This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Friday, 25 February 2011

Irish Heather

I've mixed views about Irish heather. It's a low maintenance shrub that only really needs a wee trim after it flowers. I've bought a few tiny plants (2"x 5"L) in years gone by & in no time they spread to 2 ft wide x 1.5-2 ft tall.
Heather is native to western and northern Europe. It seems to thrive in cold weather and rocky soil - perfect for Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.
Pink & white photos above taken Feb 2010.
Rose with a backdrop of autumn flowering heather. Photo taken Sept 2010.
Below: photo, Feb 2010.
 I'm afraid my heathers are randomly stuck in the garden. Two of the pink heathers are pictured below.
 There are lovely displays of Irish heather on the following website: http://www.irishplants.ie/irishheather.htm 
Hope this post didn't put you to sleep!
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9 comments:

  1. Elly's kleine idylle25 February 2011 at 04:43

    hi Kelli;
    Beautiful heather erika which we also a common plant, have fields are filled in the wild.
    I do not have them in the garden but if we walk in the autumn, it is often on the moor!!
    dear greetings from Elly.

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  2. Mark Willis25 February 2011 at 05:25

    Ha, so you have changed the text colour at the top of your blog to match the heather then?? And by the way, it is supposed to be Grouse that nests in heather, not cats... :)

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  3. Peggy25 February 2011 at 07:31

    Hi Kelli, heather gets a bit wild if it is not kept in check. The first pic in the previous post looks as if it might be Mt Rushmore!

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  4. Egretta Wells blog25 February 2011 at 11:29

    I rather like the heather..the colors are nice. Kitty looks perfectly content.

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  5. Karin / Southern Meadows25 February 2011 at 18:14

    I think your heather is beautiful. I especially like the purple blooms. I planted some in my garden on a slope and it is starting to bloom right now. It is nice to see when much of the garden is still dormant.

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  6. ann25 February 2011 at 18:19

    If it is about gardening, I'll not sleep; if it is about Ireland I'll weep because I'd just love to return--someday, so keep posting boring or not, I'll read your posts and enjoy.

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  7. Jo26 February 2011 at 07:34

    I like heather though I don't have any in my garden. I love to see it in bloom when driving on the North Yorkshire Moors, a carpet of pink.

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  8. HolleyGarden26 February 2011 at 16:49

    I love the look of heather, but they don't do well here. (I've tried, of course.) I think of field of heather would be stunning.

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  9. Mrs Bok - The Bok Flock26 February 2011 at 19:19

    I love big open fields of heather surviving where not much else will bit spreading bright cheer anyway!

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