}- 2/242 HEATHERS 1 Erica ingeana E. G. H. Oliver ‘earbook of The Heather Society THE HEATHER SOCIETY Registered charity No 261407 Affiliated societies Nederlandse Heidervereniging ‘Ericultura’ Gesellschaft der Heidefreunde North American Heather Society President Mr D. J. Small Vice-Presidents Mr A. Hall Mrs A. Knight Mise Bee COUNCIL 2003-2004 Chairman Mr A. J. Stow Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer Mrs J. Julian Mr P. L. Joyner Mr R. Canovan Mr A. R. Collins Mrs D. Everett Mrs D. H. Jones JP Mrs S. Kay Mr D. E. Millis Dr R. Nichols Dr B. E. Roberts Mtr B. Sellers © The authors & The Heather Society The Heather Society and the editors take no responsibility for the views expressed by authors in papers and notes published in Heathers (Yearbook of The Heather Society). FRONT COVER: Drawing by Inge Oliver (1947-2003) of the species named after her, Erica ingeana; see pp.55-56. Reproduced by courtesy of Dr E. G. H. Oliver. Heathers 1 Yearbook of The Heather Society 2004 third series In November 2003 the Council of The Heather Society agreed to change the title of the annual publication to Heathers. Yearbook of The Heather Society will continue in use as a subtitle. This issue initiates the third series of the Yearbook. The first series, with plain dark red covers, commenced in 1963 and (with the exception of 1968) continued annually to 1993. The second series of 10 issues, A5 size with white covers, commenced in 1994. Editor Dr E. Charles Nelson Assistant Editor B. Sellers ISSN 0440-5757 The Heather Society c/o Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St Mary, IPSWICH, Suffolk, IP6 8PJ 11 Erica carnea ‘December Red’ © M. H. A. Hoffman (see p. 32). Heathers 1: 1-3 (2004) © K. Lortz. A woodland heather garden KARLA LORTZ 502 E Haskell Hill Road, SHELTON, WA 98584-9529, USA. I am lucky enough to live in one of the most scenic areas in the State of Washington. Harstine Island is one of the southernmost islands in Puget Sound, about 40 miles (60km) southwest (“as the crow flies”) of Seattle. Few people know of its existence, and even fewer visit the island despite the bridge linking it to the mainland. We can get up to 100 inches (2,500mm) of rain during the winter, but little if any from July through October. Our winter rainfall is at least twice that of Seattle, and we receive little of the scant precipitation that the Seattle area gets during the summer. Harstine Island is in USDA Zone 8. The coldest I have known it here in the past 19 years was 12°F (-11°C), while the hottest was 100°F (37.7°C). The past few summers have had several days over 90°F (32°C) and a half dozen over 95°F (35°C). The weather seems to be getting hotter. ¥ esa a : sims > a«.-* eS ai _ ad si: a i. = oan pd ea sche Figure 1. Calluna vulgaris ‘Gold Haze’ and Erica cinerea ‘Eden Valley’. Figure 2. Karla's woodland garden; on the left is Erica cinerea ‘P. S. Patrick’ (purple), and to its right Calluna vulgaris ‘Robert Chapman’ (gold/orange). The reddish-purple E. cinerea to the right of ‘Robert Chapman’ is ‘Ruby’, while the bright gold on the upper far right is ‘Carole Chapman’. In the center of the photograph is E. *williamsii ‘P. D. Williams’ with its obvious lighter shoot-tips. The Calluna, just opening, in the front left corner is ‘Pink Tips’, while in the front right corner is E. cinerea ‘Frances’. My main heather garden is on a fairly steep slope in a woodland setting. In the summer, the sun arrives up on the hill about 10am and dips behind the trees around 6pm. Winter is altogether a different story. Then the garden gets little if any sunlight because the sun does not rise high enough in the sky to get above the neighbor’s towering Douglas fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The result is a lovely summer garden that has little foliage color during the winter months. Due to lack of sun, my huge plants of Calluna vulgaris “Sesam’, ‘Firefly’, ‘Hillbrook Orange’ and ‘Robert Chapman’ only obtain a tinge of reddish color. They display none of the blazing red and orange foliage they are famous for. On the other hand, the winter heaths blossom well as they have set their buds over the summer and bloom regardless of the amount of winter sun. Planted under the protection of some Douglas firs are my tree heaths.Erica australis leans heavily uphill, towards the light. It looks rather odd actually. Figure 3. Erica *griffithsii ‘Valerie Griffiths’in Karla's woodland garden. I originally had three E. arborea var. alpina but lost one during the dry sum- mer of 2002. They have to compete with the well-established trees for water and nourishment. I have since come to the conclusion that I was misguided in thinking that I was giving them protection by placing them near the trees. Drought has caused far more damage than cold weather. Due to the nursery taking all the water our well can produce, this garden rarely gets watered. It can go as long as two months without any supplemental water. I have lost some bell heathers (Erica cinerea) over the years from drought. Winter heaths (E. carnea) can get rather pale as well. St Dabeoc’s heaths (Daboecia cantabrica) get woody some years but never seem to die. D. azorica ‘Arthur P. Dome’ has held up pretty well. Cornish heath (Erica vagans) never looks affected by drought. Overall, 1 am amazed at how well the heathers look in hot, dry weather. They always perk right up when the rains return in the fall. I especially appreciate the golden foliage of the heathers on gray and rainy winter days. These plants radiate a brightness that cheers everyone up. At dusk during the summer, the golden foliage glows as darkness settles in. Given our particular environment with restricted sunlight, gold-colored foliage never burns. My Erica *griffithsii ‘Valerie Griffiths’ is huge in com- parison to those I have seen in more exposed settings, although its foliage colour is less intense. The single plant is now about 5ft (1.5m) across and at least 3 ft (Im) high. We have to cut it back hard to keep it under control. Good pruning is key to keeping plants from getting leggy. A woodland heather garden has its limitations, but there are also some advantages. 4 Heathers 1: 4 (2004) © D. Small. Suggestions for some beds of heather: for those who cannot sketch DAVID SMALL = 3 Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St. Mary, [ol IPSWICH, Suffolk, IP6 8PJ Figure 1 Plans for heather beds produced from The Heather Society website, February (left), August (right). Very few of us can draw as well as Brita Johansson (see pp 39-41) but you can still create ideas using the DIY garden design feature on The Heather Society website. This may be accessed by going to www.heathersociety.org / design. html and following the links from there. Starting with an empty plot, you can select a cultivar from the 1100 on the website and place it anywhere on the plot. Each time you click the mouse another plant will appear. These can be moved around if necessary creating the desired shape of the planting. Other cultivars can be added in a similar manner. The size of the plant reflects the height and spread figures given in the Handy guide to heathers. Once the design is complete, it can be viewed from any direction and at any time of year. You can even view it ina 3D mode again from any direction and any time of the year. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to add plants other than heathers. The programme is written in an early form of Java which does not allow you to print off your design. Apparently, this was deliberate to stop undesirables sending you viruses. To record your design take a screen shot and copy it into your favourite image manipulation programme. Heathers 1: 5-8 (2004) ©J. E. Judson. Entering the world of heathers LIZZIE JUDSON 8 Clover Court, WOKING, Surrey, GU22 OHH. This article is dedicated to David Small for reasons which will soon become apparent, and is all about how, from zero gardening knowledge, I found my way into the world of heathers. As all the people I have met in The Heather Society so far — and my avid gardening friends — seem to have come into the world full of gardening knowledge, I thought it might be of interest to read about what it’s like to be right back at the beginning, learning about gardening in general, and heathers in particular, for the first time. When I say I had zero gardening knowledge I mean it. Here’s what I. knew about gardening when I bought my first house with a small garden almost four years ago. @ If you don’t water flowers eventually they will die. (Though I hadn’t even quite absorbed this basic point a few years ago as I thought it didn’t apply to cacti because they live in the desert where there is no water — so I bought one and didn’t water it, thinking it could fend for itself. It died!) ® Light is probably a good thing. (But then again I thought that this only applied to plants indoors — after all there’s plenty of daylight outside, isn’t there?) That was it! As you can imagine soil types, drainage (or lack of it), plant feeding and pH were quite out of my sphere of knowledge at this time. So what got me started on gardening and heathers? Well, the house had come to me complete with an overgrown, grassy back garden and a not-so- bad front garden with a few sad-looking plants, a pot with a dead twig in it ... and a very nice-looking heather. As I moved in during February this heather was looking at its best. In fact, as most of the other gardens in the close are planted for summer colour, it was the best-looking plant in the neighbourhood — and went a long way towards making up for the rest of my garden. Little did I know where this plant was going to lead me. As yet I didn’t know anything about gardening but I am not without a certain logic, which went as follows. Lots of the plants in the front garden are looking unhappy. Many of them have been severely munched by something —but my heather is blooming happily and vigorously and doesn’t look like it would be digested very well - so let’s get some more heathers! Unfortunately my lack of understanding of the light issue was about to come into play. My front garden is north-facing and gets quite a lot of shade — which was added to by the plants that were already there. The existing heather, Erica Xdarleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ (as I was later to find out from David Small at The Heather Society near the beginning of a long, long series of enquiry e-mails), has dark leaves and was therefore more inclined to put up with lack of light than most. So, in short, all but one of the heathers I bought and planted expired in the gloom. But that was before I started to watch “How to be a gardener” on the television — which did wonders for my general knowledge of gardening as a whole - and before I found The Heather Society. It all happened a couple of years ago when I was trotting around the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden at Wisley with friends and we were touring the heather section and I noticed an information board that mentioned The Heather Society. “Aha”, I thought, “I wonder if it has a web site?” So a few weeks later when having a “surf” I put “heather society” into the browser and it all started from there. That’s when the e-mails to The Heather Society began. My first question is the most embarrassing one to admit — but I do think it brings up an important point of how vital it is for gardening books to explain things properly and to assume complete ignorance on the part of their readers. (The Heather Society’s booklet Everyone can grow heathers is very good in this respect, but I hadn’t discovered it at that time.) I had just learnt from my increasing gardening knowledge that I had to trim my heathers after they had flowered. Even I could work out how to do this for the Erica plants — but I was puzzled by Calluna. The general advice was to cut back to the base of the flowering spikes but not into the old wood. This left me very perplexed as I thought that this was going to be a very fiddly job having to cut off all those flowers carefully up the side of each of the stalks — and how could I tell which was the old wood - it all looked like just wood to me? Yes, I am afraid it had not occurred to me that you just lopped the tops off the Calluna plants. You can imagine my embarrassment when David Small e-mailed me a “before” and an “after” photograph, and the penny finally dropped! But that was just the beginning and I have learnt a lot since then. @ Ihave learnt that a great way to send someone information on a heather so that it can be identified is to snip a small bit off and put it on a scanner which takes a perfect picture — that’s how David identified my E. Xdarleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’. 7. @ | have learnt that if you trim Erica carnea and E *darleyensis at the wrong time you chop off next year’s flowers as they set their flowers for the next year very quickly. (That was my next trick — having just learnt about trimming dead flowers off, | went a bit mad and upset my poor E. Xdarleyensis ‘Darley Dale’ for a year.) @ [ have also learnt about soil pH, and, interestingly, that not only do you not use tap water (in an alkaline water area) in the soil testing kit, but that while a front garden can have an acid soil (low pH), the same house’s back garden can have an alkaline one (high pH). Inow also know that certain heathers can put up with alkaline soil as long as it does not have any lime in it — but a lot cannot. But, although my questions to The Heather Society still keep coming, I think I am beginning to learn a few things. (David actually said that my questions are getting harder so I must be getting somewhere!) Recently | have had a few minor triumphs too. Earlier this year (2003) one of my friends mentioned that she had a “bud-bloomer” Calluna vulgaris — “you really must trim the dead flowers off the top, so it looks better in summer”, I said — as if [had always known the fact! Obviously I sounded convincing, because she later said how much better the trimmed plant looked when it flowered again. Plus, my friend from whom I get most of my other gardening advice is now consulting me on questions about heathers. I am now finding that heathers creep up on you in another way. Every time I go to Wisley I have to visit the garden centre and have a look at the heathers — they all look so alluring and I want to buy them, but the front garden is full and the back garden is alkaline, so I can’t have so many! I also admit that Iam beginning to develop heather prejudices. Lovely as the Calluna “bud-bloomers” look, and good as they are at giving height, I have to admit that my heart is with Erica —- especially the winter-flowering ones. Moreover, I can’t quite bring myself to love heathers with magenta flowers on yellow foliage, hard as I try. So what heathers do I have now - the hardy, battle-weary survivors which lived through my early gardening attempts and the more pampered, later arrivals that are beginning to be looked after properly? My first-ever heather — the one that was here when | arrived at the house —E. Xdarleyensis ‘Kramer's Rote’ is still there, going strong. Also in the front garden, in rough chronological order, are E. vagans ‘Valerie Proudley’, Calluna vulgaris ‘Alicia’, E. Xdarleyensis “Darley Dale’, E. carnea ‘Barry Sell- ers’, and E. cinerea ‘Pink Ice’ which is about to be moved as it’s just too dark k for it in the front garden. I’ve also branched out into a couple of fee heathers — one with E. carnea ‘Ann Sparkes’, E. Xstuartii ‘Irish Lemon’ and Calluna vulgaris ‘Alexandra’, and another with E. arborea ‘Estrella Gold’. o Figure 1. My pots; left with Erica arborea ‘Estrella Gold’ and right with E. carnea ‘Ann Sparkes’, E. *stuartii ‘Irish Lemon’ and Calluna vulgaris ‘Alexandra’ (photographed in October 2003). So which are my favourites? I have to admit a continuing affection for my first heather, ‘Kramer’s Rote’. It survived not only my gardening at- tempts, but also those of the previous owners. I am also fond of E. vagans ‘Valerie Proudley’. This is one tough little heather. Not only is she the sole survivor of my first heather planting — but she now seems to be out-grow- ing many of the nearby heathers and muscling them out of the way. Plus, she’s got nice “day-glow” lime-coloured new growth. In fact I like her so much I asked David Small to enter her on a monthly basis for twelve months in the “Heather of the month” section on The Heather Society’s web site! (1 don’t think she’s won yet, though!) My current favourite is my newest, E. arborea ‘Estrella Gold’. I love the almost furry foliage and am so attached to it that the other day when it was windy, I kept looking out of the window with great concern every few minutes for fear it might snap. The heather, of course, was unconcerned! As I write 1am planning my next heather pot, and thinking about trying some heathers in my alkaline-and-clay back garden. I’m also “gen-ing up” on propagation though I haven’t quite taken the plunge yet — but I will next year, so “watch this space”! Heathers 1: 9-11 (2004) © B. D. Maginess Forty years ago DAPHNE MAGINESS 19 High Park Road, Broadstone, Dorset, BH18 9DE. Early in 1963 Mr F. J. Stevens, (the late) director of Maxwell and Beale’s Nursery, Broadstone, Dorset, told me that a heather society had been formed and would I like to belong — 1 did! So for 40 years I have been a member. In fact the first Yearbook had articles on heather, along with four black-and-white photographs. Three of these were of our garden. Figure 1. Daphne Maginess (left), with her husband, Bill, and daughter Patricia (1983). 10 Figure 2. 