_ YEAR BOOK OF THE | _ HEATHER © SOCIETY 1988 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/yearbookofheatheOOheat_23 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Affiliated Societies: ee Nederlandse Heidervereniging ‘Ericultura’ Gesellschaft der Heidefreiinde North American Heather Society President: Mr. C. D. BRICKELL, V.M.H. Vice-Presidents: Mrs. C. I. MacLEOD Mr. D. McCLINTOCK, T.D..F.L.S. Mrs. D. METHENY Chairman: Maj.-Gen. P. G. TURPIN, C.B.. O.B.E. Secretary: Mrs. P. B. LEE Treasurer: Mr. D. B. OLIVER Council: Mr. D. M. EDGE Mr. H. L. NICHOLSON, M.B.E. Mrs. D. EVERETT Mr. D. H. E. ROPE Mr. A. W. JONES Mr. D. J. SMALL Mrs. D. H. JONES J.P. Mr. A. J. STOW Mr. P. L. JOYNER Mr. G. P. VICKERS Mr. D. J. T. MAYNE Administrator: Mrs. A. SMALL, Denbeigh, All Saints Road. Creeting St. Mary, Ipswich, Suffolk UP6 8PJ. Editors: Bulletin:Mrs. D. H. JONES, Otters’ Court, West Camel, Somerset BA22 7QF. Year Book: Mr. A. W. JONES, Otters’ Court, West Camel, Somerset BA22 7QF. Registrar: Mr. D. McCLINTOCK, Bracken Hill, Platt, Sevenoaks, Kent TNI5 8JH. Slide Librarian: Mr. D. SMALL, Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St. Mary. Ipswich, Suffolk, IP6 8PJ. ¥ gOYAL ETA LA ‘eoarants: AS ini mists Yes fs ~ a : U ; oh te eae q i iy Lae eee y oath a iN N f A ay Te 4 Mh eas , yas ei i i — p a & r y ak e 1 i ” { yan : Ae i ee Mk , i 1 (ple te G 5 a 40 Age F oa ire a yy 5) ee Be cher ae Sah oe aereeet )), ! i ae ae Nai are x, wine: Again jailer Contents Volume 3 No. 6 ISSN 0440-5757 FeO) TORO RUA Te Sek BAR ee ERG Cie Os ot Nee a eh, 2 FROM THE CHAIRMAN - May.-Gen. P. G. Turpin... 3 ANNUAL CONFERENCE - HADLOW COLLEGE. HADLOW. SEPTEMBER 1987>-Johin Gualtiths 226.2282 8 Se. 5 HOW STARTED *®:. 00000 8.8...: 10 CONSTANCE MacLEOD AND THE EARLY YEARS - Arnold SLOWS PEE once ol SBR cP MEO oot IRN AIRE ae Nan ara an mat 11 THE FIRST TWENTY FIVE YEARS - Daphne Everett............. 14 PROGRESS BY MEMBERS IN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HEATHERS SINCE 1963 - David McClintock u..ccccccccceececeeeeeeee 28 GROWING HEATHERS IN THE WESTERN PART OF NOR- WANG ="leem 4PCersSCInen e072. n eh eee GME S133 HEATHERS IN SWEDEN - Brita Johansson wi.cccccccccececceeeeeeees 36 Erica manipuliflora IN WESTERN TURKEY - Mrs. O. Hall...41 A NAME FOR Erica manipuliflora WITH WHITE FLOWERS - IBEIV tae WY (GIT Cre] as, se ae et ee er en 43.4. BOOK REVIEW - Heidegarten by Lothar Denkewitz - P. G. T- .....44 THE CULTURE OF CAPE HEATHS - David Small................... 45 A LETTER FROM NEW ZEALAND - Cynthia Aston............... 49 PERSONAL NAMES FOR SOUTHERN AFRICAN ERICAS: PART 2 David IMIGCOMMOGK eer ees CE ee ee, S| PERSONAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES FOR HARDY HEATHERS - 7th SUPPLEMENT - David McClintock ......55 THE CULTIVARS OF Erica x watsonit: Mayj.-Gen. P. G. Turpin...57 THE YELLOW-FOLIAGE CULTIVARS OF Erica carnea - PA VP IONNES yi Leh is es rae tk ren aN fopaa re AR 8 LR hg ieee a 59 CULTIVARS REGISTERED IN 1987 - The Registrar............... 68 INE AAC OMISTMIONS = JOR Tatty See a es nae 70 REGIE INT WIRTIRIING SCO 87) eee Sins hs ooh 1 Bars curesels 73 NUIRSERYMENIMIEMIBER Sine. .oe cic se eee ne aeeaie cscs cbeeees 81 BOCATIORGANTSER Si 2 neh ag le a i aac aaa wt 85 GO NINN AEE MIENIB BIR Soe eee eee ere Sacras oss tess ssannesaonepseaniscests 87 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Editorial There is not sufficient space in this Year Book to print a list of all those past and present members of the Society who have had heathers named after them. However, let us con- sider the following attenuated roll. Calluna vulgaris ‘Fred J. Chapple’. ‘Hugh Nicholson’, ‘John F. Letts’, “Platt’s Sur- prise’, Daboecia cantabrica ‘Charles Nelson’, Erica carnea ‘Adrienne Duncan’, E. ciliaris ‘David McClintock’, E. cinerea ‘Alfred Bowerman’, ‘Constance’ (Mrs. C. I. MacLeod), “Daphne Maginess’, ‘“G. Osmond’, ‘John Ardron’. Joyce Burfitt, ‘P. S. Patrick’, E. erigena “Brian Proudley, E. lusitanica “George Hunt’, E. mackaiana “Dr. Ronald Gray, ‘Maura’ (Miss Scannell) E. scoparia “Lionel Woolner’. E. vagans ‘Valerie Proudley E. x watsoni ‘Cherry Turpin’ and “Dorothy Metheny. It contains one past President, three past and three current Vice-Presidents, two past Chairmen, and one past and one present member of Council. One of these is also our former Secretary and Treasurer, another was a former Editor of the Year Book, and several have served on the Council, or the Committee that preceded it, before elevation to higher offices. Many of these names will occur elsewhere in this Year Book. Some of those eponyms are of recent origin, while others were given before 1963, thus reminding us of the interest that existed in heathers prior to the formation of the Society. It is possibly more important to note that some of these plants are well-known, while others are encountered less frequently. May I, even at this time of celebration, gently suggest that, in a few cases, the eagerness to bestow a com- pliment has overcome the caution that should always pre- cede the dowering of a plant with a name. I do not know how many heathers have been introduced since the Society was formed. Once. again, perhaps more knowledge of existing cultivars, or a longer consideration of the distinctness of a particular find, may have prevented YEAR BOOK 1988 some of them from being named and added to the Regis- trar’s extensive records. However, some of them are of undoubted and lasting merit. It would be possible to play the fascinating, but frustrating game of choosing twelve favourite heathers from plants introduced since 1963. The game may be made more interesting by imposing the further restriction that the twelve plants should include as many species as possible. Knowing that you will probably disagree with me in some, if not all of my choices, I will put forward my own selection. It is Calluna_ vulgaris ‘Kinlochruel’ and ‘Silver Rose’, Daboecia x scotica “William Buchanan, E. carnea ‘Foxhollow,, E. ciliaris ‘Corfe Castle’, F. cinerea “My Love’ and ‘Windlebrooke,, E. x darleyensis ‘Jenny Porter’, E. erigena ‘Golden Lady’ and ‘Irish Dusk’, E. x stuarti! Irish Lemon and E. vagans ‘Valerie Proudley.. All of these appear in the Society's Recommended List. Finally, it may be observed that, despite the over- abundance of cultivars of Calluna, Daboecia and Erica introduced since 1963, there has been less evidence of interest in Andromeda or Bruckenthalia, the other two genera for which the Society 1s responsible as International Registration Authority. I must thank Mr. P. L. Joyner, who has taken the respon- sibility for the production of all the illustrations for this issue of the Year Book. From the Chairman Maj.