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Heather Quarterly
Volume 33 Number 1 Issue #129 Winter 2010
North American Heather Society
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NAHS 2010 Conference............................................................ 1
The multibracteate forms of true heather J. Schröder............�............�
Remember the name Judy Doyle..............................................8...............8
My favorite cultivar: Calluna vulgaris ‘Californian Midge’ Sharon Hardy...............................................................................11...............................................................................11
Breeders’ corner: A new heather to treasure David Wilson.13
In the news...............................................................................16
Hardiness zones Donald A. M. Mackay...................................17
Book review: An Irishman’s Cuttings Ella May T. Wulff .......20
Treasurer’s report Paul Dickey.................................................2�
Calendar....................................................................................28
Winter 2010HNQ # 129
Heather News, all rights reserved, is published quarterly by the North American Heather Society, a tax exempt organization. The purpose of The Society is the: (1) advancement and study of the botanical genera Andromeda, Calluna, Cassiope, Daboecia, Erica, and Phyllodoce, commonly called heather, and related genera; (2) dissemination of information on heather; and (3) promotion of fellowship among those interested in heather.
NAHS Board of Directors (2009-2010) PRESIDENT Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95�10-0673, USA 707-937-3155, Fax 707-96�-311�, [email protected] FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT Stefani McRae-Dickey, 75� Wyatt Lane, Philomath, OR 97370-9022, USA 5�1-929-7988, [email protected] SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY Joyce Prothero, 281 Cudmore Hts, Saltspring Island, BC V8K 2J7, Canada Phone/Fax 250-537-9215, [email protected] TREASURER Paul Dickey, 75� Wyatt Lane, Philomath, OR 97370, USA 5�1-929-7988, [email protected] PAST PRESIDENT Ella May Wulff, 2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370-5908, USA 5�1-929-6272, [email protected] DIRECTORS
Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95�10-0673, USA 707-937-3155, Fax 707-96�-311�, [email protected] Mendocino Coast Heather Society (MCHS) Ramona Bloomingdale, P.O. Box 1136, Gold Beach, OR 97���-1136, USA 5�1-2�7-6017, [email protected] Oregon Heather Society (OHS) Don Jewett, 2655 Virginia Ct., Fortuna, CA 955�0, USA 707-725-139�, [email protected] Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire (HERE) Karla Lortz, Shelton, 502 E Haskell Hill Rd., Shelton, WA 9858�-8�29, USA 360-�27-5318, [email protected] Cascade Heather Society (CHS) Michael Krieger, �280 Camsusa Rd, Box 19, Malahat, BC V0R 2L0, Canada 250-391-6225, [email protected] Vancouver Island Heather Society (VIHS) Mary Matwey, 7 Heights Court, Binghamton, NY 13905, USA 607-723-1�18, [email protected] Northeast Heather Society (NEHS)
Board Appointments (For details, see inside back cover)
Sharon Hardy - Book Librarian Janice Leinwebber - Slide Librarian for United States Stefani McRae-Dickey - Editor, Heather Quarterly Elaine Scott - Slide Librarian for Canada Ella May Wulff - Membership Chair, Storefront Manager
HOW TO gET THE lATEST HEATHER INFORMATIONBROWSE NAHS website – www.northamericanheathersoc.orgREAD Heather Quarterly by NAHS CHS NEWS by CHS Heather Clippings by HERE Heather Drift by VIHS Heather News by MCHS Heather Notes by NEHS Heather & Yon by OHSATTEND Society and Chapter meetings (See The Calendar on page 28)
HOW TO gET PUBlISHED IN HEAtHEr QuArtErlyCONTACT Stefani McRae-Dickey, Editor of Heather Quarterly EMAIL: [email protected] (For address, see Inside Front Cover) PHONE: 5�1-929-7988. OK for ideas and last-minute news.DEADLINES 21st March, June, September, and December
HOW TO PAY MEMBERSHIP DUESMEMBERSHIP BENEFITS include an electronic subscription to the Quarterly, participation in Society meetings and elections; borrowing privileges for book library and slide programs; discounts from Storefront, some nurseries.DUES NAHS: $15/year, $28/2 years, $�0/3 years with electronic newsletter. To receive mailed copies of the newsletter add: $11/year in US, $15/year in Canada, $22/year outside of US and Canada Chapter dues can be paid when paying NAHS dues, by adding: CHS $5/year; HERE(1 person), MCHS, OHS, VIHS $10/year; HERE(family), NEHS $15/yearREMIT TO Paul Dickey, NAHS Treasurer 75� Wyatt Lane, Philomath, OR 97370-9022, USADETAILS Ella May Wulff, Membership Chair [email protected], 5�1-929-6272, NAHS website 2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370-5908, USA
HOW TO BUY FROM THE STOREFRONTBROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersoc.orgCONTACT Ella May T. Wulff, Storefront Manager, (Address: see above.)
HOW TO BORROW BOOkS FROM THE NAHS lIBRARYWRITE Sharon Hardy, 50 Del Point Drive, Klamath, CA 955�8-9331, USA. [email protected], 707-�82-6755, NAHS website
HOW TO BORROW SlIDE PROgRAMSWRITE Janice Leinwebber (Slide Librarian for members in USA) 8268 S. Gribble Road, Canby, OR 97013, USA [email protected], 503-263-2�28, or NAHS website Elaine Scott (Slide Librarian for members in Canada) 2836 Oceanside Lane, Mill Bay, BC V0R 2P2, CAN. [email protected], 250-7�3-0965, NAHS website
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE NAHS WEBSITEBROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersoc.orgCONTACT Stefani McRae-Dickey,75� Wyatt Lane, Philomath OR, USA, [email protected] 5�1 929-7988.
