become rather Photo by Barry Wulff. making the plants look mauve flowers plants of Calluna ‘Gold Kup’ in winter. large plants, and I thought as though they’ve been in late summer. Unfortunately, if the heathers were to that I’d allowed room survive, this very interesting poker had to sprayed with the original go. for their dimensions at Rust-Oleum. maturity. But as the ‘Martha Hermann’ is spectacular for it’s apple/emerald green years rolled by, I dug foliage year round. In the summer, July to September, the plant is them out reluctantly, covered with flowers of the cleanest white color imaginable. This one species at a time, is a plant I selected for its foliage, but the contrasting flowers are a as they outgrew much-appreciated bonus. their allotted spaces and became totally One other Calluna I should mention is ‘Robert Chapman’. The dominating presences, foliage of ‘Robert Chapman’ is a spectacular orange to red in way out of balance Photo by Ella May Wulff. autumn and winter. It is definitely not so spectacular in warm with the heathers weather: in summer, it could most flatteringly be described as “off around them. I’d also yellow”. While the plants were still small, that was attractive to not taken into account Picea glauca ‘Blue Pearl’ replaced Kniphofia me. However, that was three or four years ago, and the plants stricta, providing continuity of foliage color but have grown considerably, with the largest currently measuring 9” how far the fleshy presenting little risk of overwhelming ‘Gold x 27”. In the last two summers, I’ve come to genuinely dislike roots of these plants Kup’. Indeed, until the very slow growing that yellowish foliage. In fact, last summer I came close to taking would range in their ‘Blue Pearl’ gets a little larger, it will need to be defended against the advance of the heather. them out and replacing them with some plants of E. x darleyensis search for moisture. I had in 4” pots. Part of me hated to yank out and lose three 8 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 21 Society measurements were made. My largest is now 10” high x They extended many feet beyond the clump perimeter. I should 23” wide. ‘Winter Chocolate’ is definitely the cultivar I’d pick if have known better. In their native South African mountains, I’d I were limited to just one, but it would be dreadful to be limited seen them growing in seepage areas. Even those species that don’t to one cultivar. That thought prompted me to write about “my thrive in constant moisture are adapted to summer rainfall and other favorite heathers”, because winter drought. Western Oregon has the reverse, so these plants there are several other cultivars that were thirsty all summer long. They just wouldn’t do. I particularly enjoy. Kniphofias were not the first companion plants to be edited out It seems appropriate to start the of my garden. That honor fell to Campanula rotundifolia. Planting conversation with another Calluna I 3 harebells with the heathers in my Oregon garden was a mistake enjoy year round – ‘Firefly’ . I chose that became apparent during their first season. They were deer

Photo by Ella May Wulff. Photo by Ella May Wulff. this cultivar, like ‘Winter Chocolate’, magnets that survived being browsed upon long enough to for it’s winter and summer foliage. produce a few flowers and fling seeds all around. If I wanted the A young plant of Calluna My plants of this cultivar were ‘Winter Chocolate’, bright red planted out just a year ago from deer to stay out of the heather garden, I would first have to remove in full sun exposure. cuttings I started the year before, so the harebells I’d planted – and for several years thereafter be they’re relatively small. As I write this, each plant is displaying the diligent in removing germinating C. rotundifolia seedlings before fabulous winter colors that drew me those seedlings could flower and make more seed. to this cultivar. Most of these plants get direct, full sun. Their winter My love affair with all things Kniphofia took longer to cool. I’m foliage is a deep, intense brick red. now down to only two pokers, the diminutive ‘Little Maid’, and the However, a few of the plants receive somewhat larger ‘Primrose Beauty’, the latter a recent acquisition partly diffused winter light through that I’ve put near the driveway in case it has delusions of grandeur a nearby tree, and on those, the like its predecessors. It is welcome to lean out over the gravel as foliage has orange highlights against far as it wishes; but if this cultivar outgrows its garden space and the slightly softened brick red. This Wulff. May Ella by Photo threatens neighboring heathers, it, too, will come out. I’m still on reminds me of the glorious orange- Calluna ‘Firefly’ is strongly the lookout for other Kniphofia cultivars that stay as restrained as red color of oak leaves in the fall. upright in growth habit, making ‘Little Maid’. Very nice. In warm weather, the it distinct from other winter reds. foliage on all the plants becomes a Sometimes the weather edits your garden for you; and after lovely terra cotta color. Even though my plants were relatively careful consideration, you decide that the plants that died (from young last summer, a few blossoms appeared in early August cold, heat, drought, whatever) should be replaced with something and lasted through September. They were a wine pink color that different. I must admit that rather than mourning the death of a showed up nicely against the summer foliage. ‘Firefly’ has a neat, plant, I’ve come to look upon its demise as the opportunity to try strongly upright growth habit and can be expected to grow (in something new in its place. England) to approximately 18” high x 20” wide in four years. The plants of ‘Firefly’ that the Oregon Heather Society planted eight One spring, it became apparent that my three mature plants of years ago in the heather garden at the Cottage Grove Community Hospital are now considerably larger than that (Photo page 14). the brown New Zealand sedge Carex flagellifera, cherished for their color, fountain form, and graceful movement in the wind,