-Gen. P. J. Turpin, C.B., O.B.E., West Clandon, Surrey 1988 is the 25th Anniversary of the formation of the Heather Society. In this Silver Jubilee year I send my best wishes to all our members in the British Isles and overseas. I am sure that with your enthusiastic help and support the Society will go from strength to strength in the coming years. One of the more interesting developments in heather growing in recent years has been the increasing attention 3 THE HEATHER SOCIETY which has been paid to the breeding of heathers. Perhaps it is because there has been such a wealth of natural variation in the form and colour of our hardy heathers that there has been little demand for the work of the hybridist. Nearly all our named cultivars have either been discovered in the wild or have been found as chance seedlings or “sports” in nur- series or private gardens. Moreover, hybridising heathers is a finicky business. Emasculating a heather flower to ensure that the stigma is not fertilised by an unwanted agent demands good eyesight and a steady hand. The hybridist must have plenty of patience, as he may have to wait a long time before he can enjoy the results of his work. Whatever the reason, very little work was done in this field until Mr. F. Esgate of Milton Hutchins undertook a programme of hybridising Cape Heaths soon after the last war. During the 1960s he exhibited some 20 hybrid Cape heaths at R.H.S. Shows, some of which received Awards of Merit. Among them were ‘Dusky Maid’, ‘Gaiety’, ‘Majestic’ and ‘Snowfall’. Some years later Mrs. Anne Parris tried some experiments with E. carnea and E. erigena, to try to deter- mine how the E. x darleyensis hybrids originated, and published some of her results in the Year Book (1976, 1977, 1978 and 1980). Now we have Kurt Kramer in Germany, Dr. John Griffiths at Leeds University and David Wilson in North America, all of whom have been carrying out breed- ing experiments with heathers. John Hall, of Windlesham Court Nurseries, Chairman of the Heather Growers Association, has also just started a breeding programme. The only natural hybrids of hardy heathers, of which there are authentic records, are E. x darleyensis, E. x stuartil, E., x veitchii, E. x watsonii and E. x williamsiti. Making deliberate crosses between their parent species has helped to establish which have been the probable seed and pollen parents. The parentage of E. x williamsii, which was YEAR BOOK 1988 originally attributed by F. H. Davey to E. cinerea x E. vagans, when P. D. Williams recorded his find in 1909, and corrected two years later to E. tetralix x E. vagans, has been confirmed by Dr. Griffiths’s experiments. There is now the prospect of a number of new hybrids between different species being introduced, which may add considerably to the variety of our heathers, in addition to the many new crosses between cultivars which have pro- duced, mainly by Herr Kramer. The chief difficulty is how to select new named cultivars from the thousands of seedlings which result from deliberate crosses. As hybridists in other fields, such as roses and azaleas, have learnt, the only answer is a long period of trial, followed by ruthless rejection of all except the best seedlings. Annual Conference — Hadlow College, Hadlow, September 1987 John Griffiths, Garforth, Leeds On the outskirts of the village of Hadlow near Tonbridge in Kent lies the Hadlow College of Agriculture and Hor- ticulture, a collection of attractive low buildings in spacious lawns, with numerous well-planted island beds to please the eye. It was here, on the warm sunny afternoon on Friday, September 4th, that members met for the seventeenth Heather Society Conference. We were greeted by our tireless hostess, Mrs. Tessa Forbes of Plaxtol Nursery, and the atten- dance list that was posted in the main entrance hall indicated that 45 members were expected to attend, rather more than at the last conference. As usual, members had come from far and wide to attend this annual event, and we were pleased to welcome the now familiar face of Mrs. Petterssen from Norway, and also Mrs. Johansson from Sweden, who was attending for the first time. THE HEATHER SOCIETY After checking into our pleasant single room accom- modation, dinner was served in the main college building. We soon realised that we faced a weekend of abundant good food and excellent staff service. Following dinner, our Vice- President and Registrar, David McClintock, gave the open- ing address and noted that our chairman, General Turpin, was unable to undertake this task which normally fell to him, for pressing personal reasons. We were pleased to hear, however, that he would be able to attend and preside over the Annual General Meeting on Sunday. David McClin- tock then singled out our overseas visitors for a special welcome, and drew our attention to the fact that this very weekend the German Heather Society was celebrating its 10th anniversary. Although we had been unable to send a representative to Germany, a message of congratulations had been sent on behalf of all our members. Then followed the first ‘event’ of the evening, when we were surprised to see a large number of potted shrubs, most kindly chosen by Colin Tomlin of Starborough Nursery, brought into the conference room and placed, with num- bers but no names, on the stage. This was to be an informal and light-hearted plant identification competition. A few of the plants were unusual