The Information Page
COVER: Design, Joyce Descloux IMAGE: Calluna vulgaris “Robert Chapman’
Winter 2010HNQ # 129
Save the dates! August 5 to August 8, 2010NAHS Annual ConferenceFort Bragg, California
The Mendocino Coast Heather Society (MCHS), a chapter of the North American Heather Society (NAHS), welcomes members to the 2010 NAHS annual meeting and conference to be held in Fort Bragg, California, August 5th – 8th. This will be the fourth NAHS conference hosted by MCHS since its formation as the California North Coast Chapter (CNCC) in 1991.
On Thursday, August 5, we will tour the unique Pygmy Forest plant community at Van Damm State Park, in Little River, south of Fort Bragg. Lori Hubbart of the Dorothy King Young Chapter of the California Native Plant Society will show us local ericaceous species. Afterwards, we will enjoy a casual social at Big River State Beach.
After registration on Friday morning at the Davis home, we will take a two-hour walking tour of the Ford and Kelly House museums, local architecture, and local gardens.
We will visit Clark and Edith Davis’s garden as well as Jim and Bev Thompson’s world famous garden. Mario Abreu, NAHS/MCHS will lead a tour of the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (MCBG). We will also visit Sandy Scott’s garden, Joan Murphy’s garden, and John
Apr 7 VIHS Visit to Furwood Nursery (Norman Todd) Saanich Info: Heather Schyf, [email protected]
Apr. 10 NEHS Heather trimming party at Fort Tryon, New York City Info: Mary Matwey, (607) 723-1418, [email protected]
May 2 NEHS Heather trimming party and board meeting at The Fells, Newbury, New Hampshire Info: Mary Matwey
May 5 VIHS Yellow Point and Cranberry and Hazelnut Farms tour; cost $5 per person - Linda to coordinate Info: Heather Schyf Jun 1 VIHS Visit Bamboo farm, Saltspring Island. Meeting and brown bag lunch at Joyce Prothero’s followed by visit to Thimble Farm Nursery Info: Heather Schyf
June 26 OHS Plant sale, Coast Gardening and Landscaping Expo, Newport Info: Ella May Wulff, (541) 929-6272, [email protected].
Aug. 5-8 NAHS annual conference, Fort Bragg, CA. Info: Mario Abreu, [email protected]
128
Calendar
Authors, photographers and illustrators submitting work for publication in Heather News implicitly agree that such work may also be published on the NAHS website or in other NAHS eductional materials, and reprinted by NAHS chapters for educational purposes. Any other use will require separate permission from the author, photographer or illustrator.
SUPPORT FOR NAHSThank you, Willa Wick, for your generous donation to the North American Heather Society.
WElCOME BACk!We welcome back to NAHS membership Lorette Ernst of Ojai, CA, who was an early member of the society.
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Explore the many pathways through the heather at the Mendocino Coast
Botanical Gardens.
Winter 2010HNQ # 1292 27
Expenses Chapter Dues to Chapters $390 $300 Heather News: - Printing $1,384 $1,937 Canadian Postage $73 $175 Overseas Postage $138 $347 US Postage $218 $768 Internet Web Site $88 $500 Membership & Admin. $75 $150 Special Projects $- $- Bank Charges $- $- Purchase New CD & Misc $3,162 $2,950 Subtotal $5,529 $7,127 NET $2,800 $337 Checking Balance $8,123 $7,730 CDs & Savings Accts(inc in Res Funds, below) Certificate of Deposit $- $2,943 Savings Account $3,128 $- VIHS Interim CD $1,652 $1,652 Total CDs $4,780 $4,595 Restricted Funds Heather Research Fund $3,128 $2,943 Color Pinting in Quarterly $238 $393 On Deposit - VIHS CD $1,652 $1,652 Total Restricted Funds $5,018 $4,988 Available Funds - Checking Check Bal minus Color Printing $7,885 $7,337 Ending Balance - December 31, 2009 (Check Balance plus CDs & Savings) $12,902 $12,325
Calhoun’s garden
The Mendocino coast is known for its unique nurseries. Both Descanso Nursery and Digging Dog Nursery are on the tour.
We are fortunate to have Brett Hall, Director of Horticulture and Living Collections, University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Arboretum, give a talk about the extensive South African Erica collection at UCSC and about other California ericaceous plants.
Dee Daneri is planning a post conference tour from Fort Bragg to Yosemite via wine country, returning to SFO for those needing transportation. Bring your own car if you would rather caravan, and let Dee know if you are willing to carpool. Transportation from the airport to the conference and the post tour is available, if flights are coordinated.
Rates for the six-day tour will be kept at about 3-star range, meals on your own. Transportation can be included if needed. Details to be sent before April 1 to all interested. Send inquiries to Dee Daneri at [email protected]
Please reserve August 5-8 for your visit to the beautiful Mendocino Coast and its outstanding gardens. Look for details and the registration form in the spring issue.
Details of the projected program, maps, and descriptions of tour gardens will be available in the registration package. Contact NAHS/MCHS president at [email protected] regarding conference inquiries.
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The Davis garden,
overlooking the sea, has an extensive collection of
heather.
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 326
Access to J.P.Morgan Chase Bank. (This is where we currently bank. Although only one person needs to sign NAHS checks, a back- up check signer is necessary. If the new Treasurer can access Chase, it makes the transition from me easier. However, the current account may be closed and a new account opened at a bank convenient to the new treasurer and the new co-signer.)
I will assist the new Treasurer not only during the transition period between now and July 1, 2010, but during the 2011 budget preparation.
If you have any questions about the role, please contact me at [email protected]. If you would like to become the new Treasurer, please send your name to Don Jewett, [email protected] and me.