20 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 9 had not survived the winter. However, the three dead sedges had My other favorite heathers left behind two seedlings: all was not lost. I decided to plant the Irene Henson seedlings together near Erica cinerea ‘Knap Hill Pink’ and Calluna 35798 Tennessee Rd., SE, Albany, OR 97322 [email protected] ‘Highland Rose’, where one of the dead sedges had been. The foliage of the brown sedges and the yellow Calluna are wonderful I became interested in heather many years ago after reading a foils for the bright magenta flowers of ‘Knap Hill Pink’. I simply magazine article featuring winter color. However, it wasn’t until couldn’t bear not to have Carex flagellifera as part of that picture. just five years ago that I finally was able to begin planting the heather beds I’d been envisioning. Of course, wanting to do it I am a big believer in using odd numbers of plants. The three right, I joined the Oregon Heather Society so that I could learn now-deceased sedges had fitted nicely into the odd number everything possible from experienced enthusiasts - especially how slot, forming a scalene triangle. As they grew together, the two best to take care of my plants. seedlings would merge into a single entity. They could stand alone. Neighboring heathers could use the space vacated by another Shortly after I joined the society, all members were asked to write of the dead sedges. I replaced the third Carex with a group of an article about their favorite cultivar for a series to be printed in Erica × watsonii ‘Pearly Pink’. This replacement turned out to be a the Heather News Quarterly. Because I was still relatively new to better fit than I’d envisioned, for when the bloomed, their heather, my first thought was, “That’s a great idea. I’ll get to see flower color was a perfect match for the pink of the “spring tips” several cultivars through other heather enthusiasts’ eyes”. A second of neighboring Calluna ‘Mrs Pat’ (produced in this cultivar on new thought followed immediately. “Oh, dear! Is it really possible to have a favorite? How will I choose just one?” I wrestled with that for several weeks. As soon as one cultivar would “definitely be THE ONE,” another would appear in my mind’s eye, and the decision would have to be reconsidered – again.

I finally submitted an article about Calluna ‘Winter Chocolate’ 1, but not because it’s my “favorite heather”. I had, however, decided that ‘Winter Chocolate’ would be the cultivar I’d choose if I had room for only one plant or a limited group of one kind. I haven’t changed my mind in the three years since I wrote the article. I’m still excited, even passionate about the velvety, chocolate red foliage on Photo by Barry Wulff. these plants in the winter months, and when the weather warms, the foliage color changes back to an exquisite almost-but-not- quite lime green. The flowers appear in mid-summer; but being a subdued, light pink/violet color, they’re almost insignificant against the summer foliage. My original group of nine was planted Two plants of Carex flagellifera contrast in color, texture, and form with four or five years ago. Average measurements for this cultivar adjacent heathers. Erica cinerea ‘Knap Hill Pink’ is the bright magenta published by The Heather Society (UK)2 indicate that at four or heather at center top, with yellow Calluna ‘Highland Rose’ to its right five years of age the plants should be about 8” high and 18” wide. and white-flowered ‘Ruby Slinger’ below it. When the sedges died, the one on the left was not replaced. Two sedge seedlings replaced the one Heather grows very well in the Willamette Valley, generally 20 to on the right. 30 percent larger than in central England, where those Heather

10 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 19 In memoriam: Judith Wiksten growth throughout the year).

The North American Heather Society mourns the November 2011 The two seedling sedges matured as I’d expected, but despite the death of longtime member Judith Wiksten. Judy was a keen heather success of ‘Pearly Pink’ as a replacement for the third lost sedge, enthusiast who served as president of our Northeast Heather every time I looked at that spot, I longed for the sedge that had Society chapter and for five years was editor of its newsletter, been there. A year ago, a Carex seedling sprang from the space Heather Notes. After retiring from police work in Massachusetts between ‘Mrs Pat’ and ‘Pearly Pink’ where two rocks hold back (and from her editorial duties), Judy spent her winters in Florida garden soil from the bark path. I have my third sedge again, and and her summers on an island in her beloved Sweden, where she as long as it doesn’t crowd out the heathers, it may stay. If it covers established a new heather garden. most of the path, so be it.