heathers, but most were other ericaceous plants suitable for planting in the heather gar- den. After our attempts to identify these plants, David McClintock gave their names and commented on points of botanical interest and the suitability of the plants for our gardens. The event proved entertaining and informative, and the fact that all the plants, which were very well grown, were available from the Starborough Nursery had more than a few of us asking for their whereabouts so that we could call in before departing for home. One of the heathers was an Erica manipuliflora, at present known as the “Max- well and Beale” clone, and our Registrar asked us to think of a suitable name for this so that it could be formally regis- tered and separated from other plants of this taxon that are, or will in future become available. Another heather of note was a Daboecia with upward pointing white flowers. This was ‘White Blum’, an example of D. cantabrica f. blummi. 6 YEAR BOOK 1988 and its very distinctive appearance suggested it to be a use- ful acquisition for the heather garden. The following morning, after a more than ample breakfast, we settled down to a talk with slides with Mr. Chris Lane, lecturer at the Hadlow College. He dealt with commercial nursery stock production, and how our garden shrubs (including heathers) were propagated in vast num- bers for the trade. The techniques of cuttings, seed, grafting and budding were covered and it was quite eye-opening to learn of the vast scale of plant production in the larger nur- series. He then took us to the nearby Hadlow College Court Lane nursery, where a wide range of heather, azaleas, rhododendrons, conifers and other shrubs are produced on a commercial basis, as part of the education and training programme for the students. After seeing the mouth- watering arrays of plants both rare and common, in excellent condition, we could testify to the quality of train- ing that the students receive. After lunch we travelled by coach in strong sunshine to the beautiful private grounds at Chelwood Vachery near Forest Row, owned by the British-American Tobacco Com- pany. Here we were greeted with coffee by Mr. John Battye, head gardener and fellow member of the Society. In a brief introduction to the 108 acre grounds, he informed us that the heather beds were planted in a most unusual way in order to cut down maintenance. Thus each was planted through a hole in black polythene, and the plastic then covered with a thick layer of gravel. The excellent condition of the heather beds, which contained more than 200 dif- ferent sorts, demonstrated how effective this method was. We were all more than delighted when Mr. Battye invited us to take any cuttings that we wanted, and needless to say we were quick to avail ourselves of this generous offer. The afternoon was then spent admiring the plantings, secure in the knowledge that any cultivar that caught our attention could be ours, with a little care and much patience. Other features of interest in these extensive grounds were the lily THE HEATHER SOCIETY pools, the bog garden, alpines, and rhododendrons, and the mature trees. Before departing, David McClintock expressed our gratitude to Mr. Battye and presented him with four unusual heathers grown by Tessa Forbes which even he did not have in his collection. As we left Chelwood Vachery the heavens opened, and we drove back to Hadlow in heavy rain, clutching our plastic bags of cuttings. The evening entertainment involved an “open forum’, in which we discussed any topic associated with heathers that took our fancy; and among other items, the Spanish E. mackaiana and the new species FE. andevalensis were commented on; and there was a brief update on hybridisa- tion experiments with heathers. We were then treated to an excellent series of slides of heather flowers in close-up taken by member Allan Hall. Although he used relatively basic equipment.the quality and detail of the slides were superb. We also saw very attractive line drawings of E. ciliaris ‘Stoborough’ and E. x williamsi “Gwavas’ made by Mrs. Johansson, and drawn with great attention to detail. The next morning we were all pleased to see General Turpin and his wife Cherry, who were able to spend a few hours with us. After the AGM, which was presided over by our Chairman in his usual efficient manner, we were taken on a guided botanical tour of the College grounds by David McClintock. We then found ourselves forced to make a dif- ficult decision, whether to take the coach to Wakehurst Place, or to make our way to David’s own house and garden followed by a trip to Great Comp. In the event we divided into two roughly equal parties and went our separate ways. At Wakehurst we had a pleasant, if slightly damp, two hours exploring these justly famous gardens. We then left a little early so that the coach could divert to Edenbridge and the Starborough Nursery. There we saw an amazing array of shrubs, many rare and unusual, at very reasonable prices, and when we left we were weighed down with plants and were much lighter in the pocket. The other party were treated to a tour round David McClintock’s unusual and 8 YEAR BOOK 1988 intriguing garden, and were then shown his library includ- ing the unique collection of writings on heathers, the Society’s herbarium containing more than 2000 specimens of heather, and the cards for 2000 hardy heathers. The party then moved on to Great Comp for a tour of the seven-acre gardens and woodland, constructed almost single handed by our members Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, where we were given tea. The two groups met again for dinner at Hadlow, and afterwards we convened in the conference room for the final open forum. There were many interesting informal dis- cussions, covering such topics as Callunas with bright green foliage throughout the winter (surprisingly few in number), E.cinerea with exceptionally long or short flowering periods, and the relative merits of the various golden foliage forms of E. carnea. The meeting concluded with an appeal from David