Respectfully Submitted,Paul Dickey
Travel, information, and accommodations
AirportsFort Bragg is approximately four hours from both San Francisco and Oakland International Airports. Oakland is a smaller and more easily navigated airport, and taking the Richmond bridge north avoids traffic congestion in San Francisco. The drive from the San Francisco Airport, south of San Francisco, to the Golden Gate Bridge can take up to 45 minutes, depending upon traffic.
Car RentalsThe drive from the Bay area to Fort Bragg is lovely, but no public transportation is available. Please arrange to rent a car for the drive. Maps will be sent to all who register.
Car rental information for the San Francisco Airport is available at: http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/tofrom/rental-cars/
Car rental information for the Oakland Airport is available at : http://www2.oaklandairport.com/car_rentals.shtml
AccomodationsFort Bragg lodging within ¼ mile of the Davis and Murphy Heather Gardens and nearby Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Harbor Lite and Seabird Lodges have a limited amount of double occupancy-blocked rooms for conference attendees.
Harbor Lite Lodge – Noyo Harbor views $100 - $110; $80 non-view; www.harborlitelodge.com; 1-800-643-2700.Emerald Dolphin - $109 - $127; http://www.emeralddolphin.com/; 1-866-964-6699.Seabird Lodge - $99 - $165; www.seabirdlodge.com; 1-800-345-0022.
Tourist informationChamber of Commerce Mendocino Coast, Fort Bragg, CA; www.mendocinocoast.com 707-961-6300
NORTH AMERICAN HEATHER SOCIETY 2009 Revenue & Expenses YTD ANNUALAs Of December 31, 2009 ACTUAL $ BUDGET Balance - January 1, 2009 $11,904 $11,904
Revenue NAHS Dues $3,002 $1,781 Chapter Dues Via NAHS $505 $300 Heather News-Print Edition: - Canada $15 $300 - Overseas $- $275 - U.S. $927 $1,683 Donations - General $617 $100 - Research Grants $120 $- Special Projects $- $- - Color Printing $- $- Interest Income $50 $50 Book & Storefront Sales $54 $25 CD Matures + Interest $3,039 $2,950 Subtotal $8,329 $7,464
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 254
2010 will be a pivotal year. Due to the timing of the Board decision regarding assessing a surcharge for the printed HNQ, many members with multiple year memberships were “grandparented” and continued to receive a printed edition during 2009, while members renewing in 2009 had to make the print/no-print decision at the beginning of the year. The print/no-print decision of members renewing in 2010 will have a significant impact on the Revenue/Expense results.
New members are not offsetting members who are not renewing. Overall NAHS membership continues to decline.
TREASURER’S JOB DESCRIPTIONAfter 5 years as NAHS Treasurer, which included the Third International Heather Conference, I am ready to pass the green eyeshade, sharpened #3 pencil and Excel files on to someone else. I have submitted my resignation, effective 7/1/2010. This gives the new Treasurer adequate time to become familiar with NAHS finances before submitting the 2011 Proposed Budget to the NAHS Board at its annual meeting in the Fall.
These are the things I do as Treasurer:Receive, record and deposit membership fees, print surcharges and donations.Write checks for all expenses and balance the NAHS checkbook monthly.Update and maintain the membership database, which includes all financials and contact information, as membership renewals are received. Maintain and update the membership and electronic Heather News Quarterly recipients email lists, currently in Yahoo.com.Assist the NAHS Membership Chair in the annual membership renewal process.Prepare a year-end Treasurer’s Report, which is published in the Winter HNQ.
I recommend that the new Treasurer have:A working knowledge of Excel or accounting software such as QuickbooksA working knowledge of Excel database functions or database such as AccessA working knowledge of on-line mailing lists such as Yahoo, Thunderbird, or Hotmail
The multibracteate forms of true heather (Calluna vulgaris)1
J. SchröderLütjenmoor 66, 22850 Norderstedt, Germany
Freely translated from the German by Gary Schuldt.
Some of you might not know what to make of the expression “multibracteate form”, although most would certainly have encountered the word “bract” before. Botanically speaking, “bract” refers to a leaf in the flowering region from whose axil a flower or a flower stalk arises. Multibracteate forms of true heathers (Calluna) are those forms on whose flower stalks several such bracts follow one another in overlapping tiers (resembling scales); following them on the stalk, the flowers appear, often somewhat inconspicuous and only marginally fertile. In his book “Calluna, a monograph on the Scotch heather” (1940), the Dutch author Dr. W. Beijerinck discusses the unusual forms of true heathers, the multibracteates among them. He includes several cultivars of this unusual type of heather, even though many of them would probably be unfamiliar to his readers.
One old cultivar is ‘Autumn Glow’. It is said to have arisen in 1960 at the University of Washington Arboretum (Seattle) from a cutting that was described as originating from ‘Mrs Ronald Gray’. It was introduced into the U.S. market in 1962 by Dorothy Metheny, an early president of the North American Heather Society. The plants reach a height of about 40 cm (16 in.) and a width of 45 cm (18 in.) and have dark green foliage, in winter even darker. The sparse, mauve blooms (amethyst H2)2 appear from November until January. It very much resembles ‘Saint Nick’, a cultivar that also originated in Seattle. The multibracteate ‘Autumn Glow’ should not be confused with a cultivar that has simple white blossoms and was introduced under the same name in 1972 by the P. Bakhuyzen & Zonen nursery in Holland.
One of the best known cultivars is ‘Battle of Arnhem’, discovered in 1971 by the Dutchman Dr. Visser in a small area of heather
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 524
NORTH AMERICAN HEATHER SOCIETYEnd of Year Treasurer’s Report
2009January 1, 2010OVERVIEWIncome was $8329, which exceeded budget of $7464 by $865.