19 High Park Road in 1961. Later that year Mr Stevens took a photograph, in colour, of part of our well-established bank. I had raised many of the plants from cuttings taken from my father’s garden. He used this as the cover illustration for Maxwell and Beale’s catalogue for 1963-1964 (see Yearbook 1995: 9). A caption stated “A customer’s heather garden in Broadstone.” Inside the catalogue was a brief account of the recently formed Heather Society. The subscription was one guinea per annum. Yet again, a catalogue for the season 1966-1967 had the cover picture of another part of our heather bank, plus the caption “A Heather Society member’s garden at Broadstone”. During those years, I had much pleasure walking on the moors nearby, as had many of the staff from the nursery who found heathers, which were then named after them. The object of these outings, apart from the enjoyment of the scenery, was to see if there were any heathers in bloom that were different from those already in cultivation. Small cuttings were taken to the nursery to be identified, and rooted. Success at last, a new find, a bell heather (Erica cinerea) later to be named ‘Maginess Pink’. The Heather Society began to publish names of members. I corresponded for several years with a very enthusiastic gardener, Mrs Helen Allen, in 11 Figure 3. Almost the same view on the afternoon of Saturday 1 September 1979 whe some members of The Heather Society, who were attending the annual conference at Weymouth, visited 19 High Park Road (photograph by Mrs Anne Parris). Kernersville, North Carolina, USA. I sent to her, successfully by post, heather cuttings wrapped in moist cotton wool. In spite of very hot summers and cold winters, she managed to root the cuttings and grow them on. (Helen Allen recorded her experience in Yearbook 1970: 31-34.) Another member, Madame Valeria Colmegna, from Ludiano, Switzerland, contacted me about cuttings. As she was elderly, and seemed doubtful as to success, I suggested she might try and find a few layerings from her own heathers, in order to increase her existing plants. A photograph of her home, La Grillaia, is in the 1972 Yearbook. She wrote about growing heathers in the Swiss Alps for the following Yearbook (1973: 22-25). Much has happened in the intervening years. It has been fun and a pleasure to belong to The Heather Society from its earliest days. Heathers 1: 12 (2004) ©J.G. Flecken. Erica cinerea var. rendlei in the wild in northwestern France On Sunday 21 September 2003, I found a single plant of “wheat-ear” bell heather (Erica cinerea var. rendlei) on Lande de Fréhel, a moorland on the coast in Brittany, east of the coastal road that leads from Sables-d’Or-les Pins to the Cap Fréhel lighthouse and to Fort la Latte. The locality is not far from where I found E. cinerea ‘Marina’ in 1980 and E. *watsonii ‘Mary’ in 1995. I took some cuttings so it can be propagated. Although my wife, Mary, and I inspected almost every square foot of that area on each of our five holidays there, we have never before discovered a plant like this. This is not the first record of the variety in the wild in France. However, it is probably the first time a wild example has been photographed. The photograph shows only part of the plant which had a diameter of about 0.7m (2°ft). It looked healthy and strong — all the other heather plants had brown flowers because of the heat and drought. Furthermore, it was a most interesting colour, almost “beetroot” (H9). J. G. Flecken, Kerkrade, Netherlands Heathers 1: 13-17 (2004) © A. J. Stow. Forty years on ARNOLD STOW Widmour, Limmer Lane, HIGH WYCOMBE, Buckinghamshire HP12 4QR. My first heather plants were purchased in 1964. How can I be so sure? Well, I recently came across an invoice from the leading nurseryman at the time, namely John F. Letts, dated 1 April 1964. Why I have bothered to keep this creased piece of paper amongst my heather memorabilia for the last 40 years I cannot imagine, but I am glad I did. ; "homes Boy ah iyo 4G “JOHN F. LETTS sail . ne THE HEATHER SPECIALIST a) J GMAT Tea RM RES ey aa aU us Ait FOX HOLLOW NURSERIES 7 / ir il Ie. f (Ce, os WINDLESHAM, Surrey i i fn ip \ 19 foe. Moe of i ee ah hail at Gee ne , fae (ft lo UE OL Bld fh oe Ste ee “ ve t ee by if ! h Hh é ia * Pp toe Fi e ald ib f Z : ri & vin fr 15 "he ff jf jf if z or tt ey te oe Clea | all oa Pail bat 4 es ff ; Lf Fa i cecal a af ft 2 Pry ae { whol, mn gt ita te tat ult d ff Ff ity ea oe ed My reason for joining The Heather Society, two years later, was that our favourite plants had escaped the efforts of the hybridist. All plants had hybridized naturally. Nature herself had chosen to introduce new variations for us to discover in our gardens or in the wild. Not for me the annual introductions of new roses and sweet peas at Chelsea. Alas, it was not to last for long and on reflection I am pleased to have watched at close hand the introduction of new cultivars and, in one instance, a new species. 14 Having always gardened on alkaline soil in two gardens, it set me thinking about the wider range of plants available today for those of us not fortunate enough to enjoy the benefits of acid soil. The current edition of the Handy guide to heathers lists more than 100 cultivars of Erica carnea — in the Letts’ 1964 catalogue just 40 are offered. Whilst the Letts’ catalogue does not contain the full number of E. carnea varieties available in 1964, it is fair to say that it would be very difficult to track down all of the plants now listed in the Handy guide, but it does give an idea of the advances made over the past 40 years and the somewhat bewildering choice available today *. However, are the newer plants better than the familiar, well- established ones? This was one of the points discussed at the Society’s Annual Gathering at Chester last year (see pp 57-59), although no conclusions were reached, but it is suspected that some nurserymen, under financial pressure, tend to “hurry along” their plants to the market- place before they have been tested properly. With respect of flower colour in heathers, great advances have been made, especially by Kurt Kramer. Who cannot be excited by the purple flowers of E. carnea ‘Natalie’ (H10), the beetroot (H9) flowers of ‘Rotes Juwel’, and the pink blooms of ‘Rosalie’ and ‘Rosantha’ (H7)? Do not though overlook some of the older cultivars like ‘Pink Spangles’, ‘Myretoun Ruby’ and the very floriferous ‘R. B. Cooke’. The white-flowered cultivars of E. carnea have also caught the attention of our German hybridist: ‘Isabell’, ‘Ice Princess’ and ‘Schneesturm’ are all considered superior to‘Springwood White’ but I am very loathe to dispense with any of the older ones unless they need replacing. Iam reminded of the saying “Never forsake old friends for new ones”. Perhaps it is the mean streak in me, my plants of E. carnea have to prove their worth for 20 years. Erica erigena, a species which has had some name changes in its time — E. mediterranea and then E. hibernica — has doubled its quota of cultivars: just 13 were listed by Letts in 1964; today 26 are listed. Nature apparently produced the outstanding “Brian Proudley’, a white-flowered cultivar of vigorous, upright growth and bright green foliage, as well as ‘Irish Silver’, with pale lilac flowers, found by Brian’s wife, Valerie, in County Mayo. Space limits me to growing only the latter, but it is a pleasant reminder of two people I have had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times over the years. . “ For more on Erica carnea cultivars, see Jos Flecken’s report on pp 31-38. 15 ‘Mrs Parris’ Lavender’ is another reminder of a most interesting lady. In the 1974 Yearbook (pp 11-13) there is an article entitled “Heather and football studs” (reprinted from Popular gardening) in which she described how she planted a very steep bank with heathers. Erica Xdarleyensis now includes what to my mind is the really outstand- ing cultivar ‘Kramer's Rote’. It is a tough, no-nonsense plant, and deserv- edly very popular. While heathers in general do not enjoy their former popu- larity, every garden centre likes to stock this one (often under the incorrect name KRAMER’S RED). Whilst it was a deliberate cross, ‘Mary Helen’, with lovely golden foliage and pink flowers, was found as a seedling in a Lancashire nursery. For many years E. Xdarleyensis ‘Silberschmelze’ was the pick of the white hybrids, but a sport on it has produced ‘White Perfection’. Mention has already been made of Anne Parris, who carried out a lot of work on crossing E. carnea and E. erigena, but only succeeded in producing one cultivar, ‘Mrs Parris’ Red’. Erica umbellata could only offer the mauve-flowered variety until recently, but now there is a white one named ‘Anne Small’ which so far has shown remarkable shyness on the flower-front for me. When it does settle down it will be a welcome addition to the list of lime-tolerant heathers, and moreover it blooms at a very useful time in the year, June. Erica terminalis, the type plant, was quite acceptable but since ‘Thelma Woolner’, with deeper lilac pink flowers, was introduced I have forsaken an old friend for the new one! Another tree heath not known by Letts is E. arborea ‘Estrella Gold’ with lime-green foliage, bright yellow new growth and profuse white flowers; it was found in Portugal in 1972. I think the flowers detract somewhat from the beauty of the foliage and pruning takes place rapidly as soon as the blooms start to fade. A really lovely plant [see also p. 8]. What must surely be the most exciting development of recent years is the hybridizing carried out by Professor John Griffiths of Leeds, which resulted in E. Xgriffithsii. Natural hybrids had occurred between E. manipuliflora and E. vagans before: the aptly named ‘Heaven Scent’ and the more recent ‘Jacqueline’, which produces richer lilac pink flowers, are two examples. The deliberate cross between E. vagans ‘Valerie Proudley and E. manipuliflora ‘Aldeburgh’ produced E. xgriffithsii ‘Valerie Griffiths’ [see p. 3], while another cross yielded ‘Ashlea Gold’. This has given plenty of summer colour for alkaline soils. In 1964 John Letts listed 26 cultivars of E. vagans — today there are 40-plus. ‘Golden Triumph’ would appear to the most interesting with startling spring 16 Figure 1. Daboecia cantabrica ‘Waley’s Red’ growing in the author's garden in High Wycombe. growth of golden tips followed by white flowers. ‘Yellow John’, lilac flowers and bright yellow foliage, appears to have been the only new introduction with coloured flowers, but then it would have to be some plant to oust ‘Mrs D. F. Maxwell’. Daboecia cantabrica seeds so prolifically in my garden, despite the alkaline soil, that a couple of years after planting named cultivars they have been invaded by so many seedlings that it is difficult to identify them. Letts listed only 10, today 49 cultivars have entries in the Handy guide. Tomorrow there will be more. If you can keep them from being invaded by lesser seedlings ‘Arielle’, glowing magenta (H14), ‘Barbara Phillips’, amethyst (H1), ‘Blueless’, rose-pink (H7), and‘Waleys Red’, magenta (H14), are well worth a try. ‘Heather Yates’, a neat plant with amethyst ((H1) blooms, is a must for me, as also is ‘Creeping White’ which always seems to be in bloom. The only double-flowered Daboecia, ‘Charles Nelson’, has mauve (H2) flowers and should be grown if only for its rarity. What else is there to interest the heather gardener tending alkaline soil? Well, one can always seek out E. manipuliflora: there are six cultivars, in various shades of pink, but whilst I have not grown them all, I have been 17 Figure 2. Erica *williamsii ‘Ken Wilson’ in a group of E. carnea at Widmout. disappointed by those I have tried. Perhaps I have been unlucky, but they are sparse in flower for me. It is a vastly different matter with E. xwilliamsii. Letts listed just one in 1964; today seven are in the Handy guide, six of which originated as natural-occurring hybrids, all found on the Lizard Peninsula. One exception is the outstanding ‘Ken Wilson’, blooming from July to November with magenta flowers fading to shell-pink, which was a deliberate cross between E. tetralix ‘Hookstone Pink’ and E. vagans ‘Mrs D. F. Maxwell’. Considering that E. tetralix and to a lesser extent E. vagans are not renowned for their tolerance of lime, it is quite remarkable that E. Xwilliamsti thrives in lime-rich soil, and it is a welcome addition for the heather gardener unable to consider growing Calluna and Erica cinerea. I feel that the heather gardener who has to contend with alkaline soil can no more consider himself a second-class citizen. We can hold our heads up high with our heathers ablaze with colour during the summer — and this all due to developments over the past 40 years and, dare I mention it, thanks ir part to the hybridists! IS: T. A. Julian) ica cinerea, 1 (Photo AQ 6D = = ie) er ep) c o “e) H fav} 1) | SH {qv} U = ie) Ss iqe) ae » fav) a iqe) 5 FH =~ ae) a 1S) ie) Wy o SG oO i) ae i) G Fe = i) H Dd cy Co Heathers 1: 18-25 (2004) © J. Julian & P. Newton. The Calluna collection that never was | JEAN JULIAN with the assistance of PETER NEWTON | Matchams, Main Street, Askham Richard, YORK, YO23 3PT | The Heather Trials (Figure 1) carried out at the Northern Horticultural Society’s Harlow Carr Garden, Harrogate, Yorkshire, during the 1970s were ona plot of land not normally seen by visitors. One consequence of the Trials was the establishment in the 1980s, in a prominent position, of a collection of Erica and a start was made to establish a Calluna reference collection. The area chosen for the Calluna collection was near the flower-trial beds but, as spent mushroom compost had been added to this area, the soil was considered unsuitable. The alternative site allocated was at the top of the hill in South Field, a part of the garden also not often seen by visitors. The plants were set out geometrically in rectangular beds to give a true comparison plant to plant. They were laid out north to south, with dwarf, white, foliage, double-flowered and single coloured cultivars. This has been the only pure reference collection for Calluna cultivars in Britain and was of great value to Cherrybank Gardens in Perth, Scotland, because, to receive national collection status from the NCCPG, each cultivar had to be verified. Cultivars for verification were planted alongside the Calluna reference plants in the early 1990s, thus expanding the number of plants in the Harlow Carr collection. These plants were ploughed up in 2003; they have been neglected for some years since the inception of the “new” collection. The decision to start a new Calluna reference collection was made in 1994, when the South Field collection was eleven years old. It was assumed that by the time the new collection was established, the original one would be beyond its best. The new Calluna collection was to be sited much nearer to the centre of the garden and, consequently, would be seen by most visitors. After long discussions with the Curator, Queen’s Meadow was chosen as the most appropriate spot, not quite as close to the main beds as preferred, but much closer than South Field. The following notes (see pp 20-21) were made in November 1994 for presentation to the Northern Horticultural Society’s Council. On 30 April 1996 the decision was taken to start preparing an acre plot to hold more than 500 Calluna cultivars with a minimum of three plants of each to meet NCCPG standards. Albert Julian drew up plans and the first layout 20 Notes on the proposed re-siting of the Calluna vulgaris collection Existing collection The cultivars in the existing South Field collection number almost 400. The planting area is approximately 900 sq. yds divided into four sections for the following groups. 1. Low growing 2. Coloured foliage 3. White flowers and doubles 4. Coloured single flowers and bud flowers This grouping allows easy comparisons of cultivars with similar characteristics. Three plants of each cultivar are planted; two spaced 2 ft apart and the third midway between them. It can be replanted should one of the others fail, or be removed when they are well established. Proposed new site It is assumed that the soil acidity measures no more than 6.5 pH. A check of several points on the proposed site is to be made in the near future. The collection will be planted in shaped beds to give an attractive landscape effect. Assuming that plants are to be spaced 2ft apart, a similar area to that of the existing collection, plus space to accommodate new cultivar introductions, will be needed. If closer spacing is adopted, say 1ft 6ins, the area may be reduced appropriately (square law). General experience in the gardens indicates that Callunas do not do well almost certainly because of the clayey nature of the soil and poor drainage, so it is recommended that a very large quantity of coarse sand and grit should be thoroughly rotavated in to a depth of not less than 9ins. As much peat as can be spared should be worked into the planting holes. To this end discarded compost should be saved for this purpose. For the best visual effect, shaped beds will house the various cultivar groups and the “reference” principle will be adhered to. Recommended groupings are — Green foliage Low growing — coloured foliage — St Kilda clones and cultivars Spring tipped Coloured foliage — silver — yellow / gold — orange / red White flowers — green foliage Double flowers — all colours Coloured single flowers: green foliage — mauve Bud flowers - ted — all colours The coloured foliage cultivars remain attractive for long periods and should be placed in the most prominent positions, preferably where they are likely to be viewed from southerly aspects. Most white cultivars flower early and “brown off” in a very short time in hot weather. Thus they are considered to be less attractive than most coloured flowering cultivars and should be placed in the least prominent positions. In order to accommodate new varieties in the appropriate groupings it is recommended that many more than three plants of the more eye-catching cultivars should be planted initially, to be removed ultimately, to make way for newcomers. Propagation It is unlikely that the plants in the existing collection will transplant satisfactorily, but they can provide the cutting material for propagation. We should purchase only those cultivars, which are not included. If it is planned to start planning in 1996/97, we should start propagating next year (1995). A three-year propagating programme would involve producing 400 plants per year from, say 1330 cuttings. In the event of a postponement plants that have been raised can be passed on into larger pots. It is unlikely that the present capacity and facilities in the greenhouse would permit this large increase in propagation. A list of cultivars in each of the recommended groupings is being prepared. T. A. Julian Sek } Bareae aan a) i A eee H 8 TIPPED POM INGE 7 31. KILDA _ DWARF SAE ES | | i} * COLOURED FLOWER, a, i Pg / ee C : leer a Ms garni Se a ae ee se oe gs Pr ae ae F ce | ee . ae ee cary Vite roe | | ae oS eae | | Me YELLOW FOLIAGE we GRANGE FOLIAGE ty SAR ey! ae e mi ox of ne , és : / fe fs, “i eal Gace f d SINGLERED {PINK Og a OF a a | Pa Pe rye e af =e | inns pi el a fe (i eae - Seeteenen amar ameilll ini a’ SINGLE Mauve at : K y i a On ee “ OUIELES / ae piven nee le, se ce SOUBLES I J a ee RED | PEMK | ral REO ROLIMGE je?" Sa Vee } x oe ce Boe | LATE FLOWERS i #- y HE. BEALE PROGENY WrSLELE bh DIT LT era ei ii il em kn iam a ii ii TP Figure 2. Plan for the Calluna national collection at Harlow Carr Gardens, prepared by Albert Julian. 