Small for heather catalogues, which would be of great assistance to him in his computer compilation of sources of supply for heather cultivars. Winding up the Conference, David McClintock proposed a vote of thanks to Tessa Forbes for the tremendous efforts made in organis- ing this, her first Conference and ensuring its smooth run- ning: and needless to say the proposal received resounding approval from everyone present. So ended another relaxing and enjoyable weekend, spent among friends old and new in pleasant rural surroun- dings, with excellent food and nothing more to concern our- selves with than the weather prospects for the next day. For those of you who have never attended one of the Conferen- ces I can strongly recommend the experience. Have no fears that the proceedings may be too technical (or formal) for you; far from it — most of those who attend are ordinary everyday gardeners with a special fondness for heathers. All who attend are made very welcome, and you will have the opportunity to visit gardens of exceptional interest, some not readily accessible to the public. Next year’s Conference in Wales should be an experience not to miss, with accom- THE HEATHER SOCIETY modation in a majestic stately home set in beautiful grounds, and with many places of heather interest nearby. Why not try to be there? 3K 2 2K 2K 2K On Ist October 1987 John Battye took up an appoint- ment at Wisley, where he is now superintendent of Floral, Rock Garden and Battleston Hill departments, including the heather garden, and reference collection. Another of our distinguished members, Mr. J. D. Main, has left Wisley, where he was Curator. On Ist February 1988 he took up an appointment as Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Ed. 3K 2 2 2 ok How it Started: the letter from Sir John Charrington. A Heather Society During the past two years, in an attempt to reduce the tedium of some forms of gardening, I have planted a large number of heathers and have come to realise what an attractive hobby they provide. The wide variety, the pro- longed period of flowering, and the attractive colours, all make heathers delightful plants to grow. In these days, when so many people must be seeking to reduce drudgery in their gardens, I can imagine that the interest in heathers is becoming widespread. I wonder, therefore, whether it is time for a Heather Society to be formed. Such a Society would surely be of value to dealers in heathers, and if they could take the lead, I believe that an ever-increasing number of enthusiastic amateurs would come to realize the benefits which, through the formation of a Society, have accrued to the cultivation of so many other plants. Will anyone interested in the above proposal please 10 YEAR BOOK 1988 communicate direct with me at the address below? If suffi- cient response is forthcoming it is proposed to hold an ini- tial preliminary meeting of these interested in London. SIR JOHN CHARRINGTON High Quarry, Crockham Hill, Nr. Edenbridge, Kent. Reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, LX XVII (8), August 1962, p. 369 by kind permission of the RHS. Constance MacLeod and the Early Years Arnold Stow, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire No celebration commemorating the first twenty five years of the Society would be complete without an apprecia- tion of the enthusiasm and hard work of Constance MacLeod during the early years. I feel honoured that the task has fallen to me. For so many members she was the only contact with the Heather Society, being the Secretary from the foundation in 1963 until 1977. She also served as Treasurer from 1964 until Ist April 1973. The delightful 16th Century cottage “Yew Trees”, that has been her home for over forty years has received mail from all over the world including Japan, South Africa and the USA. When I visited in October 1987 a letter had recen- tly arrived from Anne Parris in Australia, formerly from Usk, Monmouthshire. 1] THE HEATHER SOCIETY Having only joined in April 1966 and not being in possession of Year Books prior to 1965 I asked during my October visit about the founding of the Society. As usual pen was quickly put to paper and Constance wrote: “One day early in 1962 my husband, reading a copy of the R.H.S. magazine noticed that Sir John Charrington had written enthusiastically about heather. As he and my husband had been at Haileybury together and we had grown a few heather ourselves they decided to meet at their club. The interest was mutual and Sir John said ‘of course you will be Secretary’. Not on your life’, said Donald. “You can ask my wife’. And so I became involved. Our first meet- ing, with a small group of enthusiasts, was held at Sir John’s office in London. It was not long before many members joined from within the United Kingdom, Ireland and the U.S.A.” Members recalled by Constance were Fred Chapple, John Ardron, a keen supporter of the Harlow Car project and other members who never served on committees, but who made the name of the Heather Society widely known, such as David McClintock who wrote A Guide to the Nam- ing of Plants, first published in 1969, with a second edition in 1981, and Mr. R. J. Cleevely who produced the indexes to the first two volumes of the Year Book. The notes from Constance concluded as follows: “In the twenty five years since the Society was formed we have sadly lost many of our early members. In particular I would men- tion P. S. Patrick whose picture and obituary notice appeared in the 1975 Year Book. Another staunch supporter we lost was Miss Kelham-Smith, but we are glad that her companion,they had taught at the same school) is still with us. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bowerman who were so active in our interests have died. It was particularly sad that Mrs. Bower- man who was to have been the main speaker at the 1985 Conference, died a few days before. Only in the last few days 12 YEAR BOOK 1988 have I heard of the death of Dr. Violet Gray. It was to her husband Dr. Ronald Gray that we owe the increasing interest to those glorious but difficult Cape Heaths.” On the subject of Cape Heaths it should be noted that Constance was born in South Africa and has a particular liking for them. She had met Mr. E. G. H. Oliver, co-author of Ericas in Southern Africa, several times during the two years he had spent at Kew, and when she returned to South Africa for a visit.in 1972, met him again. Her article on her visit “Heaths at the Cape” was printed in the 1973 Year Book. Earlier, in April 1968, Constance was in a party of twenty members that visited Western Ireland and her delightful reflections on the visit were printed in the summer Bulletin of that year. It was obvious that Constance had enjoyed Ireland. On the subject of David McClintock losing his glasses there she wrote “Could it be that the fairies stole them? Who knows? Did we see any fairies? Again who knows? Certainly none of us could have come back from Ireland untouched by something of its magic, whether it be the Connemara scenery, or the kindness of its people.” In April 1972 at the second conference held at Westham House in Warwickshire, I answered the call to assist the current Editor P. S. Patrick in producing the Year Book. Regretfully, and without any previous experience, I was to become full editor as Pat’s health deteriorated rapidly and I was on my own. Not really though, Constance was always ready to guide and assist and I dread to think what I would have done without her. Sir John Charrington wrote an earlier appreciation which appeared in the 1978 Year Book. I can do no better than to repeat these words written by him in June 1977, a few weeks before he died. “If a Society is to flourish, to the basic essential qualities of enthusiasm and devotion, its Secretary must add efficiency, organisational ability, time and 13 THE HEATHER SOCIETY energy to expend in attending meetings and generally keep- ing the wheels turning both before and behind the scenes. In Constance MacLeod I believe we had all these.” May I on behalf of Society members world-wide echo the words of Sir John, our founder and say, Thank You to our First Lady, Constance MacLeod. 2K Ae 2 2K 2k The First Twenty Five Years Daphne Everett, Bringsty, Worcestershire. Our Society came into being as a direct result of the letter that is reprinted on p. of this Year Book. During the 1960s Sir John Charrington and Mr. McClintock met frequently, due to their mutual involvement with the Coal Utilisation Council. Shortly after the publication of his letter, Sir John told Mr. McClintock that he did not expect that the Society would get off the ground. Despite this pessimism Sir John was very active in the period leading up to the inaugural meeting on 20th February 1963 at the Royal Horticultural Society, Vincent Square. Mr. McClintock did not hear of that meeting until Sir John came into his office immediately after it had taken place! During that period, Sir John had contacted Fred Chapple, who was well-known to heather enthusiasts for his book The Heather Garden. (Mrs. MacLeod has given some of her recollections of events before the Vincent Square meeting in the previous article.) The ground had been well prepared for the meeting on that snowy February afternoon, when the Heather Society came formally into being. The story of that meeting was recorded in the Secretary’s Report to the first AGM, which was reproduced in the first Year Book, late in 1963. Since many members may not have read the Report, I will quote from it. “......ten volunteers with Sir John as Chairman, 14 YEAR BOOK 1988 became the formative committee, Mr. Chapple, who was present, became the first President. On March 8th the first committee meeting was held and the Society began to take shape. We had from the first the valuable help on the committee of Mr. F. J. Stevens of Maxwell and Beale and Mr. John Letts of Windlesham. Our other most prominent member on the committee is Mr. P. S. Patrick, with his wealth of knowledge at our disposal. It is to him that the Year Book has been entrusted... We have as members many who have made a name for themselves in the Heather world, and we were honoured when Dr. Ronald Gray, Mr. B. C. Westall and the Earl of Feversham accepted Vice-presidency. It was with the very greatest regret that we learnt that Lord Feversham had died early in September. : From the beginning we have had the most cordial relations with the Press, both local and national, while the gardening periodicals, Gardeners Chronicle and Amateur Gardening have kept our name before the public. As a direct result of an article in The Sunday Times by Mr. Lanning Roper, fifteen new members joined within a fortnight. For all this publicity we record our grateful thanks”. 7 The first garden visits had taken place, work i 3d started on collecting a slide library, the first Heather Competition was to take place at the RHS Show on 10th and 11th March 1964, and the need for local branches was recognised. At the first AGM two new members, Mr. A. Paterson and Mr. H. L. Nicholson were elected to the Committee. Mr. Nicholson has served, without interruption, ever since 1964. On March 25th the Heather Societys AGM was again held at Vincent Square. By this ttme members were getting THE HEATHER SOCIETY to know one another. Gardens were being opened for other members to visit, and outings to places of interest were tak- ing place. Lt.-Col. D. MacLeod, the Society’s first Treasurer, died in July after a long illness, and his widow added his former duties to her own as Secretary. The Committee put on a display of heathers at the RHS September show. and were awarded a Lindley Medal. A number of people were approached to help with some of the more abstruse questions members were asking. A quick count of members put the number at approximately 215; 30 of them overseas. 1965 Membership had risen to around 350. The Society’s third AGM was held, like the previous two, in the Lecture Room at the RHS. A Midland branch had come into being. 