Expenses were $5529, $1598 lower than the $7127 budgeted.
The Net of Income minus Expenses was $2800, compared to the budget of $337.
The Ending Balance, which includes Checking, Certificate and Savings accounts, was $12,902, $577 higher than the budget of $12,325.
INCOMEMembership dues exceeded budget by $1221, ending at $3002.
Income for the print edition of Heather News Quarterly was far below budget. Only one Canadian member and no overseas members opted for the print edition. Only 55% of the potential US members opted for the print edition.
The Certificate of Deposit at WAMU/Chase matured. The resulting principal and interest was moved into our local Chase money market savings account. The CD containing residual funds from the Third International Heather Conference will mature in early 2010. The principal and interest will be moved to the local NAHS Chase money market savings account.
EXPENSESAs a consequence of lower-than-budgeted selection of the printed HNQ, printing and postage expenses were lower than budgeted.
No contracted developmental work was done on the NAHS website, resulting in significant underspending of this account. The only charges were for domain registration and web site hosting.
CONCLUSIONSNAHS has remained viable with a static financial position.
near Arnhem in Holland. Its name refers to the WWII battle that took place near there. These plants can grow to be 65 cm (26 in.) tall and 70 cm (28 in.) in diameter. Their dark green foliage turns a bronze green in winter. The almost metallic-colored buds open later to lilac pink (H11) flowers. Blooming season is from October to December.
‘Bronze Beauty’ (syn. “Black Beauty”), a cultivar unknown in Germany, was found as a seedling in the United States in 1969. It attains both height and width of about 30 com (12 in.), and its growth habit ranges from upright to spreading. Its shiny green foliage changes in winter to red with a tint of blue. The lavender (H3) blooms appear from November to December.
A much older cultivar is ‘Durford Wood’ (syn. “Durfordii”), known since 1954, a cultivar from England named after a forest north of Petersfield, Hampshire, where it was found by Ronald Gray. It can reach 30 cm (12 in.) in height and can spread to 80 cm (32 in.). Its foliage is an attractive bronze-green, turning a purplish red in winter. It blooms with pink (H8) flowers from November to December.
‘Jan’ was discovered in 1976 by Janet Longstaffe on a golf course
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Calluna vulgaris ‘Battle of Arnhem’ with bracts clearly visible.
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 236
in Crowborough, Sussex. The plant’s name is an abbreviation of the first name of the discoverer and, coincidentally, also the abbreviation of the month in which it was discovered. It is upright in growth habit, becoming 30 cm (12 in.) tall and 40 cm (16 in.) wide. Its foliage is grayish green and covered with hairs. The mauve (H2) flowers appear from November to January. A very unusual form but without any great garden value.
The above-mentioned ‘Saint Nick’ was discovered as a seedling in Seattle in 1957; it derives its name from the fact that it blooms in the period leading up to Christmas. It will grow up to 25 cm (10 in.) in height and can reach a width of 45 cm (18 in.). The foliage is dark green. The mauve flowers appear from December to January.
Four newer multibracteate cultivars have originated from the hybridizing efforts of Kurt Kramer. [‘Glasnost’, ‘Peace’, ‘Perestrojka’, and ‘Unity’.]
Probably the youngest cultivar is ‘Glasnost’, which, like ‘Perestrojka’, came from a deliberate cross between ‘Battle of Arnhem’ and ‘Allegro’ and was named in 2007 by J. G. Flecken, Kerkrade, The Netherlands. It didn’t appear in the trade until 2008. The names of both cultivars should call to mind the former secretary general of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachov, and the accompanying reconstruction of the politico-economic system in the Soviet Union. ‘Glasnost’ is a broadly upright-growing (Ht: 30 cm [12 in.], Spr: 40 cm [16 in.]), richly blooming cultivar with a beautiful wine-red (H14) flower color and dark green foliage. Its flowering period extends from September to December.
‘Peace’ arose out of a cross of ‘Battle of Arnhem’ with the white-blooming cultivar ‘Long White’. It grows strongly upright with bright green foliage and can reach a height and width of 50 cm (20 in.). It blooms from September to January and is the only multibracteate cultivar with white flowers. The reproduction rights were transferred by the breeder to the Dutch heather society, Ericultura.
old-fashioned luck led J. Walker Porter to create some outstanding heather cultivars that are still widely grown nearly a half-century after his death. Perhaps Porter’s most valuable discovery was his wife, Eileen, for it was she who “was responsible for ensuring Walker’s plants were propagated and distributed, ‘J. W. Porter’ and ‘Margaret Porter’ being named at her suggestion.” The name “Porter” on a cultivar usually guarantees that it is worth growing.
An Irishman’s Cuttings is liberally endowed with sufficient information about particular plants’ preferred habitats, manners of growth, and plant companions to aid gardeners in the successful cultivation of those plants, though just as this is not only a “garden history”, it also is by no means a “how to grow it” garden manual. It is, rather, a book wherein there is something for everyone, from the keen gardener to the plant collector, the herbalist, and the history buff. An amazing amount of information may be gleaned here in easily digestible form. I suggest reading no more than a “cutting” or two at a sitting, in order to fully absorb and appreciate the many bits of knowledge packed into a few generously illustrated pages. This book will not disappoint.
An Irishman’s Cuttings: Tales of Irish Gardens and Gardeners, Plants and Plant-Hunters, E. Charles Nelson, The Collins Press, Doughcloyne, Cork 2009, ISBN-13: 9781848890053
Erica x darleyensis ‘J. W. Porter’ (here showing both flowers and colored
spring tips) was bred by James Walker Porter, selected for naming after his
death at the suggestion of his widow, Eileen Porter, and introduced to the
nursery trade by John F. Letts.