Judy was also a member of The Heather Society (UK). I was Editing out companion plants as their habits prove less than fortunate to be on two Heather Society trips with her. She had a suitable for the heather garden is one thing. Editing out heathers delightfully dry sense of humor that made her a good travelling is another matter, but here one needs to be ruthless. There are companion. At the end of our expedition to the Azores, former simply too many outstanding cultivars to allow a less-than- NAHS president Dee Daneri and Judy gifted our valiant leader satisfactory one to take up valuable garden space. (International Heather Registrar E. Charles Nelson) with an over- the-top outrageous “silver” and blue plastic trophy that sent him Sometimes a cultivar just doesn’t live up to its reputation. Such – and the rest of us – into hysterics.1 Judy’s humor more subtly was the case with E. cinerea ‘Green Drop’. I’d been sold ‘Green enlivens her delightful memoir of our South African adventure, Drop’ as the “green sport of ‘Golden Drop’”. Forgetting that the written for the David Small memorial issue of this journal.2 We primary reason for growing ‘Golden Drop’ is the gold to red color shall miss her. of its foliage, I succumbed to the blandishments of the nursery sales person and bought five plants of the green sport. They Ella May T. Wulff turned out to be entirely unremarkable in bloom but vigorous in growth. After giving them the benefit of a couple of years to show 1 Daneri, Dee. 2004. Somewhere in the Atlantic, 2003: Part 2. Heather News me that they were worth their space in the garden, I replaced them Quarterly 27(1): 2–7. with Calluna ‘My Dream’. Its long spikes of double white flowers 2 Wiksten, Judy. 2011. David Small, no Pooh-Bah. Heather News Quarterly are showy enough to enhance summer bridal bouquets, and its 34 (1): 7–9. overall effect in the garden I find much more interesting than that of ‘Green Drop’.

Donations to NAHS Another E. cinerea cultivar that bores me is ‘Ashdown Forest’, but I think that’s my fault. Because it is quite a large-growing cultivar, The North American Heather Society gratefully acknowledges I planted only one – and didn’t give that one enough room. The contributions: only alternative to removing it was to prune it very hard. This is not a good idea with E. cinerea. They lose all their grace when hard from Helen Pokrifcak for the general fund. pruned year after year. It also weakens them. After a few years from the Estate of Judith Wiksten for the research fund. of hard pruning, my ‘Ashdown Forest’ looked like an overgrown

18 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 11 purple bowling ball. And despite its tight pruning, which severely reduced the length of the bloom spikes, the plant still managed Heathers do not usually win the game of musical plants, because to muscle aside its Calluna neighbors. It had to go and will not they are not happy with root disturbance once they’ve become be replaced. Those neighbors are grateful for a little breathing established. They should not be grown by the kind of people room. who rearrange the furniture a couple of times a year. Young plants or those that have been in the ground only a year or two may Calluna ‘Dark Beauty’ has been a dreadful disappointment. My readily be moved. With cherished older heathers, if the choice plants lived up to their cultivar name for a few years. Then the is transplanting or certain death, it makes sense to at least try to reversions began. ‘Dark Beauty’ is an artificially induced, velvety transplant them. I know gardeners who have successfully moved red sport from ‘Darkness’, itself a lovely dark pink. I wish I’d old heathers that were in garden beds about to be demolished planted ‘Darkness’ instead of ‘Dark Beauty’, because I got it anyway. during building excavations or during a complete redesign of Only it’s randomly mixed in with the ‘Dark Beauty’, a stem here, their gardens. a stem there. Although I was diligent in cutting out the reverted stems as close to the bases of the plants as I could trace them, the The only time I decided to transplant instead of merely replace a older the plants get, the more they revert. The reversions are easily heather cultivar that turned out to have been planted in the wrong recognized when they begin to flower. They are slightly taller than place, the move was successful in that the plants lived. It was not a typical ‘Dark Beauty’ stems and open their lighter-colored flowers good job of garden editing. I moved yellow-foliaged Calluna ‘Fire earlier. Last year, I finally gave up trying to cut out the reversions King’ from a location in full sun, where it lived up to its name in winter but was badly scorched each summer, to a nearby shady spot. My three plants of that cultivar are quite happy living in the shade, but they contribute little to the attractiveness of the garden. They now have so much shade that they neither bloom nor have golden – or even light green – foliage. The second draft, in this case, was worse than the first. They just sit there: unexciting, medium green mounds all year round. It’s time for a third draft. Calluna ‘Dunnet Lime’ is an outstanding low growing heather,