1966 P.S. Patrick resigned as Editor of the Year Book due to ill health and was accorded the honour of becoming one of the Society’s Vice-Presidents. Mrs. Pamela Harper, who had been elected to the Committee in 1964 and had been acting as assistant editor took over from Mr. Patrick. The Book, The English Heather Garden, which had been started by his long-time friend, the late D. F. Maxwell, was completed by P. S. Patrick. It was published under their joint authorship in 1966. Dr. Ronald Gray died in March 1966, and was suc- ceeded as Vice-President by his widow. Dr. Gray had been especially keen on Cape heaths and collected these beauti- ful plants. A golden foliage Calluna raised by one of the foremost 16 YEAR BOOK 1988 heather growers of the time, J. W. Sparkes, was named ‘Sir John Charrington’ and presented to Sir John at a luncheon at Wisley on 30th July in honour of his 80th birthday. Mr. Chapple was invited to serve on the panel of judges for the heather trials at Wisley. Up until this year, apart from the Year Book, the only contact with distant members had been through circulars sent out by the Secretary. Mr. Chapple, supported by Mr. Ardron, was convinced that the time had come to extend these into “Bulletins” which should be more representative of members’ opinions, a Members Forum in fact. Sir John Charrington thought that they would detract from the Year Book. but he finally agreed to the suggestion. The bulletins were to consist of four pages and be sent out to members each spring and autumn. Most members would agree that the Bulletin has continued to do exactly what it was inten- ded to do. In due course Sir John himself admitted that it was a great SUCCESS. 1967 The first Bulletin was sent out in the spring of 1967. It contained, among other things, an introduction to a Mem- bers forum, inviting “anecdotes and chatty comments on heaths”. The Northern and Midlands Group (as it had now become), met at Harlow Car in April. This was a thriving regional group, with a membership of 175. Plans were in hand for an extension of the heather garden at Harlow Car, and members of the group were involved in this project with Geoffrey Smith who was Superintendent of the Garden at the time. Requests for cuttings were sent out, and Heather society members from all over the country responded with material. 1968 The Year Book Editor, Mrs. Harper, joined her husband 17 THE HEATHER SOCIETY in the USA, and P.S. Patrick took over the task again. The 1967 Year Book had been published in the autumn of 1967. The 1968 number was due to be published in the autumn of 1968, but it was so delayed that it was not issued until early 1969. After that subsequent numbers were published towards the beginning of the year. In April, several members went to Western Ireland, under the leadership of Mr. David McClintock to see Erica ' erigena in bloom. At the AGM on April 3rd, Mr. J. P. Ardron, Mr. H. Copeland, Mr. McClintock and Mrs. D. Metheny were made Vice-Presidents of the Society. This year there were three, eight-page issues of the Bulletin. 1969 The venue for the AGM was changed this year from the RHS to the Council Room of the Coal Utilisation Council in Rochester Row. The time of the meeting was moved from 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m., and the occasion was made a more social one, with tea and sherry organized by David McClintock. Attendance was much larger than in earlier years. The Society published the first edition of David McClin- tock’s Guide to the Naming of Plants. A copy was sent to all members free of charge. 1970 A joint subscription became available for the first time, at a cost of 30 shillings. The single subscription remained at one guinea, as it had from the formation of the Society. Due to the hard work of Mr. and Mrs. Bowerman, the Society was granted charitable status. It was no longer liable for income tax, and would indeed in the future, be able to recover tax paid by members on subscriptions paid by deed of covenant. 18 YEAR BOOK 1988 1971 This was a year of change for the Society. At the AGM on May Sth, Sir John Charrington announced that he was retir- ing as Chairman. The resignation had also been received of Mr. Chapple as President. Mr. Bowerman proposed that Sir John should become the Society’s second President, a post which Sir John “was delighted to accept”. Mr. Chapple was honoured with the title of Past President. Mr. Bowerman was elected as the new Chairman .. The Committee had shrunk to eight members in 1970. Mr. F. J. Stevens withdrew from it, but it was enlarged to 12 by the election of five new members. Up until now, the work at Harlow Car had been con- cerned with the enlargement of the heather garden and the recording of the plants. This year five plants of each of over 300 cultivars were planted out in rows on a half-acre field next to the Gardens. A group of volunteers spent the next five years checking and recording fortnightly, in rain or shine, details of height, spread, colour and flowering time of each cultivar, plus attending to weeding, pruning (three plants in each group of five). This was a sustained effort on the part of a dedicated few, painstakingly organised and directed by J. P. Ardron and V. J. A. Russ. At the end of five years recording, the result was Heather Trials 1971-75, com- piled by G. P. Vickers. Another memorable happening in 1971 was the Society’s first Week-end Conference. This was the idea of the energetic organiser of the Northern Group, John Ardron, and was held at Grantley Hall near Ripon, Yorkshire. Sixty-one attended, at a cost of £5 each. 1972 Following the success of the first Conference, the Com- mittee decided to act upon the repeated suggestion by Mr. Chapple and Mr. Ardron that the AGM should be held alternately in London and the provinces. The second Con- we THE HEATHER SOCIETY ference weekend (to include therefore the AGM) was booked for April 21st-23rd at Westham House, Barford, near Warwick. It seems that the abiding memory of some of those who attended is the dormitory accomodation and communal washing facilities. The number of members in 1972 was 880, and the name of Maj.