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Winter 2010HNQ # 129 722
‘Perestrojka’ (syn. “Battle Red”), as already noted above, resulted from a cross between ‘Battle of Arnhem’ and the dark-red blooming ‘Allegro’. It grows upright and can reach 40 cm (16 in.) high and 60 cm (24 in.) wide. The foliage is dark green; the flowers, which are an unusual dark red (H9), appear from September to November.
‘Unity’ also originated from a cross of ‘Battle of Arnhem’ with ‘Allegro’. It grows stiffly upright and can attain a height and width of 40 cm (16 in.). The foliage is dark green.
Although at first more a botanical [curiosity], all in all, the multibracteate forms are proving to be plants of great interest. The flowers delay showing their color until very late in the year, and they often hang onto it longer than many of the bud bloomers. Although little employed in commerce at the present, the multibracteate cultivars continue to maintain snob appeal for the heather aficionado. Perhaps the next few years will see the appearance of one or another attractive cultivar that stimulates interest in appropriate markets.
1 Die Multibracteateata-Formen der Besenheide (Calluna vulgaris). Der Heidegarten 63 (June 2008): 9–13. Author’s permission granted2 Colour Chart of The Heather Society (UK)
Editor’s note: plant heights and widths given are the average for their respective cultivars at ages four or five years from cuttings. Plant size is, of course, dependent upon growing conditions.
This article is a rich source of information about using daboecias in the garden, including comments about the unique attributes and garden worthiness of a number of cultivars. Among these are the interesting “double”-flowered plant discovered in Connemara by Charles Nelson and named for him, and ‘Celtic Star’, also found in Connemara, with “purple bells enclosed by fleshy, almost scarlet sepals,” an arresting combination when viewed up close but also quite lovely in the garden.
“Among the Heather Bright” is less about heather (in this case ericas from the Cape of Good Hope) than it is about the relationship between the botanic gardens at Glasnevin and the nurseries that supplied Glasnevin with exotic plants in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Nelson makes a strong case for the vast, and expensive, influx to Glasnevin of rare and fashionable new plants from the Cape and other distant lands being attributable to the close association of Glasnevin head gardener John Underwood with London area nurseries, especially the Vineyard Nursery, Hammersmith, which supplied most of the Cape heaths at Glasnevin. Along the way, the reader is titillated with hints about the eminent (or in at least one case, notorious) personages for whom the newly discovered Cape heaths were named and also with the possibility that some of these heaths had not been discovered but “created” (hybridized) as nurseries tried to cash in on the immense popularity of these plants among their wealthy patrons.
These little ventures down side alleys contribute immeasurably to the book’s charm and may be found in nearly every article. Charles Nelson is endowed with both insatiable curiosity and diligence sufficient to pursue its objects, wherever they lead him. Remarkably, in the article about the Porter family, Nelson sticks to his subject quite closely, perhaps because there is sufficient scope within the story of this family’s association with cultivated heathers to wander around to his heart’s content.
A passion for heathers, a fortuitous discovery on a holiday walk, the scientist’s natural inclination to experiment, and some good
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Calluna vulgaris ‘Peace’ flowering in September in western Oregon. Although
not the most floriferous, it is later blooming than other whites (except the bud
bloomers). It still had some open flowers at Halloween.
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 218
Remember the name1
Judy Doyle19 Beckwith St., Danielson, CT 06239, [email protected]
How do you label your garden plants? How do you keep track of which heather cultivar in your garden is which?
You bring home a lovely heather (or perennial or tree) with a plastic name tag inserted into the pot. You choose just the right planting spot and place your purchase into a properly prepared hole, along with the plastic tag.
In recent years, the plastic plant tag, while admirably loaded with pertinent information about the plant (hardiness zone, cultivation preferences, etc.), has reached in size – for a passing ladybug – the equivalent of a drive-in movie screen. Thankfully, it will become brittle and eventually break apart (although not soon enough, in my book).
When I ran a small retail garden business with display gardens around our home, I found an unobtrusive, durable method of identifying the hundreds of perennials and almost a hundred cultivars of heathers in my gardens: metal garden markers. The treated zinc labels tilt upward when fitted onto their galvanized steel “legs” or standards. They are extremely durable; some of mine have been out in all kinds of weather year ‘round for almost twenty years.
There are three lengths available. I buy only the short (mini) 6” height, because the legs can easily be pushed all the way down into the soil, leaving just the label itself showing. This helps to prevent your garden rake from snagging a leg and pulling the entire label out and into your leaf pile. (You will have to bend over to read the label, but this counts as beneficial aerobic exercise.)
There are two designs. The so-called “traditional” marker consists of the metal label wrapped tightly around the wire legs. Those
The names of many plants link them inextricably to friends, relatives, and even enemies of the people who discovered or named them. Therein lie some fascinating stories. In the hands of Dr. Nelson, the search for the origins of plant names can lead to tales of intrigue, accounts of friendships, fashions (garden and otherwise), pharmaceuticals, and foreign lands. Even when the name itself doesn’t lead to a story, a plant’s geographic distribution may.
To call this book a “garden history”, though the appellation is accurate, would be to do it a grave injustice, conjuring up as it does the image of a dull, dusty tome, which this most decidedly is not. As with the much-admired writing of the late, very opinionated gardener Christopher Lloyd, the writing of botanist Charles Nelson is enlivened by his opinions. “Some variegated plants are abominations, and should have been composted at birth.”