Photo by Barry Wulff. shown here with the strong orange tints it takes on it winter. In summer, the foliage is gold and lime, with just a hint of orange. This cultivar By the time Calluna ‘Dark Beauty’ began throwing reversions to has nearly covered a Photo by Ella May Wulff. ‘Darkness’ (clearly visible as stems of lighter pink flowers, foreground bare spot (left) where left), Kniphofia ‘Percy’s Pride’ had already been replaced with Juniperus numerous other communis ‘Compressa’ and ‘Hookstone Pink’, upper right. heathers failed. 12 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 17 In one especially large problem area, I planted a larger bearded and, instead, cut all five plants off at ground level. I think I’m iris, Iris pallida ‘Argentea Variegata’, chosen for its ornamental going to let nearby plants of E. carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ and E. green and white striped foliage. Like the dwarfs, this, too, is less cinerea ‘Iberian Beauty’ fight over the vacated space. fussy as to soil type than other bearded irises (which generally prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil), although it wants sharp What to do when garden conditions challenge Calluna, E. carnea drainage. This particular solution is still on trial. The iris plants or E. cinerea? Plant E. vagans, at least here in the Pacific Northwest. are thriving and are a good contrast to nearby heathers. How long Erica vagans is amazingly resilient, tolerating hard pruning, this combination will work before the iris plants need to be lifted shade, drought, and also, reputedly, the Verticillium fungus that is and divided remains to be determined. endemic to some soils here in the Willamette Valley. Wherever I think that I may have lost heathers to Verticillium wilt (to which E. There is an cinerea is particularly susceptible), I’m replanting with E. vagans. additional way Fortunately, there are many good cultivars of this species, and to cope with a I’ve rooted cuttings from interesting self-sown seedlings in Ben problem spot Gardner’s garden, too. The new plants of E. vagans, if they do, where heathers indeed, succeed where others failed, will remedy a deficiency of the repeatedly die, species in my original plan for the garden. They are wonderfully but I cannot tough plants for this region, with a long blooming season. Some take credit for are even fragrant. this solution. Photo by Ella May Wulff. The heathers My garden has a few problem spots where heathers – no matter t h e m s e l v e s what species I plant – refuse to survive. If heathers wouldn’t grow The white-striped blades of Iris pallida ‘Argentea solved the there, what would? I usually don’t recommend bearded irises as Variegata’ contrast strikingly with heathers. It problem. Or, heather companions, but desperation can overcome prejudice. survives where a sedge and numerous heathers rather, Calluna Dwarf bearded irises tolerate conditions that would be anathema died. To its left is Erica × watsonii ‘Pearly Pink’, with ‘Dunnet Lime’ to tall bearded irises, including a shallow mulch over the rhizomes. Calluna ‘Mrs Pat’ flowering on the slope above it. At did. Three plants They also do not need to be divided as frequently as do their lower left of photo is a seedling Carex flagellifera that planted itself. of this lovely larger relatives. In two problem spots, I’ve replaced dead heathers g r o u n d c o v e r with dwarf irises. Whatever annoyed the heathers hasn’t bothered cultivar were adjacent to a problem spot. In fact, one succumbed the little irises. After a couple of years, they have formed nice not long after planting to whatever kills heathers there. The clumps whose only fault is their deciduous nature. This particular remaining plants are happy and are gradually creeping across solution wouldn’t work in the middle of a garden bed, where the the bare area, rooting as they spread. In another year or two, I little irises might receive too much shade from surrounding plants expect those two plants to occupy the entire space, with no soil (or or where their need for periodic division would disturb the roots mulch) showing. I think that as long as I prune them judiciously, of nearby heathers. Near the edge of a bed, dwarf bearded irises, being careful not to sever connections with the original plants, especially the smallest of these – miniature dwarf bearded irises the entire patch will thrive. I’m not going to spend time trying to (yes, there is such a category), appear to be good replacements for learn why these can grow on the spot where several others died. dead heathers. I’m simply grateful that they do. Continued page 16 16 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 13 The planting of ‘Firefly’ at the Cottage Grove (Oregon) Community Hospital demands attention when in its striking winter color, shown in this early March photo. E. × darleyensis ‘Mary Helen’ has pink flowers and paler orange foliage in winter. Erica arborea ‘Estrella Gold’, lower right, is in full bud. Photo by Irene Henson.

Despite its southern New Jersey location, wholesale grower Overdevest Nurseries produces impressively large and well-labelled heathers for garden centers and landscapers in the northeastern U.S. Photos this page by Pat Hoffman.

Kniphofia ‘Percy’s Pride’ was a star of the young heather garden, its flower color echoing the foliage color of Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’. Unlike the well-behaved oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) in the upper left corner of the photo, which is not all that much larger than it was ten years ago, ‘Percy’s Pride’ outgrew Erica carnea its spot within two years. Photo by Barry Wulff. ‘Golden Starlet’.

14 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 15