21 aD Groupings in Calfune vulgaris National Collection - Harlow Carr Calluaa valgaris i | | a Bod Flower Mvioltbractesta | Late Phovenesrimy 22 es el * . | Dwarf Single | | Double Flowers Nestea a { Saeeael Se og ) r 4 i ui > ~ * Poors ~ 7 , Prostrate | | Sil. Boalt | White ELE Beale RedPink ilanwe a) ja heat’ | ‘y r Mroueiny fs 4 Coneiarent ia Labatt, | , Why brat i | AA Pigearen sed 1 13 ie es NE een ine | Nectar eres Uy = ep “e i= ‘aa Single Flower Medien T all eee ornate ere Tenaeeneeas fl Tae ceaen caine mamenmeeemmeseae Tl RaleieneneenaatmanememEnantE a0 ey aR fs = ees | ifs a | Aylouwes od 7 | hh Figures (Rate } lmumbers of cultivars | —l aan el oe pokey aa bia eeteemmemme H aay! KAT RMEYIE I Ruecd i Velen pos Sy r 1 (ea) Met = ‘Tall Med Toll Med Toll Med Yall Med Tull a4 tt 20) 8 3 4 26 \ Ah ty Figure 3. Table of recommended groupings for the Calluna national collection proposed for Harlow Carr Gardens. was ready in September 1996 and that autumn the plot was treated with glyphosate. Propagation of plants was started by David and Anne Small at Denbeigh Heathers. Early in 1997 the plot was ploughed and rotavated and pH readings taken. The readings gave pH 6.0 over the whole area; the soil was considered to be suitably acidic. There was no reason to believe that the site was not suitable, because it was at the opposite end of the South Field to the existing collection. To improve the physical property of the clay soil, typical of the whole Harlow Carr site, it was agreed, as proposed, that several tons of coarse sand would be rotavated into the upper layer. The test sample of sand was pH 7.0. Small heaps of sand were placed at intervals over the area and these were spread by a long tree trunk pulled by a tractor; consequently, even after rotavation, the distribution was uneven. That winter, many cold days were spent, using long lengths of parachute cord and stakes, defining the position and shape of the twelve beds. This work continued well into the summer as the position of each plant was established and marked with a small stick. Planting started at Easter by a team of nine from the Yorkshire Heather Group and continued in stages into early summer. No peat was available to 23 Figure 4. View looking east towards the pumping station showing stakes in position prior to planting the heathers add to the soil around the plants. After a few months the plants had become, as far as the eye could tell, well established, but during the next winter their appearance was less good. Excessive soil water was thought to be the reason. Just above the plot was a pumping station, which was due for renovation, so we suspected a leak. Yorkshire Water renewed the pumps, but the plants did not improve. A spring was discovered about two-thirds of the way up the plot in Bed E (gold-foliage). After much discussion, a drain was sunk across the top and down the north side of the plot, with another two diagonally across the plot, one starting at the spring. The plants appeared to improve during the summer of 1999 and the cultivars lost in the previous winter, in particular the spring-tip ones, were replaced. The following winter had the same effect as previous ones, with more heavy losses. By this time it was clear that not much growth had been made by surviving plants since they had been planted. It was also noticed that when plants were removed from the soil, to check the amount of root growth, there had been little or no new growth out of the potting compost. We believe that the plants had also suffered frost-damage. 24 After planting, weeds were kept down by hoeing for two years but in 2000 the area was mulched to a depth of 4 inches with fine bark. After a few weeks roots of the plants could be found in this mulch. The plants also had to contend with vandalism from rabbits, pheasant and deer. Several soil samples were taken at random for pH determination. All were much higher than the initial readings, even up to pH 7.1. It was decided to try to decrease the soil pH; treatment with chelate was considered but rejected on the basis of cost. Addition of dilute sulphuric acid was considered too hazardous, and application of ammonium sulphate thought to result in ‘soft’ growth that might be damaged or killed by frost. Consequently, during Easter 2000 a team was gathered together to water Peter’s Excel on to the planted area. A second dose was given over the summer. Soil samples were not taken to establish whether this treatment had been effective. However, this was considered to be a short-term answer, and what was really needed was addition of sulphur. In Autumn 2000 the task of adding sulphur to the soil (150gm/m*) was started. This was a thankless job, because it could only be done wearing protective clothing ona dry, windless day, and so it was never completed because insufficient suitable days occurred . We continued to weed the plants where necessary during 2001, but following the merger of the Northern Horticultural Society with the Royal Horticultural Society, changes occurred in garden planning. It was mutually decided that the collection should be abandoned because more than one-fifth of the plants had been lost each winter, and the survivors had grown to only half their expected size, and a great deal of the foliage was chlorotic. Landscape architects were employed to advise on the development of the Harlow Carr Gardens and it was recommended that because Queen‘s Meadow was so wet, it was the ideal place to dig a lake using the spoil as a viewing mound. This was duly done in July 2002, and on one wet afternoon the lake was filled in three hours — it was thought it would take three weeks! It had been noted in the winter of 1997, prior to any planting, that in the bottom half of Bed L (double-flowered) there was often a pool of water so it had been decided not to plant this area until better drainage was provided. A new Calluna collection has been included in the RHS master-plan for Harlow Carr, at the top of the hill in South Field near the original collection, consequently everyone is confident that they will grow well. It will consist of crescent-shaped beds with approximately 15 plants of each cultivar. With more than 500 cultivars this is a big area with a lot of plants, but the collection will no longer follow “reference” principles — for the sake of visitors a mix of plants will have to be made so that the area is as attractive as possible. pas) POsT-MORTEM Why did the plants either die or fail to become established? It is possible that the pH of the sand that was added was different to that of the sample that had been chosen. This would seem to be irrelevant because the death and poor growth did not correspond to the poor mixing of the sand with the soil. Much head-shaking took place at the time. Geoffrey Smith, who was responsible for planting many of the plants that can be seen at Harlow Carr, made an interesting comment. When he was told about the poor performance of the heathers he said that the reason that there was only grass in that area was because it was more or less impossible to get anything else to grow there. Inquiries were made, through Judy Rose at East Malling, about research on the effect of soil pH on heathers being carried out at Sussex University. It was suggested that there had been excess bicarbonates produced in the soil, which would have increased the pH. At this stage it is not known whether this was simply because there had been improved soil aeration as a consequence of cultivation and/or addition of sand, or it was in some way linked to the removal of the grass growing in the area. Would the plants have become established if it had been possible to place a small amount of peat in the planting hole? Although it feels as though the past six years have been wasted and both Denbeigh Heathers and the Northern Horticultural Society spent a lot of money, we have learned a lot, not least that Calluna cultivars require not only acid soil but that it remains acidic after they are planted. It is also important to have one or more strategies that are known to work that can be used to reduce the pH if it becomes necessary. Hopefully this description of the ill-fated Collection will mean that a similar disaster will not be repeated. ‘THE FUTURE I now look forward to another, large, new Calluna collection at Harlow Carr, adjacent to an area where they have grown well in the past. Although the next Calluna collection will not be started until 2004, many heathers are still present in the RHS Garden Harlow Carr: a collection of Erica carnea and E. Xdarleyensis near the winter garden, a planting of E. Xoriffithsii, E. manipuliflora and E. vagans below the new bookshop, a trial bed of tree heaths, a new planting of E. carnea, E. *darleyensis and E. Xoldenburgensis to the right of the entrance steps and three beds of lime- tolerant heathers. Heathers 1: 26 (2004) Daboecia *scotica ‘Ellen Norris' JOYCE PROTHERO 281 Cudmore Road, Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada, V8K 2J7 The saga of Daboecia *scotica ‘Ellen Norris’ began in Spring 1997 near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, when a chance seedling emerged in Paddy van Adrichem’s garden. As was his wont, Paddy potted up the “Little Seedling” as a “garden gift” for one of the many visitors to his garden. Among the groups visiting Paddy’s garden in 1997 was the Vancouver Island Heather Chapter (VIHC), of which Paddy was a member, and Ellen Norris founding president. Ellen was also a long- time Board member of the North American Heather Society (NAHS), and helped to plan and plant the display heather garden at the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific near Victoria. When the members of VIHC visited Paddy’s garden in October 1997, I adopted “Little Seedling” Figure 1. Daboecia *scotica ‘Ellen and took it home to nearby Saltspring Island, Norris’ where “Little Seedling” grew, bloomed, and was admired for its compact habit and vibrant flowers. When David Small visited in July 2002, he suggested sending some tip-cuttings to anursery. In October 2002, 50 tip-cuttings were mailed to Wilson’s Nursery, Sardis, British Columbia. A year later, on 1 October 2003, when VIHC members visited the nursery, more than 30 “Little Seedlings” were just finishing an extended blooming period. But “Little Seedling” was still unnamed. Then inspiration! The Heather Lady of British Columbia, who died 12 September 2003, deserved to have a heather named in her honour; “Little Seedling” needed an official name—and so I decided it should be called ‘Ellen Norris’. However, because Paddy van Adrichem had grown “all the hardy heathers” including D. azorica, D. cantabrica and D. *scotica, the exact identity of ‘Ellen Norris’ was in doubt. Following advice from Charles Nelson, David Wilson identified ‘Ellen Norris’ as a hybrid. And so, on 16 October 2003, cultivar registration number 216 was issued for D. Xscotica ‘Ellen Norris’. Heathers 1: 27-29 (2004) © D. Small. The Old 804: European heathers naturalized in Oregon’ DAVID SMALL Denbeigh, All Saint’s Road, Creeting St. Mary, Ipswich, Suffolk IP6 8PJ Sometimes the right person happens to be in the right place at the right time. So it was with Joyce and Jack Prothero as they were travelling home in August 2000 from the North American Heather Society annual conference in Fort Bragg, California. As they headed north to their home on Saltspring Island, close to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, they decided to spend a night at the beachfront Adobe Motel in Yachats (pronounced yah-hots), Oregon. Close to the motel, they found the beginning of a well-used walking trail along the coast. The trail is in Smelt Sands Wayside, one of many small state parks that ensure public access to the Oregon coast, and it follows part of the route of Lincoln County 804, a right-of-way platted in 1890 for a road that was never built. The “phantom road” follows a Native American and pioneer trail that comes up off the beach north of Yachats and skirts the basalt coastal bluffs, known as Fox Point, before descending, after about two miles, to the beach once more. The beach was the principal route for travel in those early days, but basaltic headlands periodically interrupt the sandy beach, necessitating detours inland. Along the Old 804 trail, Joyce and Jack discovered Calluna vulgaris (ling) growing “wild”. It is well-recorded that ling is naturalized on Cape Cod and another colony thrives near Tofino airport on Vancouver Island. However, there are no reports of European heathers naturalized in Oregon. Arriving home, Joyce contacted Ella May Wulff, who lives 45 miles northeast of Yachats and who was not then aware of the Oregon wild heathers. A few weeks later, Ella May and Barry Wulff went to Yachats and confirmed the find, a trip repeated in August 2002 when Anne and I had the good fortune to stay with the Wulffs. For most of its length, the easy trail winds through short native coast pine (Pinus contorta) and salal (Gaultheria shallon, a relative of the heathers) mixed with the rampant alien Himalayan blackberry. The trail is edged with "Based on articles, published in Heather news, written by Ella May Wulff — 25 (1): 10-12 (2002); Ramona Bloomingdale — 25 (2): 3 (2002); and Donald Mackay — 25 (2): 4 (2002). 28 is, Figure 1. Calluna naturalised along the Old 804 trail. grasses and common roadside wildflowers, many of European origin such as ox-eye daisies. The climate is mild, with winter temperatures rarely dipping below freezing. Summer temperatures are moderated by cool winds and fog off the Pacific, and there is abundant rainfall especially from autumn through to spring. In other words, this is an ideal climate for heathers. We walked quite a way before spotting our first heather in a sunny area sheltered from winter storms by taller vegetation. Soon we were finding heather along other parts of the trail. In all cases, the heather was not directly facing the Pacific. It was always in areas protected from ocean blasts and salt spray and frequently grew mixed among grasses. The Calluna vulgaris plants on the Old 804 exhibited considerable variation in size and flower colour, varying from white through mauve to ruby. None was double-flowered. With our experience of European heathlands (which this habitat most closely resembled), it was quickly clear to us that these heathers had naturalised from cultivated clones. Where did they originate? The plants are scattered along the trail, most in groups but also as single individuals many yards away from others. However, there were plenty of small seedlings, indicating a thriving population. An adjacent 29 private property had the largest number of plants growing close to each other. Perhaps this is because the landowner has kept the land cleared of trees to preserve a view of the ocean from the house. However, this property does not appear to be the source of the heathers as they are not planted in a garden but mixed with the native vegetation. Ramona Bloomingdale’s family had a cottage close to the northern end of the trail, and she neealls) when. “a child, frequenting the beaches, both north and south of Yachats, often walking the trail. Her mother, who had a botany minor in Figure 2. Ella May Wulff and scniire Game ; college, eS intensely interested examining seedlings outside the gallery. in the plants along the trail. Ramona says that the heather has been there for a long time. There was an old farm, believed to date from the early 1900s, in the area where the heather now grows. When we left the Adobe Motel and turned north onto US Rt 101, the main coastal highway, more revelations were in store. Within a very short distance, we stopped to visit an art gallery where, to our surprise, was an old planting of Calluna and below these plants on the verge of the road there were hundreds of closely mown seedlings. Ramona Bloomingdale has visited the gallery since August 2002 and has discovered heather seedlings on the opposite (seaward) side of the highway, where the roadside vegetation merges into native pine woodland. Ella May has also re-visited the site and found plenty of seedlings, in a couple of different places. She also explored along the same side of the road as the gallery and found more seedlings of both Calluna and Cornish heath (Erica vagans), in a lawn two buildings away from the gallery but not in “natural” habitats. The naturalized heathers of the Old 804 trail have probably been spreading slowly for a considerable time. In the meantime, their origin continues as a mystery. 