As might be expected from a long time heather enthusiast, Charles Nelson has sprinkled references to heathers throughout the book. Some are brief, such as mention of the Cape heaths grown successfully by John Templeton in his early 19th century garden near Belfast. The Cape heaths later receive their due in an article about the early years of the botanic gardens at Glasnevin.
“A Saintly Heather” sheds light upon the derivation of the generic name of the largest-flowered European heather. Daboecia was named for “a luminary of the Early Celtic church,” though which luminary is not quite clear. St. Dabeoc’s heath (note that two letters of the saint’s name were transposed when it was Latinized) is found in Ireland “only in Connemara and south Mayo,” though it is widespread in northern Spain and northwestern Portugal and is also found in western France and the Azores. Although the scientific name undoubtedly is derived by a circuitous and obscure route from the Irish population, the first garden introduction sprang from Spanish seed with an Irish connection: it was sent to London in 1763 by Dr William Bowles of Cork, Superintendent of Spanish Mines.
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 920
have not been satisfactory for me, as the label ends become twisted and undone; so I buy only the “nursery marker” type, which have rounded corners and four evenly spaced holes through which the wire legs slide easily and are firmly held. So you have a sturdy label that will stand up to weather without rusting, for at least the life span of the plant itself and – regrettably – sometimes longer.
Now you need a tool to write on the metal label, making it legible through years of sun, rain, snow, and other atmospheric assaults. There are many products available designed for plant labels: permanent pen (“nursery marker”), china marker, and marking pencils are common.
Air pollution, acid rain, and ultra-violet rays, as well as spray from liquid fertilizers and insecticides, will quickly degrade the ink in “permanent” pens. The china marking pencil is “reasonably waterproof”. Markings from a #2 lead pencil, oddly enough, do hold up quite well for a year or so.
A new felt-tip with actual enamel paint “ink” with chemical additives to make it sun resistant has a very good durability rating, according to one vendor.
Some gardeners vouch for the electric engraving tool.
My choice? Laminated tape, used in either a hand-held label printer or with a computer program printer, which I have. My program is the “P-touch” by Brother™. You can find the printers on-line as “garden label makers”. Office supply stores carry both label makers and tapes.
You can print any information you like, peel off the backing, and apply the tape to the metal marker. The print is preserved within the sandwich of UV-resistant laminate, which has been tested for use year ‘round under extreme weather conditions. The tape is
Book review: An Irishman’s Cuttings: tales of Irish Gardens and Gardeners, Plants and Plant-Hunters by E. Charles Nelson
Ella May T. Wulff2299 Wooded Knolls Drive, Philomath, Oregon, [email protected]
Two days ago, I harvested the styles from my first saffron crocus. Yesterday, there were more of these delicate treasures awaiting me, but not only in my garden. They greeted me from the superb reproductions of ancient botanical illustrations on page four of E. Charles Nelson’s beautiful new book, which also contains many of the author’s color photographs. An updated compendium of articles selected from the many that Nelson wrote for The Irish Garden magazine, An Irishman’s Cuttings (Collins Press, Doughcloyne, Cork, 2009) should be in every gardener’s library.
Readers already familiar with the author’s unique habit of exhaustive research combined with a sometimes whimsical, even tongue-in-cheek presentation of the results of his researches will not be disappointed with this latest offering. Newcomers to Nelson’s writing have only to read the author’s foreword to realize what hours of delight await them in the body of the book.
The personalities of the people behind the gardens permeate An Irishman’s Cuttings. Although many plants are described and colorfully illustrated in the book, the people who interact with the plants are integral features of every article. (There are, mercifully, far fewer illustrations of people than of plants.) Obviously the author is as fascinated by the people he describes as he is by their plants and gardens. “He [Joseph Spence] was enjoying this [designing of a garden for the Dean of Cashel], and it would be very fragrant – jasmines, honeysuckles and mezereons (Daphne mezereon) would pour their perfumes into the Ulster air.” Indeed, Charles Nelson, who definitely knows better, was apparently in such raptures over the garden vision of Joseph Spence that he inadvertently substituted the common name of the specified daphne, mezereon, for the slightly different scientific name of the species, D. mezereum.
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 1910
available in white or clear (my preference). The clear tape leaves only the printing visible. Using white tape labels in the garden gives that movie screen effect – or looks like a cemetery for mice.
My usual label will include the plant cultivar name, where it was bought (or who gave it to me), and the year it was acquired. I keep an inventory of my plants on a computer spreadsheet document. Pre-computer, a pen and a paper notebook served the purpose very well.
The markers can be purchased in bundles of 25 or 100. (I have been buying my metal markers on-line from www.metalgardenmarkers.com.) You can’t believe how fast you will use them. I am sure that I will never, ever buy another plant. Then it’s spring, and before you know it, temptations come home with me and there is a call for new labels.
1 This article is reprinted from Heather Notes 20:1 (winter 2010) with permission and minor alterations.
Editor’s note: These metal labels are also available for less from the manufacturer at http://www.everlastlabel.com/catalog.htm.
5° F. instead of 10° F. differences. Presumably, the new zones are based upon the more extensive documentation now available from weather stations, but the result looks like a drop of oil on a rain puddle instead of parallel bands spread from coast to coast, corresponding mainly to latitude.
It is possible on this site to type in your postal zip code and get your hardiness zone in reply. This is a very impressive response, but the results are often surprising. My zip code is the same as the zip code of the village that lies a good 400 feet below me, but my winters are very different from theirs. Their snow is transient; mine is persistent. Still, it’s easier than looking at oil on a rain puddle and trying to find a color to match. The Farmer’s Almanac probably gives a better prediction of what weather is coming. (Looking at entrails is now out of fashion.)
