Erica tetralix
| Erica tetralix | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 3 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Evergreen Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Mid Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Shelter | |
| Tea: | Yes |
 | |
Erica tetralix (common name: bog heather)
Propagation: Seed - surface sow in a sandy compost in a cold frame in spring. Keep moist. Prick out the plants as soon as they are large enough to handle and plant them in their permanent positions when they are 5 - 8cm tall[1].
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 3cm long taken from twiggy lateral growths near the base of the plant, July/August in a frame. Remove the leaves from the bottom part of the stem without causing any damage to the bark. The cuttings root in a few weeks if they are given some bottom heat. Plant out in spring[1].
Layering in spring or autumn. Plants can be 'dropped' and then dug up and divided about 6 - 12 months later. Dropping involves digging up the plant and then replanting it about 15 - 20cm deeper in the soil to encourage roots to form along the stems[2].
Cultivation: Requires a light lime-free loam[3]. A calcifuge plant, requiring a pH below 6[4]. Grows best in a poor soil[1]. Resents dry soils[3], doing well in boggy areas[4]. Prefers an open situation[3].
A good bee plant[5].
There are many named forms, selected for their ornamental value[6].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[7].
Range: Western Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia to Spain east to N. Germany and Poland.
Habitat: Bogs, wet heaths and moors, rarely on drier soils[8].
Usage: Stems are used for making brooms, brushes etc[9].
A yellow dye is obtained from the plant[10][11].
Plants can be grown as a ground cover[12]. They should be clipped in the spring in order to encourage denser growth[12].
Pollinators: Insects, self
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Wind: Tolerates strong winds
In Leaf: Evergreen
Seed Ripens: Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Beckett, Kenneth and Gillian Beckett. Planting Native Trees and Shrubs. Jarrold, 1979.
- ↑ International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association, 1981.
- ↑ Brickell, Christopher. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Dorling Kindersley Publishers, 1990.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Wilson, Ernest and Charles Sargent. Plantae Wilsonianae.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Thomas, Graham. Plants for Ground Cover. Everyman, 1990.