30 Heathers 1: 30 (2004) Erica carnea ‘Ice Princess’ (see pp. 33, 40) _ Erica carnea ‘Bell's Extra Special’ (see pp. 32, 40) Erica carnea "Nathalie' (see pp. 38, 40) Erica carnea "Treasure Trove’ (see p. 69) Erica carnea "Lake Garda’ eft (see pp. 38, 40) Erica carnea 'Rubinteppich' (see p. 35) This montage of Erica carnea cultivars was prepared using images obtained by placing sprigs on a flat-bed scanner. © D. Small. Heathers 1: 31-38 (2004) © J. F. Flecken. Erica carnea — a summary of the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society trials 1999-2002 J. F. FLECKEN Peschbeemdenstraat 19, NL-6462 RX KERKRADE, Netherlands. This article is an edited version of a report originally published in Dutch in Dendroflora 39: 4—29 ([2003] “2002”). Between 1999 to 2002, more than 100 different cultivars of Erica carnea were assessed for use as garden plants by the Trial Committee of the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society. The trial was held at J. D. W. E. van der Lip’s nursery at Hazerswoude Dorp, near Boskoop. The soil there, as well as in Boskoop, is peaty. Although Erica carnea tolerates lime better than most other hardy heathers, it does best in an acid peaty soil. It is also one of the hardiest heathers (suitable in North America for zone 4). There has been a big increase in the number of cultivars in recent years and there was some confusion within the nursery trade about the identity of some cultivars. Thirty-nine cultivars received awards, while 73 were deemed to have comparatively little value. In the Dendroflora report a further 13 cultivars were noted without being assessed. In addition to the assessment of these cultivars as ordinary garden plants, many were assessed as pot-plants. Erica carnea is increasingly being sold and used as a pot-plant. Cultivars that are suitable for cultivation in pots and containers are indicated by {. CULTIVAR ASSESSMENT = excellent § = for special purposes = very good q = excellent for containers and pots * = good *q ‘Ann Sparkes’ Flowers open rose-pink (H7; RHS 68B) and darken to heliotrope (H12), Feb.— May. The orange foliage turns crimson under cold-stress, with bronze tips during the rest of the year. 15cm tall, 25cm spread. This has a striking leaf colour, better than that of ‘Vivellii Aurea’, especially in late Spring and early Summer and is not prone to sunburn. o7 se KKK q Fg en KKK q eT ‘Bell’s Extra Special’ (Wuisky) A few heliotrope (H12) flowers, Jan—May. Distinctive whisky coloured foliage, flecked with tints of orange and gold. Neat tidy habit. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. This fine foliage plant, not at all prone to sunburn, originated from a deliberate cross in which ‘Myretoun Ruby’ was one of the parents. ‘Challenger’ Flowers magenta (H14) with crimson (H13) sepals, Jan.—Apr. Dark bronze- green foliage. Broad spreading habit. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. This is one of the best red-flowered cultivars. Of Dutch origin, it is healthy and produces well-filled flower trusses. It can be compared with ‘Myretoun Ruby’, excellent too, but it is lower growing and the foliage is darker. ‘December Red’ Flowers open pink (H8; RHS 74C) and deepen to heliotrope (H12) as the season progresses; Dec.—Feb. Mid-green foliage. Vigorous spreading habit. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. A very good, floriferous cultivar. Its name is misleading: in the Netherlands, it does not flower in December and the flowers are not red. ‘Gelderingen Gold’ Flowers crimson (H13; RHS 71B/C), Feb.—April. Yellow-green foliage, with a bronze tinge in Winter. Compact, spreading habit, 15cm tall, 30 cm spread. A seedling from a deliberate cross of ‘Foxhollow’ and ‘Myretoun Ruby’, made by H. M. J. Blum, in 1984 but its merits became evident only during the Boskoop trials. This has a happy combination of foliage and flower colour, although the flowers sometimes completely smother the leaves. ‘Golden Starlet’ White flowers, Dec.—March. Foliage glowing yellow in Summer turning lime- green in Winter. Neat compact spreading habit. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. This is absolutely the best cultivar with yellow foliage. As with most heathers with coloured leaves, it needs full sun to show its finest leaf colour. ‘Heathwood’ Flowers open lilac-pink (H11) at the tip and cerise (H6) at the base of the corolla with a cerise (H6) calyx; corolla ages to magenta (H14); Feb.—April. Dark bronze-green foliage. Neat habit.15cm tall, 35cm spread. A very good, healthy cultivar with lilac-pink flowers in well-filled trusses. ne tte KKK q of) ‘Hilletje’ Dark lilac-pink (H11) flowers darkening to heliotrope (H12); Dec.—Feb. Green- gold foliage in Summer deepening to orange-red in Winter. Compact habit. 15cm tall, 30cm spread. The plant’s attractions are its early flowering and its foliage colour which contrasts well with the “red” flowers. ‘Ice Princess’ Long racemes of white flowers held erect; Feb.—April. Bright green foliage. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. The most erect of the white-flowered cultivars. ‘Isabell’ Masses of white flowers, Feb.—April. Bright green foliage. Erect but spreading habit. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. Its erect habit makes it the best white-flowered cultivar for growing in pots and containers. ‘Jennifer Anne’ Flowers open pink (H8; RHS 74D) and darken to heliotrope (H12); Nov.- April. Dark green foliage. Neat and compact habit. 20cm tall, 35cm spread. One of the earliest cultivars of E. carnea to flower. Interesting, thanks to its early and lengthy flowering period. ‘Lesley Sparkes’ Heliotrope (H12; RHS 74C) flowers, Nov.—April. Mid-green foliage tipped with salmon and gold particularly in Spring. Slow growing. 15cm tall, 25cm spread. The cream-coloured young shoot- tips give a special colour effect in Spring and Summer. ‘Little Peter’ Shell-pink flowers, Feb.-April. Mid-green foliage. Compact habit. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. A good, healthy cultivar with pale pink flowers. The paler calyx (sepals) gives an attractive bi-colour effect. ‘Lohse’s Rubin’ Magenta (H14) flowers; Jan.—March. Dark green foliage. Very compact habit. 15cm tall, 30cm spread. This makes an excellent impression, both by the good flower colour and by the perfect habit. 34 KKK q KKK q KK*K q KKK q ‘Loughrigg’ Flowers open pink (H8), and deepen through rose pink (H7) to heliotrope (H12; RHS 66D) as the season progresses; Jan.—May. Dark green foliage with shades of bronze. Vigorous spreading habit. 15cm tall, 50cm spread. Where a somewhat quicker-growing heather is wanted, this cultivar, with good flower colour and health, is the best choice. ‘March Seedling’ Masses of pale heliotrope (H12) flowers, Feb._-May. Mid-green foliage. 15cm tall, 50cm spread. One of the later-flowering cultivars with excellent qualities that many people have known about for years: it’s floriferous, not prone to diseases, and has an excellent habit. ‘Martin’ Pink flowers, Feb.—April. Dark green foliage. Open spreading habit. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. Thanks to the contrast between foliage and flower colours, this cultivar of Dutch origin (a sport on ‘Rubinteppich’) is a welcome addition. ‘Myretoun Ruby’ Flowers open heliotrope (H12; RHS 68A) and deepen through magenta (H14) to crimson (H13); Jan._May. Dark green foliage. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. This has many excellent qualities: it is floriferous, has good flower and foliage colours, and a good habit. One of the best of the “red”-flowered cultivars. ‘Pallida’ Small, shell-pink (H16; RHS 69A) flowers which darken with age; Dec.—May. Dull green foliage. 10cm tall, 30cm spread. This old cultivar with a special flower colour, well suits the smaller garden. ‘Pink Spangles’ Shell-pink (H16) flowers, deepening with age (H8; RHS 65A at tip, H16; RHS 65C at base); Jan._May. Mid-green foliage. Vigorous, spreading habit. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. This has big flowers in long racemes. The nice colour and the overwhelming quantity of flowers make this plant a feast for the eye. It’s one of the best of the pale pink cultivars, with a vigorous habit and good health. KKK q aig KKK 7q KKK q cS) ‘Pirbright Rose’ Heliotrope (H12; RHS 75C) flowers, Dec.—March. Grey-green foliage. 15cm tall, 30cm spread. A good cultivar with a somewhat more erect habit, flowering a little bit earlier than most others. ‘Queen Mary’ Heliotrope (H12) flowers, Nov.—March. Dark green foliage. 20cm tall, 40cm spread. The early flowering period makes this an attractive plant. ‘R. B. Cooke’ Flowers open pink (H8) ,with shell-pink (H16) sepals, darkening to mauve (H2) as the season progresses; Dec.-May. Mid-green foliage. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. This cultivar of unknown origin has excellent qualities: it is very floriferous, has a striking flower colour and healthy, strong growth. It’s one of the best in this colour group, comparable with ‘Pink Spangles’. ‘Rosalie’ Bright pink flowers, Jan—April. Bronze-green foliage. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. The erect habit with long flower racemes makes this plant one of the best for growing in pots and containers. ‘Rosantha’ Very attractive rose-pink (H7) flowers with little hint of blue, Mar.—April. Mid-green foliage. Compact. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. An excellent cultivar with an attractive flower colour, one of the best of the “red” cultivars. It’s certainly the best new acquisition of the last few years. ‘Rosy Morn’ Lilac-pink (H11; RHS 74D) flowers; free-flowering; Nov.—April. Mid-green foliage. Spreading habit. 15cm tall, 30cm spread. A good cultivar thanks to its abundant flowers and early flowering period. ‘Rubinteppich’ Heliotrope (H12) to magenta (H14) flowers; Jan.—April. Mid-green foliage. Vigorous. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. An excellent, healthy cultivar, one of the best “pinks”, floriferous with long racemes. Very popular in Germany, it certainly fulfills its name “ruby carpet”. 36 all eG ** ‘Schatzalp’ Mauve (H2) flowers; Jan.—March. Dark green foliage. Compact habit. 20cm tall, 40cm spread. The only dwarf cultivar; it may be used successfully in places where such a plant is needed. ‘Snow Prince’ Clear white flowers; Jan.-March. Soft, green foliage. 15cm tall, 30cm spread. A very good cultivar that blooms well, producing strong trusses of big flowers, healthy and neat. ‘Snow White’ Flowers white; Feb.-April. Foliage; Broad, spreading habit. 15cm tall, 30cm spread. It’s a strange thing that we know practically nothing about the origin of this excellent cultivar, one of the best whites: remarkably floriferous, with an excellent habit, and not prone to diseases. David McClintock found it for sale in Borough Green, Kent, in 1991 but its exact origins were never traced. ‘Spring Cottage Crimson’ Flowers opening heliotrope (H12), darkening to pale crimson (H13), Jan— March.. Mid-green foliage. Spreading habit. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. Floriferous, blooming earlier than most of the other cultivars. Thanks to its attractive habit and resistance to diseases, it is excellent for growing in pots and containers. ‘Spring Day’ Heliotrope (H12) flowers, Jan._May. Mid-green foliage. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. Useful for places where a not-too-vigorous heather is wanted, with good flower colour and resistance to diseases. ‘Springwood Pink’ Pink (H16; RHS 75C) flowers, deepening with age; Dec.-May. Mid-green foliage, with bronze young growth. Vigorous, trailing habit. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. A good choice when a vigorous and quick-growing ground-cover is wanted. ‘Springwood White’ Masses of white flowers; Dec.—May. Bright green foliage. Vigorous, trailing habit. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. Asa young plant it sometimes gives an untidy impression, but this cultivar remains popular. It is floriferous, and is a strong-growing ground-cover. **K* qd ~*~ q eg KKK qd 37 ‘Viking’ Flowers opening lilac-pink (H11), deepening to magenta (H14); sepals remain lilac-pink; Mar.—April. Dark green foliage. Spreading habit. 15cm tall, 45cm spread. The best cultivar in among the “lilac pinks”. The plant impresses with an excellent habit, good foliage colour, profuse flowers and good health. ‘Weifse March Seedling’ (‘Weisse March Seedling’) White flowers, suffused pale pink as they age; Feb.—March. Mid-green foliage. Open, spreading habit. 15cm tall, 50cm spread. This inherited the good characteristics of its “mother” (’March Seedling’) and has a special flower colour. ‘Winterfreude’ Crimson (H13) flowers; (Oct.-) Nov.—April. Mid-green foliage. 15cm tall, 40cm spread. An interesting cultivar that flowers early and richly with a striking flower colour and habit. Gives some colour in the garden on dull Autumn days. ‘Winter Snow’ , Masses of white flowers; Feb._May. Bright green foliage. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. The assessment commission thinks this is one of the two best whites: overwhelmingly floriferous, with an excellent habit and healthy growth. ‘Wintersonne’ Flowers opening lilac-pink (H11), darkening to magenta (H14); Feb.-May. Red-brown foliage. 15cm tall, 35cm spread. This is one of the best recent introductions, well-filled flower trusses and very remarkable foliage colour, quite different from other cultivars. The plant is very healthy and its habit makes it very suitable for growing in containers and pots. The following cultivars were assessed as having little merit as garden plants. Flowers white Flowers pale pink ‘Alba’ ‘C. J. Backhouse’ ‘Cecilia M. Beale’ ‘Clare Wilkinson’ ‘Schneekuppe’ ‘Foxhollow Fairy’ ‘Snow Queen’ ‘Gracilis’ ‘Whitehall’ ‘James Backhouse’ 38 Flowers pale pink (contd) ‘Lake Garda’ ‘Mrs Sam Doncaster’ ‘Pink Pearl’ ‘Romance’ ‘Scatterley’ ‘Smart’s Heath’ ‘Winter Beauty’ Flowers pink ‘Accent’ ‘Atrorubra’ ‘Beoley Pink’ ‘Catherine Kolster’ ‘Christine Fletcher’ ‘Early Red’ ‘Eileen Porter’ ‘Late Pink’ ‘Mr Reeves’ ‘Pink Cloud’ ‘Prince of Wales’ “Red Rover’ ‘Robert Jan’ ‘Sherwood Creeping’ ‘Thomas Kingscote’ ‘Walter Reisert’ ‘Wanda’ Flowers purple-pink “Alan Coates’ ‘Carnea’ ‘Cecilia M. Beale Pink’ ‘David's Seedling’ ‘Jack Stitt’ ‘John Kampa’ ‘King George’ “Margerie Frearson’ ‘Orient’ ‘Polden Pride’ ‘Praecox Rubra’ ‘Queen of Spain’ ‘Rosy Gem’ ‘Ruby Glow’ ‘Sneznik’ ‘Startler’ Flowers red ‘Adrienne Duncan’ ‘Dwingeloo Pride’ ‘Kramer’s Rubin’ ‘Nathalie’ ‘Porter’s Red’ ‘Rotes Juwel’ ‘Vivellii’ ‘Wentwood Red’ Foliage yellowish or tinged red ‘Altadena’ ‘Aurea’ ‘Barry Sellers’ ‘Foxhollow’ ‘Gelber Findling’ ‘January Sun’ ‘Moonlight’ ‘Netherfield Orange’ ‘Rosalinde Schorn’ ‘Sunshine Rambler’ ‘Tybesta Gold’ ‘Vivellii Aurea’ ‘Westwood Yellow’ ‘Winter Gold’ Heathers 1: 39-41 (2004) © B. Johansson. Suggestions for a bed of heathers I: Erica carnea BRITA JOHANSSON Musselvagen 3, 468 32 VARGON, Sweden. Thinking about design, choice of cultivars and companion plants is a part of the creative process that makes each garden a living history. The Swedish word, upplevelsen, — 1 am afraid that there is no adequate English word for what I mean here- of the moment (in the present) includes all that has led up to it, and also the expectations of what will be the result. For those who love their garden, all this is familiar. Heathers are undemanding plants and the only circumstance which might pose an obstacle in the way of enjoying them is a heavy, alkaline soil. This difficulty, however, is easily overcome by making raised beds filled with a » lime-free soil mixture. A light, slightly alkaline soil is not so great a difficulty — simply choosing those heathers that tolerate lime, which include the cultivars of Erica carnea, is the only necessity. Each individual will create a bed of heathers according to his or her own tastes, starting from the particular conditions pertaining in their garden. Yet, someone may find my suggestions useful. The planting plan (overleaf) is for an area of about 12 square metres (about 10 ft x12 ft). The stones may be replaced by dwarf and miniature conifers. You will need 55 plants of ten E. carnea cultivars. For a smaller area reduce the planting of each cultivar by two plants. A few alternatives are given. This plan uses only Erica carnea. Given time, most cultivars of this species will become very big. Yet, to cover the ground ina reasonably short time we have to plant fairly closely. The sketches show what it should look like in April and August. 