What hardiness zone maps tell you may justify your gamble with a particular out-of-zone plant this year, but I wouldn’t bet against them in the long run. Averages have a habit of coming back to haunt you.
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A young Calluna vulgaris ‘Joy Vanstone’ and its metal “nursery” style garden marker in Judy Doyle’s garden.
Editor’s Acknowledgments and Credits
Manuscripts: Paul Dickey, Judy Doyle, Sharon Hardy, Donald A. M. Mackay, J. Schröder, David Wilson, Ella May WulffOther written contributions: Stefani McRae-DickeyCover photo: Stefani McRae-DickeyOther photos: credits noted adjacent to photosProofreading: Paul Dickey, Ella May WulffPrinting and distribution: Paul Dickey, Stefani McRae-Dickey, OSU Printing & Mailing Services
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 1118
My favorite cultivar: Calluna vulgaris ‘Californian Midge’
Sharon Hardy50 Del Ponte Dr., Klamath, CA 955�8, [email protected]
In 1996, I bought ‘Californian Midge’ from Norma Spencer, who owned Heather Heaven at the time. It was labelled ‘Foxii Nana’. I planted it with that name tag in the large steel planter box my husband built that sits on our patio. Only years later did I learn that the plant had been mislabelled.
In August of 2000, when we had the NAHS conference in Fort Bragg, we visited the Thompson garden. I asked Jim Thompson if he had ‘Californian Midge’, because I couldn’t find one at market places and my daughter and I both wanted one. Jim went out to the garden in front of his fence along the road, lifted up a rather old plant, pulled out a handful of fibrous roots, and put it into a plastic bag in a wet paper towel. I transported it to Klamath, pulled it apart into about five pieces, stuck them into soil in a coffee can, and put the can under a roof overhang until spring. In spring, the pieces were all alive, so I planted them out, and they thrived. I ended up with a bunch of plants that grew into small, tight mounds.
The heather in the photo, the heather that had been mislabelled, is probably eight to ten years old now. That’s heavy frost for its cap. It is about a foot wide and eight inches tall. It is in the steel planter box with about 16 other varieties that I planted in four-inch pots. The soil is the original heavy clay soil that we planted all our heathers in, mixed with bales of redwood mulch to make it workable. All of the planter heathers have survived over the years, seeming to sustain each other, as have the original heather plantings in the main garden.
protection from low air temperatures. Also, plants respond to day shortening in autumn by initiating protective biochemical moves (such as a change in the composition and location of fluids in critical plant tissues) against the deleterious effects of anticipated low temperatures.
Temperature-induced cell death in plants, as frozen food manufacturers well know, is the result of several factors, of which low temperature is one but not as important as the time spent in getting there, which affects ice crystal size and colloidal aggregation, the real villains. Cell death in the garden also occurs from desiccation (due to low humidity, low temperatures, and high winds) and from mechanical damage due to animals and weight of snow or, especially with Erica × darleyensis, the stem’s splitting due to the wedging action of ice in the stem. Mechanical damage also occurs to the roots as the result of freeze-thaw cycles levering a freshly planted heather out of the ground. The minimum temperature reached is again of little concern here once the freezing point is reached and ice has formed, the amount of cycling being the paramount factor.
Whatever the shortcomings of a hardiness zone map, whether that of the USDA or the modifications thereof offered by many gardening books, it must be admitted that a low temperature reached in winter is as likely to be as good a predictor of plant survival as any other based upon far more complex instrumentation. However, once snow cover is established, air temperature becomes much less useful as a predictor. Studies show that the below-snow temperature – where the plant is – is usually only a little below the freezing point.
A hardiness zone map can be found on the Internet, described as the 2003 US National Arboretum “Web Version” of the 1990 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map <www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html>. Unlike the Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening approach, which folds two USDA Zones into one, the National Arboretum map goes down the route of halving the zones into A and B sections, effectively making bands out of
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Frost-covered Calluna vulgaris ‘Californian Midge’.
Winter 2010HNQ # 12912 17
When we were expanding our garden, there was a product called “dirty fines” available from our local mill. It was a mixture of waste from the burner at the mill and local waste from the ocean. You can find pieces of crab legs and seaweed throughout the mixture, which was allowed to settle, then mixed again and again with bulldozers until it was cool and cured. We bought this mixture by the trailer full and mixed it with our clay soil. Our thinking that heathers need really acidic soil was disproved by the success of plants growing in mounded beds of this blended soil. They were planted in 2004 and are doing quite well. The fact that they have excellent drainage is the key.
Strangely, the plants taken from the Thompson Garden and planted in our heavy soil differ from cuttings made from those plants and planted out in the “dirty fines” soil mixture. The latter seem to be somewhat tender. They grow much faster, forming random peaks rather than forming tight mounds like the plants of ‘Californian Midge’ grown in our original clay soil.
A couple of the clay soil plants almost died due to my neglect in planting them where they were lost among larger plants and lacked sufficient water. My not allowing myself to throw away any heather in those early days led me to tear a dying plant apart and stick little pieces in the ground wherever I was at the time. Ignoring them for the time being and going back later, I would find them growing as the tight little buns I was so used to. Today, when I plant pieces into the new (amended) soil, they grow quickly and with peaks. And just once, I noticed a small section of plant with a little flower or two. Now, instead of tearing a whole plant apart and replanting pieces, I prune out the dead section, pour planting soil into the gap and wait to see what happens. One plant I’m watching had a large open center, so I took a couple of small green pieces from the dead part and planted them in the center. I just checked, and they are doing well. Its strange growth behavior in response to different cultivation methods has made ‘Californian Midge’ my favorite heather.