-Gen. Turpin appeared as a new member in the sum- mer Bulletin. Mrs. MacLeod’s work load was lifted a little by the appointment of Mr. E. R. Turner as Treasurer, and Arnold Stow became Assistant Editor of the Year Book. On December Sth, the Society’s first President, Mr. F. J. Chapple, died. 1973 The third week-end Conference was held on August 17th-20th at Dartington Hall, near Totnes, Devon, but the AGM on June 27th was back to the RHS at Vincent Square. Recommendations were put forward by Mr. Alan Taylor for the Committee to become a ‘Council’, with five commit- tees (Finance and General Purposes, Publications, Mem- bership, Events, and Technical) being formed to divide the responsibilities. He explained the new organisation to the membership in the summer Bulletin. There had been an increase in membership, which stood at 1,000 plus, and there were now several thriving local groups, Northern.West of Scotland, Norfolk, Midlands and Weald. From autumn the Group News became a regular feature of the Bulletin. 20 YEAR BOOK 1988 A Cape Heath Group was formed at a Cape Heath Party held at the home of Dr. Violet Gray. A panel of people will- ing to lecture on heathers was set up this year. £100, left to the Society in Mr. Chapple’s will, was used to buy a hut for the Harlow Car trials ground, and a cumunucimorative plaque. carved by Peter Vickers was fixed to it. 1974 Mr. Prew, the Slide Librarian, and a founder member of the Society, died in January, and Mrs. G. W. Lee took over. A competition was announced in the spring Bulletin for a heather motif, suitable for use on the Society’s stationary etc. At the Conference, which was held at Stirling University from 9th to 12th August, two designs were selected from the 12 received, and the one chosen, by the late Mr. Ide of Cam- berley, is still in use. On October 2nd Mr. P. S. Patrick, founder member and first Editor of the Year Book, died, and Mr. Stow took over. 1975 Two new local groups came into being, Mid-Southern and South West. The former has since been renamed Southern. The Conference was held in the elegant surroundings of Moor Park College outside Farnham, Surrey. It was memor- able for, in addition to some excellent talks, almost inces- sant rain, which dripped rhythmically into buckets, strategically placed to catch it as it percolated through the roof. 1976 This year the Conference visited the Snowdonia National Park Study Centre at Plas Tanybwich, Maentwrog. 72) THE HEATHER SOCIETY For the last time, the AGM was held in London. Maj.- Gen. Turpin was elected to the Council, and Mr. Des Oliver became Distribution and Sales Manager for the Society. David McClintock wrote about the foundation of the Society and its activities in the October issue of The Garden (the Journal of the RHS), and Peter Vickers described the heather trials at Harlow Car. Heather Trials 1971-75 had just been published. An Erica cinerea called ‘Novar’, raised by Mr. A. W. Cadman of Woodside Nursery, Inverness, had the distinc- tion of being the first heather to be officially registered. 1977 This was another year of change for the Society. The President, Sir John Charrington, died in July at the age of 91. Mr. Bowerman said it was time for him to retire as Chair- man. The Treasurer, Mr. Turner resigned, as he had wanted to do for some time, but the resignation which probably caused the most change was that of Mrs. MacLeod, who decided that, having acted as Secretary for almost 15 years and Editor of the Bulletin for ten, the time had come to hand over to others. Maj.-Gen. Turpin became the new Chairman, Mrs. Pamela Lee the Secretary, Mr. Des Oliver the Treasurer, Mrs. Diane Jones, Editor of the Bulletin, and the general administration of the Society was entrusted to Harvest House, Reading. Mrs. MacLeod was made a Vice-President in recogni- tion of all that she had done for the Society. Mr. C. D. Brickell, then Director of the RHS Garden at Wisley, accepted the invitation to become the Society’s President. The National reference collection of heathers was planned at Wisley. 22 YEAR BOOK 1988 The Dutch and German societies, Nederlandse Heidevereniging ‘Ericultura and Gesellschaft der Heidefreunde, became affiliated to the Heather Society. Mrs. G. W. Lee resigned as Slide Librarian, and the job was taken on by Neil Brummage, the nurseryman from Norfolk. Mr. Stow, whose work was taking him more and more away from home resigned as Year Book Editor and Bert Jones took over. The Conference was held at Losehill Hall, the Peak District Study Centre, near Castleton from 15th to 17th September. John Ardron, who had organised the first Con- ference, had started the preparation for this one, but unfor- tunately he died on 27th July. In the event, Peter Vickers produced an excellent programme at short notice. 1979 From January Ist the subscription was raised to £3 single or £4 joint membership. The number of members stood at 1070. The Conference was held at the Dorset Institute of Higher Education, Weymouth, from 31st August to 2nd Sep- tember. From here we were permitted to visit the Nature Conservancy's reserve on Hartland Moor to see E. ciliaris and E.x watsonil. It was at this Conference that our American Vice-President, Mrs. Meteheny, announced that the Pacific Northwest Heather Society, which had been formed a year earlier, would affiliate with our own Society. 1980 Mr. Brummage resigned as Slide Librarian, and David Small took his place. The tenth Conference took place in Edinburgh, at Queen Margaret College. from where the fine heather garden at the Royal Botanic Garden was visited. By 1980 membership had dropped back to 920, possibly as a result of the rise in subscription the previous year. 23 THE HEATHER SOCIETY On January 12th, vandals broke into Harvest House and ransacked it, including the office where the Heather Society’s work was done. They started a fire, which gutted the room and a couple of others. Luckily for the Society, all cheques had been banked, and the records were stored in metal filing cabinets, so they came through virtually unscathed. Later, the Council reported that a decision had been taken , due to very greatly increased charges, to discontinue the arrangements with Harvest House. From September, a member of the Society, Mr. Ken Farrah, had most generously offered to take on the work of administration without payment. : The Society published the second edition of Guide to the Naming of Plants in 1980. 