40 8 9 10 7 plants 5 plants 7 plants 5 plants 5 plants 7 plants 5 plants 4 plants 5 plants 5 plants Po ‘. —— r et mii hy { ra | a ral ? *y : » no , ‘ vi 1, ait = ee i we i —/ ig Menten ae Hl _ | E ‘ua c \ ate A \ | my me h ee sid an ‘y Er ‘ # : + “‘*< er ne = ‘ae es r . = ™ —— + \ L pea pisos ed af | ES ee aggre é _ “ ™~, , my, wih = ee ra ain ) ee wen ‘Lesley Sparkes’: heliotrope flowers (November-—April); salmon and gold foliage in spring. ‘Isabell’ or ‘Ice Princess’: both have white flowers (February—April); bright green foliage, and an erect /spreading habit. ‘Nathalie’: purple flowers (January—April); dark green foliage; deepest and brightest cultivar. ‘Rosalinde Schorn’: white flowers (February—March); clear yellow foliage throughout the year. ‘Bell’s Extra Special’ (Wuisky): whisky-coloured foliage, flecked with orange and gold, with a few heliotrope flowers (January—May). ‘Ann Sparkes’: rose-pink flowers, darkening (February—May); orange foliage, turning crimson tipped with bronze in cold weather. ‘Wintersonne’: lilac-pink deepening to magenta (February—May); foliage red-brown. ‘Lake Garda’: pale pink flowers (January—March); dark green foliage; vigorous and spreading. ‘January Sun’: very compact with golden foliage, with a few pink flowers (December—March). ‘Rosantha’: rose-pink flowers (March-April); green foliage, or ‘Challenger’: magenta and crimson flowers (January—April); bronze- green foliage. APRIL AUGUST Artwork © Brita Johansson prion Gating? 4] 42 Figure 1. Erica beaumontiae (= E. beaumontiana) as illustrated in 1830 in Conrad Loddiges & Sons publication The botanical cabinet, tab. 1686. (Reproduced by courtesy of The Librarian, Linnean Society of London.) Yb. Heather Soc. 2004: 42-51. ©S.J. Wright & E. C. Nelson. Diana of the heathers S. J. WricHt! & E. CHARLES NELSON? 159 Upper Lane, EMLEY, West Yorkshire, HD8 9RQ * Cultivar Registrar, The Heather Society; Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, OUTWELL, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire PE14 8PE. “This fine new species of Erica was raised from Cape seed last Autumn, 1827, and flowered the ensuing summer for the first time at the Nursery of Messrs Rollinson [sic], Lower Tooting. We have named it after Mrs Beaumont, of Bretton Hill, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, a great admirer of this fine genus of plants.” Thus Henry Charles Andrews dedicated the forty-sixth plate in the fourth volume of his sumptuous book Coloured engravings of heaths (tab. 222 (post Summer 1828); The heathery 6: tab. 253 (c. 1828)); the precise date of this plate is not known but given Andrews’ remarks it cannot have been published until after the summer of 1828 (Cleevely and Oliver 2002; _ Cleevely, Nelson and Oliver 2003). But who was this Mrs Beaumont, and was she really a great admirer of Cape heaths? We pose these questions because English gardening history is remarkably silent about her — the entry for Diana Beaumont in the authoritative Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists (Desmond & Ellwood, 1994) gives only her date of death (1831) and reads: Of Bretton Hall near Sheffield, Yorks. Her extraordinary conservatory is figured in J. C. Loudon Encyclop. of Gdning. One of her gardeners was Robert Marnock. Sent plants to N. Wallich at Calcutta Botanic Garden. It concludes by noting that she was the person honoured by Dr Nathaniel Wallich when he named Beaumontia (Apocynaceae) D1AnA BEAUMONT (1765-1831) Diana Beaumont, née Wordsworth, was probably not the only notorious person in the social world of the Regency gentry but few could have been notorious on quite so many counts. She was alleged to be the illegitimate daughter of a gamekeeper’s slut, she was excessively rich, she was arrogant, loud-mouthed and socially aggressive, she was vulgarly ostentatious right down to her nauseatingly yellow coach; this stream of vituperative envy 44 flows continuously from the pens of her contemporaries. The strangest thing is that, give or take the emphasis, most of it is true, but it did nothing to hinder her social progress nor her husband’s political career. As A. M. W. Stirling (1913) said of Diana (Stirling’s grandmother had been a contemporary): While Yorkshire and London rang with tales of her effrontery, the imperturbable Lady, instead of perceiving snubs, dealt them and in the height of her triumphal career enjoyed the wrath of the amazed recipients. In fact Diana was the eldest of three daughters sired by Sir Thomas Wentworth Bart. of Bretton Hall on one of his more respectable mistresses. Sir Thomas never married and enjoyed a Fieldingesque sex life, a free interpretation of his will suggests children well into double figures. His mother had been a Blackett, one of the great mercantile dynasties of Tyneside and, in the 1770s, Sir Thomas inherited most of the Blackett fortune, including one of the biggest lead producers in the country. The terms of the inheritance required him to change his name to Blackett. Despite a welter of scurrilous stories to the contrary, Sir Thomas seems to have treated these three girls as he would have treated legitimate offspring. He did what he could to arrange respectable marriages for them. For Diana he bought Cornet Thomas Richard Beaumont, scion of the respectable but bankrupt Beaumonts of Darton near Barnsley. Thomas Richard’s father had got into serious debt and Sir Thomas was pleased to buy out the mortgage for £5,000. For the second daughter he negotiated a marriage to the son of a respectable Wakefield merchant. The third daughter chose to marry for love and the resultant court cases were still plaguing Diana’s grandson in the 1870s. Diana’s remarkable character first manifested itself when she schemed her way into being Sir Thomas’ main inheritor. His first will, made in 1790, left the main fortune to an illegitimate son also called Thomas. This Thomas was under 21 and Cornet Beaumont’s hand must have trembled as he signed up to be a trustee. Diana was never one to go quietly and, just six weeks before he died in 1792, Sir Thomas signed a new will, drawn up as Diana’s lawyer put it, “in great secrecy on 40 pages”. The new will left the fortune to “T. R. Beaumont and his wife Diana”, a legal expression indicating that they held the Estate in trust for their eldest surviving male child. The hapless Thomas was fobbed off with an annuity of £100. This trustee status introduced some complication into the Beaumonts’ legal affairs. The inheritance was called “Sir Thomas Blackett’s Estate”, T. R. Beaumont’s personal land holding was called “the land he had of his father” and when, as happened almost Figure 2. Mrs Diana Beaumont; detail from a portrait in oils. Reproduced from S. J. Wright (2001). immediately, they began to expand the Estate a third category of “the Purchased Estate” was required. All three had to be accounted for separately. Another early reaction to fortune was for the Cornet to buy himself up three army ranks and henceforth he was always addressed as Colonel Thomas Richard Beaumont. The Colonel devoted much of his time to politics in Northumberland while Diana devoted herself to such a multiplicity of parallel activities that it is difficult to comprehend how she managed it. Between 1792 and 1807 she produced eight children, all of whom survived although one was “lunatic”, and it was a near certainty that there would be a surviving male heir. She was active in all the formalities of Regency society, rushing hither and thither in her yellow coach dealing out snubs right and left. These activities included a long season in Paris during Wellington’s military governorship after Waterloo. She was trying, the gossips said, to marry off her daughters to minor European royals. Between 1805 and 1815 she more than doubled the size of Bretton Hall, superintending the work of two separate architects, and 46 by 1805 at the latest her gardening exploits were sufficiently famous to encourage a constant stream of visitors to Bretton. The really productive period of Diana’s gardening were the years from 1810 up to her death in 1831. In the first part of that period she employed the architect Jeffrey Wyatt to expand and embellish the hall complex and, on the side, he designed conservatories, melon pits and pineries various; some detailed drawings have survived in the Bretton Estate Archive (BEA/C2/ B40 series) but, unfortunately, no general layouts. Sometime in the 1820s a young Scot named Robert Marnock came to work in the Bretton garden. Given that Marnock was born in 1800, it can be assumed that he completed his training at Bretton. Marnock left Bretton around the time of Diana’s death, indeed he may have been one of the 40 or so servants who were summarily dismissed immediately after her demise. He had a successful career, he laid out the Sheffield Botanic Gardens, he was for many years Curator of the Royal Botanical Society’s garden in Regent’s Park, London, and he ended as a respected landscape and garden designer. For several years from 1845 he edited the United gardeners and land stewards journal and he took an early opportunity to include an account of Diana and her gardening. His was not the scurrilous and envious gossip of her erstwhile peers; his was a measured tribute from one gardener to another. He wrote Diana’s epitaph and we can do no better than to include an extended quotation (Marnock, 1845), and concur. ... the late Mrs Beaumont, who for habits of business and order possessed a mind of most gigantic power. Acting in the capacity of gardener, we have frequently met her by appointment at a particular tree in the pleasure ground, and at a specified hour and minute; and although appointments of this kind were frequent, and often made a week or ten days previously, we do not remember a single instance where she failed to keep her engagement to within the minute fixed upon: nor was her punctuality and system confined to her garden arrangements — it was equally manifest and carried out in her conduct throughout the establishment. She was an admirable example to her domestics, and in this respect might be profitably followed by many masters and mistresses of the present day. She would never allow herself on any occasion to enter the kitchen- garden during the hours of labour until she had first rung the garden bell. Although thus minute and careful in matters infinitely small she carried her principle of order and system upwards into the control and arrangement of her vast estates. Diana did not just control and arrange her estates, she actively sought to improve and expand them. In Yorkshire alone, she increased the acreage 47 some fifty percent, from around 7,000 acres to approaching 11,000 acres. It was no accident that this additional land was both rich in coal deposits and in a district that was being rapidly urbanised (Barnsley and District). This latter process tripled the value of land. When she died in 1831 Diana left her eldest son “the richest commoner in England”, and a legacy of £50,000 (worth an annuity of £2,000 in Victorian England) to each of the other seven children. The son and heir, Thomas Wentworth Beaumont, was not grateful, he had nursed a deep hatred of his mother from at least his 21* year. The reasons are obscure, something to do with the inheritance perhaps, it remained in the trust until his mother’s death. However, the real background reason was probably that T. W. Beaumont suffered from clinical paranoia. On 22 July 1826 the Newcastle chronicle ran the story that in the autumn of 1823 TWB had denounced his prospective mother-in-law as a whore and named among her numerous paramours Earl Grey, the eminent politician. It was not his only unwise outburst, but probably the most scandalous. He did not attend his mother’s funeral, he was probably too busy planning the effacing of Diana’s memory. His destruction of her garden is described later, but all her goods and chattels were sold off at an auction lasting three days. He announced his intention to sell the whole of the Bretton estate, hall and all. | He was eventually persuaded that the need to raise £350,000 for the legacies was the greater priority, so he limited his destruction to the magnificent dining room that Wyatt had built for Diana. What he could not do, try as he would, was to erase her legend. DIANA BEAUMONT — GARDENER Perhaps the best indicator of Diana’s enthusiasm for gardening was her “far famed Dome Conservatory 60 feet in diameter and 45 feet in height, known as “One of the Lions of the North’ ...” (according to George Robins’ catalogue of the auction at which it was sold). These dimensions could be an under- estimate; Marnock himself gave the overall height as 60 feet. The Dome Conservatory was built of iron by Messrs Bailey of Holborn at a cost of between £8,000 and £10,000 (or £15,000 if you accept Robins’ figures) —at present-day costs that means she spent not less than half a million pounds on the building. It was heated by steam. The house was erected about 1826, only five years before Diana’s death, and was demolished in 1832 in an act of horticultural vandalism that seems almost unprecedented, part of the violent and wasteful programme of destruction of all his mother’s works in which Thomas Wentworth Beaumont indulged. Robins was instructed to sell “the Mi pial i meee So Figure 3. Diana Beaumont’s “Domical Conservatory” (from Robins, 1832); by courtesy of Dr Edward Diestelkamp and Bretton Estate Archive A Hh I Hk ae i i) ay) i i LAN HH Ha Fi i) a alte tha a a a Ba ia nih Hi ue Mi) my LM Hy Hl Hl Hy) HY) / Hy ) 49 Conservatory, and all its appendages, in their present complete state”: “It is intended to submit the whole without the slightest reservation, either in One or more Lots.” On the third day of the amazing auction, Wednesday 25 April 1832, Lot 60 was sold as a single lot for 520 guineas, and it was demolished and removed, and all signs of its existence vanished. “Removal may be easily accomplished, Water Carriage being very contiguous”, proclaimed the auctioneer. There is a clue to its final destination in Robert Marnock’s article (just quoted) about Diana. “The great domical stove ... was sold ... because [Thomas Wentworth Beaumont] disliked its appearance ... . Part of the iron bars were afterwards used in the erection of the large stove, in Sheffield Botanic Garden” ([Marnock], 1845). DIANA BEAUMONT — HEATHER ENTHUSIAST Apart from Andrews’ dedication, what evidence do we have for Diana’s enthusiasm for Cape heaths? Marnock did not mention any at Bretton Park, in his 1845 “recollections” but, fortunately once again, Robins’ auction catalogue provides a meagre few clues. After Lot 60 (in fact lots 60 to 139) was auctioned off, and some odds and — ends from the “dwelling room”, lot 153 was THE COMPLETE AND VERY CAPITAL ERECTION OF A CURVILINEAR HEATH HOUSE or HOT HOUSE, 51 feet 6 inches long, 18 feet wide and 216 feet high, including 16 glazed sashes, upon the patent Shield’s principle, iron frames, copper bars, copper sashes, rolled iron rafters, stone sides and cast iron rain water drains N.B. The whole of the Lot being glazed in sashes, is very portable and may be easily re-fixed. It fetched 240 guineas, and all trace of it has also vanished. There were other glasshouses: a curvilinear vinery (100 guineas), a span-roof greenhouse (100 guineas), and a series of “pine houses”. There were melon and cucumber frames — and no fewer than 148 one-year- and two-year-old pineapple plants, the latter (the auction catalogue asserted) “will produce fruit in the course of the autumn”. Forty lots of stove plants followed their houses under the hammer: palms, a papaya, figs and laurels, water hyacinths and cacti — hundreds (if not thousands) of plants! Then the greenhouse plants were sold in 29 lots. We don’t know what they fetched, but Cape heaths were included. The auctioneer’s catalogue (not always accurate as far as spelling was concerned) listed just a dozen by name: 50 E. campanulata E. gracile/gracilis E. pubsecens var. major E. cerinthioides E. grandiflora E. sulphurea E. concina E. hybrida E. tenella E. formosa E. nigrita E. tricolor Either E. beaumontia was not in the collection, or it was not deemed worth mentioning. A mere dozen species would not seem to indicate that Diana was an enthusiast, but we must bear in mind that the auction took place more than eight months after her death, and many Cape heaths could have perished in the meantime. There is no reason therefore to doubt that she found these fashionable plants attractive, nor any reason to suppose the “capital ... curvilinear heath house” was not filled to capacity with them during her lifetime. WHat WAS ERICA BEAUMONTIAE? There are two remaining difficulties: the exact botanical status of the plant and its correct name. Andrews’ account of this heather being raised from seed “last Autumn, 1827” and blooming the “ensuing” Summer is impossible, a fairy-tale. The fact that Andrews noted that it came from William Rollisson may be illuminating but might equally well be misleading. Rollisson raised hybrids by artificial cross-pollination of the Cape heaths which he grew in his nursery but he kept this a secret, especially from fellow nurserymen and enthusiasts like Andrews. Andrews suggested that the “only heath throughout this extensive family, to which [E. beaumontia] bears any resemblance, is the E. odorata.” George Bentham (1839) posited that Mrs Beaumont’s heath was a garden hybrid, an opinion supported by Francis Guthrie and Harry Bolus (1905). On the other hand Hans Dulfer (1965) considered it was just Erica odorata. Dr Ted Oliver has examined the illustrations published by Andrews and by Loddiges (Fig. 1, p. 42), and confirmed Dulfer's opinion that the plant they portray is E. odorata. As for the name, it should be spelled E. beaumontiae: the feminine genitive termination is required because Andrews named it after a lady. Erica beaumontiana is apparently a later orthographic variant, first published in1830 by Conrad Loddiges (Botanical cabinet 17: tab. 1686) [see p. 42]. 