Hardiness Zones
Donald A. M. Mackay135 Deerfield Lane, Pleasantville, NY 10570, [email protected]
Do you know what hardiness zone you live in? Do you care? Do you know what a hardiness zone is? How is it defined? How reliable? Do you care?
Up to a point, you should. If you are a farmer or a nurseryman, you should care a lot because of the financial implications of product loss or honoring performance guarantees. The rest of us can afford riskier behavior, or indulge in the inner glow that comes with outsmarting the experts. Perhaps growing a plant in your zone but outside its zone becomes a barometer of your personal skills as a gardener – or more likely your EMT training – as you rescue a plant and nurse it back to health.
I believe that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) was the first – about 100 years ago – to make a map of hardiness zones; but the map has been revised (most recently in 1990) and will probably be revised again soon to reflect warming trends, if they persist. Most gardening books show hardiness maps or often their own modified version of the USDA map. Some base zones upon the average minimum recorded temperatures for a winter month or, like the USDA, for the entire winter; but the average minimum temperature means little as an average – or as a temperature, for that matter. Temperatures on clear starry nights in Vermont not infrequently go down to the low teens or even zero, even in early October, when cold air masses start leaking out of Canada, but then shoot up to the 30’s when the sky starts to lighten.
Zero temperatures [Fahrenheit] without snow cover this early in winter ought to do great damage but often don’t, mainly because such nights are usually windless, or because the humidity is high enough to permit hoar frost to form. Like the water sprayed on Florida oranges to coat them with ice, hoar frost affords good
Winter 2010HNQ # 129 1316
Continued page 16
Breeders’ corner: A new heather to treasure
David WilsonThe Heather Farm, Box 2206, Sardis, BC, Canada V2R 1A6www.theheatherfarm.com
Awhile back, OK, a long while back, I asked David Wilson to give me some background on his new introductions. The following is his response to that request, recently updated. E. M. T. W.
Erica × darleyensis ‘Winter Treasure’ is a seedling from the same crosses made in 1996 that produced ‘Irish Treasure’. At the time, David Small suggested that I focus my attention upon the more compact plants in the group, and so ‘Irish Treasure’ was selected and named, even though the foliage and flower color was not as strong as the more vigorous ‘Winter Treasure’. I have always maintained some stock of the latter. Many times I wanted to sell it but always resisted.
About five years ago, we had two thousand 10 cm pots ready for sale, but after deciding that Kurt Kramer should have a look at it first, I sent him some cuttings and dumped the lot. Well . . . except for ten plants. Two years later, Kurt reported that late winter cold had knocked the flowers off the plants he had grown and we would have to wait another year for comment. He had also sent me his best true pink E. × darleyensis to grow and compare with my plant.
In 2008, Kurt reported that he wanted to secure European breeders’ rights for my plant, and it would need to be named. He also asked for his plant to be destroyed. I know that ‘Winter Treasure’ is not the best plant for growth habit and flower size, two qualities that Kurt feels are very important. He will be working to improve these features with his own breeding efforts. In the meantime, he commented that we would be wise to follow the lead of European commercial growers, who are diligent about regular clipping during production, a practice that
would minimize the desire of ‘Winter Treasure’ to grow tall.
My plant has dark foliage with upright habit and will send up occasional long new shoots. When David Edge saw the plant in Germany, he thought it to be closer to Erica erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ than to its other parent, E. carnea ‘Treasure Trove’. Here, like some other E. × darleyensis cultivars, it tends to flower a little early in the garden. The flowers that open in October and November can be damaged by winter cold, whereas other darleys seem to be able to withstand this situation more easily. As David Edge observed, it probably leans more toward the E. erigena side of the family.
The largest plants of ‘Winter Treasure’ in my garden are five years old, 16 inches tall and two feet across, having been clipped a couple of times. When I see the plant growing in pots in the greenhouse in early spring beside the other cultivars in bloom, I realize that I should grow it to market. The color is unlike that of other available darleyensis and appears much brighter in pot production than in the garden.
The plant is now available for spring 2010. Here in Canada, we have made it available to the Vancouver Island Heather Society and to customers of The Heather Farm. In the United States, it may be purchased from Heaths and Heathers nursery, Shelton, WA.
In the news
Philadelphia Flower Show 2010 judges awarded “Best in Show for a Garden Society” exhibit to the Delaware Valley Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society. Our own Jane and Paul Murphy (Hickory Hill Heath and Heather nursery) helped with the preparation of this exhibit, including planting about 50 heathers in the troughs that were the main feature of the exhibit. Congratulations to Jane and Paul and the rest of the NARGS members for their well-deserved award. We hope they’ll tell us how they did it in a future issue of HNQ.
Winter 2010HNQ # 129
The “stained glass window” planted with heather that echoes the living room windows
in the Thompson’s
house.
Phot
o by
Ella
May
Wul
ff
1514
Phot
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ario
Abr
eugardens featured during the
2010 Conference
Erica x darleyensis ‘Winter Treasure’
Phot
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Dav
id W
ilson
An Irishman’s Cuttings is lavishly illustrated with reproductions of old book plates plus photos of plants and
plant people.
Gary Schuldt’s response to “In the News”, Heather News Quarterly
issue 128, Fall 2009, page 8.
“In the spirit of your précis of the Fine Gardening February issue, I’m attaching a photo from my garden: Notice how invasive those nasty
heathers are--they’re everywhere, threatening my dwarf conifers!
Why, see how the flames of that ‘Golden Drop’ are licking up at
the skirts of my Thuja occidentalis ‘Lutea’ and my Chamaecyparis
thyoides ‘Red Star’ !!”
A sample of the many colorful heathers in the
Davis garden.
The Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden features a colorful heather garden as well
as garden art.