51 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Our thanks are due to Dr E. G. H. Oliver for his comments on Erica beaumontiae, and to Gina Douglas, Librarian and Archivist, The Linnean Society of London, for permission to reproduce Loddiges’ illustration. The portrait of Diana Beaumont is reproduced by permission of the Viscount Allendale who reserves all rights. We are also grateful to Ron Cleevely for comments and corrections to drafts, and Dr Edward Diestelkamp for assistance with illustrations of the domical conservatory. SJW is especially grateful to Mr Leonard Bartle, the keeper of the Bretton Estate Archive, at the Bretton Hall Campus of the University of Leeds, for his help over many years. REFERENCES Anprews, H. C., [post Summer 1828]. Erica beaumontia. Coloured engravings of heaths 4: tab. 222. Anprews, H. C., [c. 1828]. Erica beaumontia. The heathery 6: tab. 253. BENTHAM, G., 1839. Erica beaumontiana, in CANDOLLE, A.-P. DE, Prodromus 7: 661. CLEEVELY, R., NELSON, E. C. & OLiver, E. G. H., 2003. More accurate publication dates for H. C. Andrews’ The heathery particularly volumes 5 and 6. Bothalia 33: 195-198. CLEEVELY, R. J. & Otiver, E. G. H., 2002. A preliminary note on the publication dates of H. C. Andrews’ Coloured engravings of heaths (1794-1830). Archives of natural history 29: 245-265. DESMOND, R. G. C. & ELLwoop, C., 1994. Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists. London: Taylor & Francis. Dutrer, H., 1965. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums, Wien 68: 99. Guturik, F. & Botus, H., 1905. Flora capensis 4 (1): 313 (see also 4: 1127 (1909)). LoppicEs, C., & sons, 1830. Erica beaumontiana. Botanical cabinet 17: tab. 1686. [MarNock, R.], 1845. Rambles and recollections at Bretton Hall, near Wakefield ... . United gardeners and land stewards’ journal 1 (Saturday 4 October): 633-634. Rosins, G., 1832. Bretton Hall ... [auction catalogue]. [Wakefield.] (copy BEA/Q/Bk 13.) STIRLING, A. M. W., 1913. The letter bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer Stanhope. Vol. I: pp 30-34. WricuT, S. J., 2001. Bretton, the Beaumonts and a bureaucracy. A West Yorkshire estate in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Wakefield: Wakefield Historical Publications. 52 In memoriam Des Oliver, (1914 — 2003) Honorary Treasurer 1978 —1994 I first met Des in the 1970s and served on Council with him throughout his 17 years as Honorary Treasurer. Though not a great heather grower, he very much looked forward to Society visits and conferences. He was known for his preference for sleeping in his small Fiat Motor Home which he parked in the grounds of the establishments where we stayed. I visited him when he was living in Leicester and saw his heather garden, and he showed me with great pride his initial attempts at propagation. Alas his original cuttings had expired and what we saw were “wild” Calluna seedlings emerging from the peat! He was not the first to experience this. Undeterred he tried again with more success. His wife told me that even when he moved to Kendal the early start at around 5.00 am to get to London in time for Council meetings never became a chore. He enjoyed his involvement with the Society and I think it is fair to say that “heather people” interested him as muchas the heathers themselves. ARNOLD STOW 53 I found Des to be a quiet, thoughtful man and personally very kind. His work had brought him into contact with people in the trade and this added some depth to his knowledge of the cultivation and marketing of heathers. He had been responsible for the publications of the Society and used to keep the stock of Yearbooks and other items in the loft of his house in Leicester. This knowledge used to prove useful in Council and Standing and Finance Committee meetings when re-pricing of stock, or writing off old stock became an issue. I recall my reluctance to see our stock of David McClintock’s fine booklet Naming of plants written off. But Des was able to de-fuse my concern by casually mentioning that the cost of publication had been recouped many years before. I followed Des in the post of Honorary Treasurer. So I had some long discussions with him about the Society accounts and how the method of book-keeping and presentation of annual accounts had been developed. Like me, Des had no background in accountancy. However, earlier in the Society’s history Mr E. R. Turner, who I understand was a banker, had been Treasurer and had put his expertise to use in developing the Society’s accounting system. Moreover even earlier Mrs Constance MacLeod had recourse to expert advice in developing the style and methods of Heather Society accounting. Des stuck faithfully to the system he had inherited, as did Iwhen my turn came. I recall when a successor was being sought for me, David Small invited one of his nephews, an accountant, to take on the role. He declined because he could not devote the necessary time but commented that our system was capable of supporting much larger accounts. Des operated a manual system, using red and blue ledgers for expenditure and income respectively. He kept two of each, one set for odd years and one for even years. This was to allow him to carry on with Society business while the books for the previous year were being audited. As you might expect the books were in good order though I found Des’s handwriting a problem. The Society had a number of bank accounts. Des was strong on economy and getting good value. So when banks started imposing charges on current accounts, he moved the Society’s account on. So we had residual accounts with Nat West and Giro but our current account was with the Bank of Scotland which never imposed charges and which later offered good rates of interest. We kept an account with Barclays because their commission on overseas currency payments were lower than elsewhere, or waived altogether for small amounts. We had an account with the Allied Irish Banks for the convenience of our Irish members and a savings account with the Leeds and Holbeck Building Society. All this was good for Society’s costs but, as a further economy, Des had the practice of using the same ledger for them all. From time to time, the 54 pages allotted to a given account ran out — or if you like collided with the next account. Des would then turn the ledger around and start again from the back of the book. He had a very full and exact knowledge of this elaborate scheme but it impelled his successor to put the whole lot on to computer! Our conversations on Society business often ran on to more general topics. I used to listen with fascination to his anecdotes and recollections of Heather Society personalities of former years. Des remained a good friend throughout my time as Treasurer and was always ready to give me advice or fill in some background. He continued as a Council member for a couple of years after stepping down from office and was always supportive of me when I suppose the natural temptation would have been to criticise his successor. After all, he had done the job well for a very long time, but Des had that rare gift of graciousness. I missed his cheerful company when he retired from Council and am left with a deep sense of loss now that he is dead. ALLEN HALL Herman M. J. Blum (1934—2003) It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Herman Blum from cancer on 26 October 2003. He had been a member of The Heather Society for 25 years, and was also a member of Ericultura, our Dutch sister society. Herman first came to prominence as the designer and gardener of a superb heather garden at “De Voorzienigheid”, a nunnery at Steenwijkerwold in The Netherlands. He was a very observant man and many new cultivars came from that garden including Erica cinerea ‘Anja Blum’ (named after one of his daughters), the very popular E. cinerea ‘Providence’ (an English translation of the name of the nunnery) but most notably several Daboecia cantabrica cultivars which hold their bells upwards; in recognition of his observations, this variant was designated D. cantabrica f. blumii. He also spent time breeding and hybridising and had particular success with Erica carnea ‘Gelderingen Gold’ (see Yearbook of The Heather Society 2003: 71). In 1985, the nunnery was closed down and the heather garden was rapidly re-claimed by nature and overrun by soft rush (Juncus effusus). Herman accumulated meticulous historical details on many cultivars of hardy heathers which, although they were never published, became an invaluable source of information for the International register of heather names. Herman became very interested in helping refugees from south-east Asia and this was his burning passion in later life. We send Annie and the children our deepest sympathy in their great loss. DAVID SMALL SS) Inge Oliver (1947-2003) When we view the history of heaths and heathers, in particular their representation by artists, two names will, I suggest, stand alone and unchallenged: Henry Charles Andrews and Inge Oliver, and the greater of the pair by far will be the latter. Separated by a century, and working in different hemispheres, it is most unlikely that anyone else will match their separate achievements. Inge Magdalene Nitzsche was born on 18 December 1947 at Bodenstein, a German mission station, near Lichtenburg, North-West Province, South Africa. Her parents were originally from Dresden. Inge went to primary school at Kroondal and thence to high school in Hermannsburg, KwaZulu-Natal. At the University of Cape Town she studied botany and zoology (1967-1969) and afterwards did a Fine Arts diploma (1971-1972) which proved to be a very happy combination, ultimately allowing her to engage competently in taxonomic studies and to apply her innate artistic skill to the meticulous depiction of plants. When employed in the Government Herbarium in Stellenbosch, she met Ted Oliver whose self-confessed “love affair” with Erica had begun in 1958. They married in February 1974. Together, in a unique and remarkably productive partnership, they have considerably advanced our knowledge of the 760-odd Cape species of Erica, teasing out many of the more intractable taxonomic difficulties posed by them. Inge sketched and drew every one, and she was co-author, with Ted, of more than 30 papers, including ten in Yearbook of The Heather Society, in which 51 new species and 14 new subspecies of Erica were named and described. When the Oliver family were living in Pretoria (1975-1981), Inge started depicting the indigenous heathers of South Africa. Preferring to work in pen-and-ink, she completed not fewer than 250 detailed illustrations of individual Erica species, a few of which are as yet unpublished. The plants Andrews knew were often bold, frequently very spectacular subjects, with large, waxy, tubular or bell-shaped flowers in vivid colours. The small-flowered (pin-head sized!), unspectacular heaths that Inge and Ted had to investigate were ignored by, or were unknown to, nineteenth 56 century European horticulturists. It was in the depiction of such heaths that Inge excelled. She was not just an artist but also an excellent microscopist. Consequently, the botanically exact plates which she produced to illustrate the poorly understood, as well as newly discovered, species far excel anything in Andrews’ books in the amount of precise morphological information that they contain. Examples of Inge’s skilful depiction of Cape heaths can be found in past issues of the Yearbook when these new species were first named and described. E. kogelbergensis: 1996: 4 E. ignita: 2000: 65, 68 E. oakesiorum: 1997: [ii], 16 E. filialis: 2001: 11, 14 E. schumannit: 1998: 32 E. penduliflora: 2001: (28), 30, 31 E. hanekomiti: 1999: 36, 41 E. jugicola: 2002: 34, 35 E. kirsten: 2000: 59, 61 Her plates have been published mainly in Bothalia, while Ted’s monograph of those Erica species with indehiscent or partially dehiscent fruits that was issued as Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium no. 19 (2000), contains 84 full-page illustrations plus several other figures, and so forms the largest single gathering of Inge’s very exacting work. Less detailed, but no less accurate, her drawings of the 104 Erica species that occur on the Cape Peninsula are ideal for the handy identification manual, aimed at amateurs, which she and Ted produced for the Protea Atlas Project (2000). Inge also illustrated a Sebaea species, found by her in the Groot Swartberg, and described with a colleague, Dr Jo Beyers: Sebaea amicorum. Jo Beyers died of cancer in February 2003 and this species perpetuates their friendship. Inge’s only published colour plates (in Flowering plants of Africa) portray Empodium plicatum (t. 1790), Disa aristata (t. 1825), Aristea biflora (t. 1978) and Hydnora triceps (t. 1992). After a protracted struggle with cancer, originally diagnosed in 1986, Inge died on 6 July 2003, aged only 55. At her own request, her ashes have been scattered among the Cape heaths she so enjoyed on Pilaarkop. To Ted, and to her children, Tessa, Nicola and Thomas, we extend our sincerest sympathies. Inge Oliver’s published contributions to South African botany and her enrichment of the corpus of botanical illustrations of Erica form her indelible memorial on paper. Her living ones — her own discoveries and both named by her husband — are the orchid Corycium ingeanum, and the heather Erica ingeana, a soft shrublet with small urn-shaped purplish-pink flowers that flourishes in moist habitats on the upper slopes of mountains in the Cape Floral Kingdom. E. CHARLES NELSON 7 THE HEATHER SOCIETY’S PROCEEDINGS ANNUAL GATHERING & 32%” ANNUAL CONFERENCE, CHESTER, 5—8 SEPTEMBER 2003 Friday 5 September, and Dave and I are heading for Chester, for the 32"¢ Annual Conference — an uneventful journey. Arriving early, we took “park-&-ride” into Chester. What a lovely city: the two-storey shops, the huge Queen Victoria memorial clock spanning the Main Street, the Roman ruins and the walk by the river where we fed the swans and ducks. Suddenly no more time, so back to the hotel for tea, and to meet many friends after our 2-year absence. After dinner we were warmly greeted by our Chairman, Arnold Stow. Phil Joyner and his wife Lin were unable to attend, and were greatly missed, but the conference was so well prepared, everything went smoothly. The talk that first evening on the heath family, Ericaceae, was given by Peter Cunningham. He explained it was a diverse family containing, among others, genera such as Arctostaphylos, more than 600 species of Rhododendron, the intergeneric hybrid XPhyllothamnus (Phyllodoce XRhodothamnus) and (I think my favourite) Phyllodoce which we manage to grow although nothing like the plants in the wonderful photographs we were shown. Most Ericaceae need acid soil and good drainage and, as we have found this year, many do not like hot sun. After the annual general meeting on Saturday morning, we embarked on a most wonderful day-outing to Ness Gardens on the Wirral Peninsula. Mr Ken Hulme, who was appointed director in 1957, gave us an illustrated talk about the founding of the Gardens. After lunch, in a spot overlooking the River Dee towards Wales, Mr Hulme took us on an extensive tour. Ness Gardens were created on Mickwell Brow by Mr Arthur Kilpin Bulley, beginning in 1898. The gardens gradually took shape with pergolas and raised flower- beds. Bulley was an avid plantsman, employing at one time George Forrest, who collected for him in China. Frank Kingdon Ward was launched on his career also by Bulley. In 1913 Bulley founded Bees Seeds (we remember “Bees Seeds That Grow”). Mr Josiah Hope, a forthright and outspoken Yorkshireman, was appointed head gardener in 1913, and stayed at Ness until 1942, when A. K. Bulley died. There is a lovely memorial stone to Josiah Hope in the rockery which he had created — he died in 1970 aged 96. Like many large gardens, the two world wars had a disastrous effect on the upkeep. Ness Gardens were handed to the University of Liverpool in 1948 by Miss Lois Bulley who continued to live in the house until her death. In 1962, the “Friends of Ness” were formed, and they were responsible for the wonderful paths of reclaimed materials — stone setts from the streets of Liverpool, stone platforms from disused railway stations and, best of all, stone from the approach to Everton football ground. Late summer is not a good time for gardens, especially after a hot dry spell but there was lots to see. The heather garden, originally planted in 1950, was full o! 58 Figure 1. The group assembled in Ness Gardens. colour. Replanting is taking place gradually. Tropaeolum speciosum was stunning, and the Eucryphia were just beginning to fade after a wonderful show. There are many huge specimen trees, including American and Spanish oaks. Although obviously not in flower, Ness possesses azaleas more than a century old. The rhododendrons introduced by Kingdon Ward must be a lovely sight in Spring and we would love to see the Meconopsis in bloom. A rarely-seen shrub we were pleased to see in flower was Fabiana imbricata — it grows well with us in Yorkshire. The famous rock-garden looked a bit sad and weedy — not the right time of year again — but there were lots of Cyclamen and Autumn crocuses popping up. After the guided tour, we had a tea- break in the conservatory, outside which is one of the biggest Eucalyptus we have ever seen, around 150ft tall. Back to the hotel for a very nice dinner, and afterwards, our usual “Open Forum” which is another way of saying “Let’s talk Heathers”. David Plumridge showed some lovely slides of his travels in South Africa and New Zealand. He bemoaned the fact that when on a conducted tour and one wishes to photograph a “flower” you get some very irate looks. Nevertheless his slides of heathers were excellent. There was some discussion about David Edge’s “standard” heathers. How tall can you let them grow? What to do with them in Winter? Don’t they look a mite artificial? Some people buy them — and like them! We discussed the fad for dyeing heathers in lurid colours, and learned that in Germany Kurt Kramer was trying to put a stop to it. 59 Dennis Jackson, who is in charge of the heather garden at Holehird in Cumbria, reported that he was concerned about an outbreak of Phytophthora and Rhizoctonia in the heather beds. Following lengthy discussion with experts, it was decided that the best remedy was to treat the soil not the plants, to keep the soil well-drained and choose the cultivars carefully for their disease-resistance. On Sunday morning we listened to a talk by Professor John Griffiths about his hybridizing. One E. tetralix * manipuliflora (E Xgarforthensis) seedling is now 17 years old and still vigorous. We all know his wonderful hybrid E. Xgriffithsii ‘Valerie Griffiths’, named after his wife. Ours grew so big we had to cut it down. A fascinating subject — Professor Griffiths’ present ambition is to cross Cape heaths, for their form and colour, with hardy heaths. After a coffee-break, we collected our packed lunches, each in a little brown carrier-bag, and set out for Okells Nursery. After the coach had negotiated a very narrow lane, we arrived at one of the two growing sites. What a delight! Imagine, if you can, a patchwork of heathers in all their multicoloured glory, all in 9cm pots, a million of them. We were taken into the propagating area by Andrew Killela, joint manager, and were shown how it was all done. Calluna cuttings were grown in the open, but Erica carnea cuttings go into heated beds. All the cuttings are from Okells’ own stock plants. In March, April and May they fill 150 lorries a week for dispatch. Two-thirds of their sales are the mixed baskets of six heathers now seen in most garden-centres. Okells are also producing a very colourful series of labels depicting the four seasons: ‘Arina’ for Spring; Kramer’s Rep [correctly ‘Kramer’s Rote’] for | Winter, ‘Dark Beauty’ for Autumn and ‘Golden Carpet’ for Summer. We were let loose in the nursery, being told to help ourselves to any we fancied, and we spent a very happy hour comparing and exclaiming. One or two members were lucky to find plants they had been pining for. A walk around the garden-centre and a glimpse of the other growing area with another million heathers, and we all tucked into our little brown lunch bags. Off then to Arley Hall, home of the Viscount and Viscountess Ashbrook — more than 100 acres of grounds with a lovely avenue of oaks, shaped like cylinders, and a grove of azaleas and rhododendrons which must be glorious in Spring. The original fourteenth-century manorhouse houses a sale of pots and pottery. We did not have a great deal of time to wander because a plant-fair was being held in the grounds and queueing for tea took longer than planned. We returned to the hotel, for another delicious dinner, and another open forum. We were all rather weary by the time the forum concluded and so, with packing to do, our Chairman wished us all a safe journey home and looked forward to seeing us in Scotland in 2004. It was lovely seeing all our friends again. We perhaps only meet once a year but the camaraderie is there and it’s our opportunity to talk about our favourite plant — heather — and what better plant is there? BERYL AND Dave MAYNE Heathers 1: 60-63 (2004) BOOK REVIEW & RECENT PUBLICATIONS C. D. PRESTON, D. A. PEARMAN & T. D. DINES, 2002. New atlas of the British and Irish flora. An atlas of the vascular plants of Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Oxford: Oxford University Press. xi, 910. Price £ 70 (from BSBI Publications, c/o Summerfield Books, Main Street, Brough, Cumbria CA17 4AX). ISBN 0-19-851067-5. The publication of this new atlas (noted in Yearbook 2003: 69) was a milestone in botany. It isa magnificent achievement, the combined effort of thousands of individuals ranging from amateur wild flower enthusiasts to professional botanists, computer technicians and printers. Each page of the atlas section has three maps of the archipelago, each showing the distribution of one species by means of coloured and tinted symbols, blue for native and red for alien — this is an advance of the plain black on white maps of the original edition. There is also a commentary on the distribution pattern alongside each map. In addition to the printed, 900- odd pages displaying the distribution of 2,412 species, there is a CD-ROM which provides maps and accompanying information for an additional 940- plus taxa (described as “rare aliens”). Given the immense amount of work and the skill displayed in its design and execution, criticising it may seem churlish. However, we are puzzled by a cluster of errors specifically relating to heathers, and wonder why those who have researched these plants were never asked to check the maps. With particular regard to those plants that are the principal interest of members of The Heather Society, there are printed maps of Daboecia cantabrica (p. 288), Andromeda polifolia (p. 289), Calluna vulgaris (p. 291), and six native Erica species (pp 291-293). From the atlas one can quickly spot that, for example, Daboecia cantabrica has been reported as an alien in a dozen 10km¢ squares in Britain ranging from west Cornwall to somewhere in the Pennines. Erica vagans is recorded as an alien in 58 10km? squares, but is native in just six in Britain. Yet there are a few enigmas. What is the basis for a dot in the middle of County Galway on the E. ciliaris map — is it an error, or a hitherto unreported Irish site where this species is naturalized (the latter seems unlikely in the light of Sylvia Reynold’s recent publication, A catalogue of alien plants in Ireland (2002))? It is also surprising to see a dot in the extreme north-west of Mayo on the map of E. mackaiana — this heather 61 has never been verified there, although years ago Dr Keith Lamb suggested it might be in the area of Portsalon. The CD is a brilliant idea. Just instal the software and data on your computer and you have instant access to all the maps after a few mouse- clicks. It is not stated if this software will work on Mac computers but the recommended specification for the PC (a 500MHz Pentium III ) is a little daunting for those whose PCs are more than a few years old. It is not until the software has been installed that you realise you need 250 megabytes of hard disk space for the necessary files. In fact, the program will run on slower machines with less memory as well but its performance will be less sprightly. When viewing a map, the 10km/? grid square reference for a species’ occurrence is displayed at the bottom of the screen as a cursor is moved over the coloured squares on the screen. The system uses the Countryside Information System GIS database that is widely employed by Government agencies and some NGOs as well. The CD contains additional maps and commentaries for Erica arborea, E. lusitanica, E. terminalis and, most extraordinary, E. Xdarleyensis. There is no map for E. carnea although E. J. Clement and M. C. Foster (Alien plants of the British Isles. 1994) recorded it in various localities in southern Britain. Given that E. Xdarleyensis is almost impossible to separate from E. carnea without very careful examination, sterile and thus incapable of producing seeds, this map, purporting to show the sites where it occurs, is rather spurious. Our comments regarding a few questionable maps do not represent damning criticism of this work. However if no-one draws attention to the probable errors, no-one is any the wiser. We offer these as constructive comments, and hope that the editors will take steps to have the data on all the heather maps more thoroughly checked before any new edition of the book or the CD is issued. P. D. COKER AND E. C. NELSON RECENT PUBLICATIONS ANONYMOUS, 2003. [Heathers]. Garden answers (August): 101. Referred the reader to Holden Clough Nurseries and The Heather Society, but, as members will be aware, Peter has had to give up heathers because of his ill- health. Also the recommendations, for planting a bank with year-round interest, were surprising: Erica carnea ‘R. B. Cooke’; Calluna vulgaris ‘Loch Turret’, ‘Finale’, ‘Alexandra’. RJC. 62 CAFFERTY, S. & JARVIS, C. E. (editors), 2002. Typiciation of Linnaean plant names in Ericaceae. Taxon 51: 751-753. Deals with Erica pallido-purpurea L. nom. illeg. = E. carnea L. CHAPMAN, D., 2003. Wild about Cornwall. The heathland project. Cornwall today (February): 46-52. About Cornwall Heathland Project, restoring landscapes scarred by mining, especially for china clay. Photo showing Calluna vulgaris on Caerloggas Down labelled “once the ground had been sown with heathland seeds ... nature’s rightful colour take hold once more.” Mentions bell heather, cross-leaved heath and ling. Handsome full-page photographs of kestrel and stonechat. CLEEVELY, R. J., NELSON, E. C. & OLIVER, E. G. H., 2003. More accurate publication dates for H. C. Andrews’ The heathery particularly volumes 5 and 6. Bothalia 33: 195-198. Using three types of evidence — dated watermarks; dates of flowering of Erica species in cultivation in England; dates on which Andrews prepared the original drawings — it is concluded that the six volumes of Henry Charles Andrews’ The heathery were published as follows: volume 1, not earlier than June 1805; volume 2, not earlier than 1806; volume 3, 1806; volume 4, 1807; volume 5, not before 1816; volume 6, late in 1828. Consequently, most, if not all, of Andrews’ new names for Erica species were first published in Coloured engravings of heaths. COLVIN, Diana K., 2003. Aging gracefully. The Oregonian Homes & Gardens of the Northwest (27 February): 14, 21. Chronicles the evolution of landscaping around a Vancouver, Washington home (half an acre grew to three-quarters of an acre) through 20 years of collaboration between owner and landscape architect. Almost 20 cultivars replaced St John’s- wort. Designing the area gave the landscape architect the opportunity to learn about the many heather cultivars available. Cover photographs and others. FLECKEN, J. G., 2003. Erica carnea keuringsrapport. Dendroflora 39: 4-29. Excellent report (in Dutch) on trials — the summary and details are extracted in this issue, pp 31-38 — illustrated with colour photographs. JOHANSSON, Brita, 2003. Forst ut — varljung. Hemtradgarden 2: 6-8. Illustrated with photographs of her own garden in Sweden, and simple drawings, showing how a carefully planted patch of Erica carnea cultivars can change colour between April and August, flowering in shades of red, mauve and white, then providing glowing coloured summer foliage (for an extract, see this issue, pp 39-41). MACKEY, Mary-Kate, 2002. A heavenly hillside alcove. Sunset magazine (November). Describes semicircular stone bench set into hillside garden of Val and Mark Bloom, above their Bloom River Gardens Nursery in the McKenzie River Valley outside Eugene, Oregon, USA. Heathers featured Calluna vulgaris ‘County Wicklow’, ‘St Nick’, and Erica vagans ‘Mrs D. F. Maxwell’. Excellent color photo. E-MW. 63 McCAUSLAND, J., 2003. Classy combo. Sunset magazine (January). Use of winter flowering Erica Xdarleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ with Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Treasure’ (dwarf) in terracotta container for outdoor color in mild- winter areas west of the Cascades mountain range, northwestern USA and Canada. E-MW. MAHAR, D., 2003. Sweet on chocolate. The Oregonian Homes & Gardens of the Northwest (13 February): 30-31. Plants for people with chocolate cravings: Calluna vulgaris ‘Winter Chocolate’. E-MW. NELSON, E. C., 2003. Cat heather. Plant-lore notes and news 76: 369-370. See Bulletin of The Heather Society 6 (9): 7-8 (Summer 2003) for a slightly amended version of this. NELSON, E. C., 2003. A more closely circumscribed publication date for George Sinclair’s Hortus ericeus woburnensis (1825). Archives of natural history 30: 171-172. Published most probably on 18 February 1825. NELSON, E. C. & OLIVER, E. G. H., 2003. Understanding Erica *willmorei, a nine- teenth-century English garden hybrid. Bothalia 33: 149-154. The application of the binomial Erica Xwillmorei Knowles & Westc. is discussed and the name is typified by an illustration. It is demonstrated that the name was altered to E. wilmoreana by Bentham, misapplied and misspelled soon after publication and that various plants known by this binomial and its numerous variants do not represent the original hybrid. VINEY, M., 2003. Ireland. A Smithsonian natural history. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. (Published in UK and Ireland by The Blackstaff Press, Belfast ISBN 0-85640-744-5.) £20. Pp xvi, 336 + 8pp colour plates. Written for the general reader, this book “reveals what is special about Ireland’s natural fabric.” There is plenty about heathers, and Viney gives prominence to the speculation that some of Ireland’s “Lusitanian” heathers may have arrived with “the megalith builders of the Neolithic” or, in the case of E. erigena, with pilgrims returning from Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. A colour photograph of E. Xstuartii is included, but that heather is mentioned nowhere in text! VLOK, J. & SCHUTTE-VLOK, Anne Lise, 2003. A sticky story. Why do some ericas have sticky flowers. Veld & flora 89 (3): 113-115. Excellent photographs accompany this article musing on why some Cape heaths have sticky flowers. Experiments demonstrate that sticky flowers reduce water requirements. “Being covered with goo seems to enable ericas to cope well with hot, dry conditions”. WELP, Lynn, 2003. Heathers for color. Albany (OR) Democrat-Herald, Corvallis (OR)Gazette-Times (January 19): E10, E12 (three photos). Features the first public meeting and garden tour (Philomath, OR) of the Oregon Heather Society, with emphasis on heathers for winter color. Quotes from OHS members on favorite cultivars and growing tips. Numerous cultivars mentioned both for winter bloom and for foliage color. E-MW. Heathers 1: 64-74 (2004) Supplement to International register of heather names — IV (2004) CONSERVED AND REJECTED CULTIVAR NAMES The International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants responded on 21 November 2003 to the proposals published in Yearbook of The Heather Society 2001: 46-49. The Commission’s decisions are summarized here. The full text of the Commission’s responses can be made available on request. Proposals accepted: the following cultivar names are conserved under Article 14.1 of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated plants (1995): ‘Alba Jae’ (Calluna vulgaris) ‘Baylay’s Variety’ (Erica cinerea) ‘Compacta Alba’ (Andromeda polifolia) ‘Corrie’s White’ (Calluna vulgaris) ‘Dainty Bess Junior’ (Calluna vulgaris) ‘Hirsuta Albiflora’ (Calluna vulgaris) ‘King George’ (Erica carnea) ‘Mrs Sam Doncaster’ (Erica carnea) ‘Pyramidalis’ (Calluna vulgaris) Proposals rejected: proposals for the conservation of the following cultivar names were rejected. New names are established elsewhere in this issue as indicated for the first three cultivars. In the case of ‘Early Bride’, its original name must be used. ‘Atrorubens Daisy Hill’ (Erica cinerea) [new name ‘Daisy Hill Ruby’; see p. 67] ‘Carnea Underwood’s Variety’ (Erica cinerea) [new name ‘Underwood Pink’; see p. 72] ‘Coccinea Smith’s Variety’ (Calluna vulgaris) [new name ‘Derbyshire Crimson’; see p. 67] ‘Early Bride’ (Daboecia cantabrica) [correct name D. cantabrica ‘April Fool’] 65 Other decisions ‘Harlequin’ (Daboecia cantabrica) This name is now acceptable following the Commission’s approval of the dismantling of the special denomination class (see below). The proposal is deemed redundant. ‘Multicolor’ (Calluna vulgaris) The Commission found no firm grounds to conserve the epithet ‘Multicolor’ in the denomination class Calluna. The Commission decided that its present usage is not threatened by any established name and this precludes conservation. ‘St Keverne’ (Erica vagans) ‘St Keverne’ was published in 1915 and so has undoubted priority over ‘Kevernensis’. The proposal was made in error and was withdrawn by The Heather Society. DENOMINATION CLASSES The International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants responded on 20 November 2003 approving a proposal from The Heather . Society, the responsible International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA), submitted in 2002, for the special denomination class within Ericaceae, comprising five genera including Erica, to be dismantled, and for the genera Andromeda L., Calluna Salisb., Daboecia D. Don, and Erica L. each to constitute a separate denomination class. This decision is retroactive, and is reflected in the ICRA listing in the recently published, revised edition of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated plants (2004). The denomination class Erica is defined as including, as well as Bruckenthalia Reichb., the so-called “minor genera”, native in Africa and on Indian Ocean islands, such as Blaeria L., Ericinella Klotzsch and Philippia Klotzsch. For the definitive listing of generic synonymy of the “megagenus”, and thus the denomination class, Erica, see E. G. H. Oliver, Systematics of Ericeae (Ericaceae: Ericoideae) species with indehiscent and partially dehiscent fruits. Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium number 19 (2000), especially pp 98-100. 66 NEW REGISTRATIONS Ahrensdorf — Calluna vulgaris ‘Ahrensdorf’ Registered on 25 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 207. * Bud-bloomer; light purple (H10); September-November(—December); foliage dark green; habit bushy, compact, 15x20 cm. 8 Wild-collected: found by Kurt Kramer in 1995 near Ahrensdorf. Ericultura 130: 20 (2003). Alberta White— Daboecia cantabrica ‘Alberta White’ [established here] Registered on 3 August 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 214. * Flowers single, corolla white, 12x8mm; calyx bright green; June-Septem- ber; foliage bright green; habit erect. ® Selected seedling from cross between ‘Bellita’ and ‘Alba’; selected by Kurt Kramer in Summer 2002. @® Named by Heidespezialbetrieb Marohn & Hager, Tanger Hauptstrafse 45, D-26689 Apen-Tange. Anke-Lisa — Calluna vulgaris ‘Anke-Lisa’ [established here] Registered on 2 January 2003 by Johannes van Leuven. Registration no. 191. * Bud-bloomer; rose-pink; September-November; foliage bright green; habit upright. 8 Chance seedling found in September 2001; selected by Johannes van Leuven. Submitted for plant breeders’ rights in October 2001 in Germany; GLE171 01-12 Rosa. ® Named by J. van Leuven after his god-daughter. Cheyenne — Calluna vulgaris ‘Cheyenne’ preicted on 19 March 2003 by Peter Herzog. Registration no. 197. Bud-bloomer; purple; August—January; foliage yellow in Summer turning bronze (“gelbgrtin /Laubfarbend. Es ist ein Laubfarbender ther. Im Friihjahr ist das Laub orange, im Sommer gelb, im Herbst gelbgriin, im Winter bronzefarbend. Sehr bltihfreudig”). @ Sport on ‘Marlies’, found by Peter Herzog in 1997. Submitted for plant breeders’ rights in Germany on 3 September 1999; CLL 124 (still under test January 2000). Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 32 heft 10: 315 (October 1999); Der Heidegarten 46: 48 (1999); Ericultura 130: 24 (2003). 67 Daisy Hill Ruby — Erica cinerea ‘Daisy Hill Ruby’ New name for ‘Atrorubens, Daisy Hill’ (International register of heather names vol. 1 (part 1 A-C): 60 (2000)). Registered on 27 December 2003 by The Heather Society. Registration no. 22D: Dapiali — Calluna vulgaris ‘Dapiali’ Registered on 26 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 209. * Bud-bloomer; rose-pink; September—November; foliage dark green; habit upright. @ Sport on ‘Pink Alicia’, found on 1 November 1999 at Kurt Kramer’s nursery. Ericultura 130: 25 (2003). @® Ananagram of the initial letters of the three words Dark, Pink, and Alicia. Dark Babette — Calluna vulgaris ‘Dark Babette’ Registered on 26 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 210. * Bud-bloomer; rose-pink; September-November; foliage dark green; habit broad, upright. @ Sport on ‘Babette’, found on 1 November 1999 at Kurt Kramer’s nursery. Ericultura 130: 26 (2003). Derbyshire Crimson — Calluna vulgaris ‘Derbyshire Crimson’ New name for ‘Coccinea (Smith’s Variety)’ (International register of heather names vol. 1 (part 1 A—C): 130 (2000)). Registered on 27 December 2003 by The Heather Society. Registration no. 224. Dunkle Sandy — Calluna vulgaris ‘Dunkle Sandy’ Registered on 26 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 212. * Bud-bloomer; white; September-November; foliage yellow, turning yellow-brown in Winter; habit broad, upright. 8 Sport on ‘Sandy’, found on 28 September 2001 by Fa. Holz. Ericultura 130: 26 (2003). @ Named by Kurt Kramer. 68 Ellen Norris — Daboecia Xscotica ‘Ellen Norris’ [established here] Registered on 14 October 2003 by Vancouver Island Heather Chapter. Registration no. 216. * Young flowers rich velvety red (H9) before the corolla has fully opened, becoming amethyst (H1); corolla <1cm when fully open; with very sparse hairs when very young, when fully expanded appearing smooth and virtually hairless; erect flowering shoots to 40cm, with 12-15 bells; July— October; leaves c. 0.5cm long, bright mid-green; habit stiff, erect, compact 15(—40)cm tall, spread 30cm (after 4—5 years). @ Chance seedling in Paddy van Adrichem’s garden, near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Selected for naming by Joyce Prothero. Heathers 1: 26 (2004) [this issue]; ® Eponym: named by Joyce Prothero in memory of Ellen Norris (2 March 1928 — 12 September 2003), the “Heather Lady” of British Columbia. Frischgrtine Kircher — Calluna vulgaris ‘Frischgrtine Kircher’ Registered on 26 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 211. * Bud-bloomer; lilac; September-November; foliage mid-green; habit broad, upright. @ Sport on ‘Fritz Kircher’, found on 1 November 1999 at Kurt Kramer’s nursery. Ericultura 130: 27 (2003). ‘Highway One’ — Erica vagans ‘Highway One’ Registered on 5 December 2003 by Homer C. Ferguson. Registration no. 222. * Very vigorous, erect, to 12ins across; foliage fairly dark green, flowers light pink (lavender pink); August-September. 8 Selected chance seeding; found on Highway One in Fort Bragg, California, USA. Cascade Heather Society newsletter Fall 2003: 5 (2003). 69 Holehird White — Erica australis ‘Holehird White’ [established here] Registered on 15 June 2003 by The Lakeland Horticultural Society. Registration no. 201. * Corolla white; calyx pale green, very downy; flowers single; April-May; foliage rich dark green; habit erect, arborescent. (Compared with ‘Mr Robert’ and the species, the flowers are larger and the corolla less obscured by the calyx. The red stigma, pinkish style and dark brown anthers form a dramatic contrast to the corolla of which the density and thickness gives a purer white. Flowers stand out well from the foliage.) @ Sport on E. australis ‘Holehird’; discovered by Russel Hope Simpson at Holehird Gardens in 1987. Irish Shine — Daboecia cantabrica ‘Irish Shine’ [established here] Registered on 10 May 2003 by S. Ketelaar. Registration no. 198. * Flowers single, corolla purple 78A (H1), calyx green; July-November; foliage dark green, glossy (139A); habit erect. ® Chance seedling, found by S. Ketelaar during summer 1994 in private garden at Nieuwegein. ® So named by S. Ketelaar, because it is an Irish heath with glossy leaves. Irish Treasure —Erica Xdarleyensis ‘Irish Treasure’ [established here] ie on 29 September 2003 by David Wilson. Registration no. 215. Flowers single; corolla salmon pink; calyx cream; in sturdy upright flower spikes: November—May; foliage mid-green; habit compact, spreading, floriferous. Differs from other cultivars in its distinct salmon pink flowers, early and long flowering; its habit makes it excellent for containers. ® Deliberately raised hybrid; a selection by David Wilson from the cross made by him in 1998 between E. carnea ‘Treasure Trove’ and E. erigena ‘Irish Dusk’; first flowered 2000, selected 2002. ® Named by David Small; name derived from the first words in the epithets of the parent cultivars, E. erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ and E. carnea “Treasure Trove’. Jette — Calluna vulgaris ‘Jette’ Registered on 8 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 204. * Bud-bloomer, bright red, August-November; foliage bright green; habit broad, upright. @ Sport on ‘Anette’; found in 2000 by Heinz Tiiber (Stidlohner Damm 15, Gescher). Submitted for plant breeders’ rights in Germany; CLL219. Ericultura 130: 28 (2003). 70 Joanna — Daboecia cantabrica ‘Joanna’ [established here] Registered on 8 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 205. * Flowers single, corolla dark red, calyx green; June-August; foliage dark green; habit broad, upright. @ Deliberately raised seedling, selected by Kurt Kramer in 1999 from cross between seedlings 93-16-44 and 93-16-45. Submitted for plant breeders’ rights to CPVO, Angers, France. Minna Kircher — Calluna vulgaris ‘Minna Kircher’ Registered on 2 March 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 194. * Bud-bloomer, white; August-November; foliage bright green; habit broad, upright. @ Sport on ‘Fritz Kircher’; found by Kurt Kramer in 2001. Ericultura 130: 32 (2003). @® Named by Kurt Kramer after Herr Kircher’s mother. Moulin Rouge — Calluna vulgaris ‘Moulin Rouge’ Registered on 2 January 2003 by Johannes van Leuven. Registration no. 193. * Bud-bloomer; bright red ; September-November; foliage bright green; habit tight, upright. ® Chance seedling, found in September 2001; selected by Johannes van Leuven. Submitted for plant breeders’ rights in October 2001 in Germany; CLL 173 01-27 hellrot. Ericultura 130: 34 (2003). Pestrup — Calluna vulgaris ‘Pestrup’ Registered on 25 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 208. * Bud-bloomer, violet; September—October; foliage dark green; habit broad, open. 8 Wild-collected: found by Kurt Kramer about 1990 near the village of Pestrup, “in der Nahe von Wildeshausen”. Ericultura 130: 34 (2003). Tesh Polra — Erica erigena ‘Polra’ [established here] Registered on 4 June 2003 by Orla Byrne. Registration no. 200. * Flowers lilac (H4), single; January—May; foliage green (RHS 143B); habit open, erect, to 1.5m tall,to 1m across. Unlike ‘Irish Dusk’, the whole plant flowers for five months; it also differs from other cultivars in corolla colour. @ Wild-collected: found by David Small, Brian Nelson and Charles Nelson at Mulranny, County Mayo, Ireland, in March 1983 (DHN 1/83); selected by David Small in June 2003. @® An anagram from Pol (Gaelic for Paul) and Orla; named by Orla Byrne for Paul Evans on his fiftieth birthday, 23 June 2003. Romantic Scotland — Erica cinerea ‘Romantic Scotland’ [established here] Registered on 11 December 2003 by David Lambie. Registration no. 223. * Flowers bicoloured, white at base, shading to lavender (H3) and purple (H10) at tips, in spikes to 5-6cm long; July / August-October; foliage fresh, dark green; habit upright, approx 20x30cm. @ Chance seedling at Speyside Heather Centre; selected for naming in 2002 to mark the pop-star Madonna’s second wedding anniversary. The name was printed, in error, as Calluna vulgaris ‘Romantic Scotland’ in Heather news quarterly #104: 18 (Fall 2003). Rosann — Calluna vulgaris ‘Rosann’ Registered on 8 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 203. * Bud-bloomer; rose-pink; August—October; foliage bright green; habit broad, upright. @ Sport on ‘Klaudine’, found by Kurt Kramer in 2000. Submitted for plant breeders’ rights. @ Ericultura 130: 36 (2003). Scarlet Santa Cruz — Erica cerinthoides ‘Scarlet Santa Cruz’ Registered on 4 June 2003 by University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum. Registration no. 199. @ Chance seedling, selected at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum. Erica cerinthoides ‘Scarlet Santa Cruz’ [note supplied to visitors, August 1996]; Pacific horticulture (July-September 2000): 43 (in error as ‘Scarlet Santa’). 72 Silver Glow — Erica carnea ‘Silver Glow’ [established here] Registered on 24 June 2003 by J. D. van der Lip. Registration no. 202. * Foliage dark green; young shoots silvery white in spring and summer, turning pink in winter when temperature drops; corolla and calyx heliotrope (H12). ® Sport on ‘Praecox Rubra’; found in 1992 by G. K. Langenberg on his former nursery at Boskoop. Susanne — Calluna vulgaris ‘Susanne’ Registered on 2 March 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 196. * Bud-bloomer; lilac (H2); September-November; foliage dark green; habit broad, upright. ® Sport on‘Amethyst’; found by Axel and Armin Klose (Sandkrug—Hatten) in September 2001. Ericultura 130: 37 (2003). @® Named after the wife of Armin Klose. The name is permitted although there was formerly Calluna vulgaris ‘Susan’. Underwood Pink — Erica cinerea ‘Underwood Pink’ New name for ‘Carnea: Underwood’s Variety’ (International register of heather names vol. 1 (part 1 A-C): 110 (2000)). Registered on 27 December 2003 by The Heather Society. Registration no. 226. Vanessa — Daboecia cantabrica ‘Vanessa’ [established here] Registered on 8 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 206. * Flowers single; corolla violet; calyx green; June-August; foliage dark green; habit upright. @ Deliberately raised seedling, selected by Kurt Kramer in 1999 from a cross between seedlings 93-16-1 and 93-16-2; submitted for plant breeders’ rights to CPVO, Angers, France (2001/0702). Venus — Calluna vulgaris ‘Venus’ Registered on 2 January 2003 by Johannes van Leuven. Registration no. 192. * Bud-bloomer; blood-red; September—-November; foliage dark green; habit upright . ® Chance seedling, found in September 2001; selected by Johannes van Leuven. Submitted for plant breeders’ rights in October 2001 in Germany (CLL 01-20 Lachsrot). Ericultura 130: 38 (2003). 73 Virginia — Calluna vulgaris ‘Virginia’ Registered on 2 March 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 195. * Bud-bloomer; white; August-November; foliage bright green; habit broad, bushy. @ Sport on ‘Dreinullvier’, found by Kurt Kramer in 2000. Ericultura 130: 38 (2003). Weisse Dreinullzwei (WeifS Dreinullzwei) — Calluna vulgaris ‘Weisse Dreinullzwei’ Registered on 26 July 2003 by Kurt Kramer. Registration no. 213. * Bud-bloomer; greyish white; September-November; foliage dark green; habit broad, upright, vigorous. @ Sport on “Kn. 302”, found 1 November 2000 by Kurt Kramer. Submitted for plant breeders right in Germany on 1 September 2002 (CLL 206). Ericultura 130: 39 (2003). Winter Fire — Erica “Winter Fire’ In print also as Erica oatesi “Winter Fire’. ; Registered on 14 October 2003 by The Director, Botanic Gardens of Adelaide. Registration no. 219. * Habit compact. Bright yellow tips to foliage in Spring; “a profusion of bright fire-red, tubular flowers” .* ® Probably a chance hybrid, selected by Mr Keith Ashby from seed grown from E. oatesii from the Wittunga garden in the 1960s. Introduced from Wittunga Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia. It is suggested that this is a hybrid between E. mammosa and E. oatesii. R. Spencer, Horticultural flora of southeastern Australia 2: 491 (1997); Heather news 25 (2): 6 (2002). ® The name ‘Winter Fire’ was given to it by Roger and Natalie Peate (who operated the Plant Growers Australia nursery, Victoria). 74 Wittunga Gem — Erica ‘Wittunga Gem’ Registered on 15 October 2003 by The Director, Botanic Gardens of Adelaide. Registration no. 217. * Erect shrub with ascending branches, c. 1 m tall; flowers tightly and densely clustered on the branches, mauve (purple group 78C), anthers dark. Similar to ‘Wittunga Satin’, which has flowers with slightly more rosy hue, this hybrid flowers earlier and has firm pyramidal sprays of flowers with long vase life ideally suited for floral arrangements. ® Probably a hybrid involving E. quadrangularis; selected at Wittunga Botanic Garden, South Australia, and released commercially through Plant Growers Australia (PGA), Victoria, in 1992. R. Spencer, Horticultural flora of southeastern Australia 2: 491 (1997). @® Wittunga Botanic Garden is one of the three botanical gardens within South Australia and contains an extensive collection of Cape heaths. Wittunga Satin — Erica ‘Wittunga Satin’ Registered on 14 October 2003 by The Director, Botanic Gardens of Adelaide. Registration no. 218. * Much branched shrub, c. 1.3m tall; flowers densely clustered on branches which are ascending to spreading but not arching; mauve with a lustrous appearance (red-purple group 74C overall, corolla red—purple group 68B, anthers and stigma greyed—purple group 187A). ® Probably a hybrid between E. mauritanica and E. quadrangularis; selected at Wittunga Botanic Garden, South Australia, and released commercially through Plant Growers Australia (PGA), Victoria in 1991. Australian horticulture (July): 67 (1991); R. Spencer, Horticultural flora of southeastern Australia 2: 491 (1997). tee HEATHER SOCIETY Chairman: (email: ajs@widmour.freeserve.co.uk) Mr A.J. Stow: Widmour, Limmer Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4QR Secretary and Slide Librarian: (email: jeanjulian@zetnet.co.uk) Mrs J. Julian: Matchams, Main Street, Askham Richard, YO23 3PT. Treasurer: (email: pjoyner@supanet.com) Mr. P. Joyner: 84 Kinross Road, Rushington Manor, Totton, Southampton, SO40 9BN. Registrar and Editor of Yearbook: (email: registrar@zetnet.co.uk) Dr. E.C. Nelson: Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, Outwell, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 8PE Editor of Bulletin: (email: everettbannut@zetnet.co.uk) Mrs D. Everett: The Bannut, Bringsty, WR6 5TA. Administrator: (email: heathers@zetnet.co.uk) Mrs A. Small: Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St Mary, Ipswich, IP6 8PJ. Editor of Yearbook Dr. E. Charles Nelson Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, Outwell Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 8PE Tel: 01945 773 057 Fax: 01945 774 077 e-mail: registrar@zetnet.co.uk All material for the 2005 issue of the Yearbook of The Heather Society must reach the Editor not later than 31 October 2004. Articles may be submitted by e-mail. DATES OF PUBLICATION OF YEARBOOKS 2001: 13 March 2001 2002: 25 February 2002 20037 21 February 2003 Handy guide to heathers (3'4 ed) (2001): 15 December 2001 CONTENTS M. Hoffmann Erica carnea ‘December Red' K. Lortz A woodland heather garden D. J. Small Suggestions for some beds of heather: for those who cannot sketch J. E. Judson Entering the world of heathers B. D. Maginess Forty years ago J.G. Flecken — Erica cinerea var. rendlei in the wild in northwestern France A. J. Stow Forty years on J. Julian & P. Newton The Calluna collection that never was J. Prothero Daboecia *scotica 'Ellen Norris' D. J. Small The Old 804: European heathers naturalized in Oregon D. J. Small Montage of Erica carnea ae! J.G.Flecken Erica carnea - a summary of the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society trials 1999-2002 B.Johansson Suggestions for a bed of heathers I: Erica carnea S.J. Wright & E. C. Nelson Diana of the heathers IN MEMORIAM | Des Oliver (1914-2003), Honorary Treasurer 1978-1994 Herman M. J. Blum (1934-2003) Inge Oliver (1947-2003) THE HEATHER SOCIETY'S PROCEEDINGS 2003 Annual gathering and 32nd Annual Conference BOOK REVIEWS & RECENT PUBLICATIONS Supplement to International register of heather names — IV (2004) | New registrations Website: www.heathersociety.org