1981 That grand old man of heathers, J. W. Sparkes, died on 8th April. His contribution to heather growing was immense, and while we continue to grow Callunas such as ‘Peter Sparkes’, “Ruth Sparkes’, ‘Joan Sparkes’, “Beoley Gold’, ‘Robert Chapman’, ‘Sir John Charrington’ and many more, he will never be forgotten. The Conference was held in the Midlands, at the University of Loughborough. After the slight hiccough in 1979 and 80, membership rose to 1377, for which much credit was due to Ken Farrah’s enthusiastic personal letters to all enquirers. 1982 Founder member and past Chairman, Mr. Alfred Bowerman died on 22nd February, having given 20 years of support to the Heather Society. Mr. David McClintock received the Veitch Memorial Medal in gold from the RHS “for his scientific and practical contribution to botany and horticulture and in particular for his work in connection with heathers”. The University of Bristol published its Project Report 24 YEAR BOOK 1988 No. 2. This was entitled The Heathers of the Lizard District of Cornwall, and was written by Maj.-Gen. Turpin. In July David McClintock took Dr. Charles Nelson and David Small to see heathers growing in northern Spain, and also to study E. andevalensis,, which had been found in south-western Spain in 1974, and in 1980 claimed as a new species. David Small rigged up a mobile mist propagation unit in the back of his car. In this he inserted some 1300 cut- tings, many of them being rooted before the end of the 3,500 mile journey. The Conference was at the University of Lancaster. The computer-based cultivar enquiry service was announced by David Small in the autumn Bulletin. 1983 Another opportunity to see heathers in the wild occurred in August, when a trip to Ireland was organised by Dr. Nelson. Members from Germany, France, Spain, England and Ireland joined him for ten days of heather hunting. The Conference was held at the Falmouth Hotel, Falmouth, at the very favourable price of £53 per person. This was the first time the venue had been a hotel, and the prospect of a week-end in Cornwall, plus a very good pro- gramme drew over 80 members, the largest number ever to attend a Society Conference. Members were packed into the small lecture room provided by the hotel, but this was more than compensated for by the wonderful scenery and the chance to see E. vagans, E. x williamsii, E. ciliaris and E. x - watsonii in the wild., 1984 The Society’s hard working Administrator, Ken Farrah died on May 11th, and his widow Beryl, who had coped with all the correspondence during the time her husband had been in hospital, helpfully agreed to carry on in his place. a) THE HEATHER SOCIETY Wales was the venue for the Conference this year, at Cartrefle College, Wrexham. It was here that Dr. Griffiths first presented his work on hybridisation, a subject that has since caused considerable interest in the Society. 1985 ) The Conference was held at Lodge Hill Residential Cen- tre, Watersfield, West Sussex. On July 10th, Mrs. Bowerman died. This was a blow as she was not only due to give the opening talk, but was also going to show members round her garden at Champs Hill close by. In the event Maj.-Gen Turpin gave the opening talk, using Mrs. Bowerman’s slides, and her son and daughter-in-law very kindly insisted that the visit to Champs Hill should take place as arranged, as well as providing a sumptuous tea, and giving us each a plant of FE. cinerea “Alfred Bowerman’. 1986 Mrs. Beryl Farrah retired as Administrator, and Mrs. Anne Small agreed to take over the post from Ist January. Anne and David Small immediately undertook the self- imposed task of transferring the Society’s records from a card index to computer files. The Conference was at Tetley Hall, part of the University of Leeds. Part of the programme was a visit to Harlow Car to see, in addition to the Garden, the 15 year old trials field, and the newly planted reference collections of Calluna vulgaris, E. carnea and E. x darleyensis. The visit was appropriate. Mr. T. A. Julian showed the party the trial ground that he has looked after for over ten years. He was also responsible for the collections. This year he retired from the Council, but agreed to continue as a member of the Technical Committee. Membership was stable at around 1500, but subscrip- tions, which had remained static for seven years, were set to rise in January 1987. The new rates were set at £6 single and £7 joint, family or organisation members. 26 YEAR BOOK 1988 1987 The Conference was held at Hadlow College of Agricul- ture and Horticulture in Kent from 4th to 7th September. For the first time in many years Maj.-Gen. and Mrs. Turpin were unable to be present for the entire Conference, though the Chairman did preside at the AGM. Mr. McClintock chaired the remainder of the Conference. A visit was organised to Bracken Hill to enable those who wished, to see his garden, his unique collection of heather literature, the comprehensive card index of heather cultivars, and the “Society's” herbarium. The rise in subscriptions resulted, as expected, ina drop in numbers. At the AGM the Secretary announced that membership stood at 1350, but the Administrator assures me that it is once again going steadily up. Also announced at the AGM was the death of a former Treasurer of the Society, Mr. E. R. Turner. Three days after the close of the Conference, Dr. Violet Gray died. She had been a member of the Society for all but the first six months of its existence, and a Vice-President for 22 years. Looking back over the first 25 years, much has hap- pened since Sir John Charrington wrote his letter to the Journal of the RHS. Many people have given much of their time and energy in order to keep the Society growing and thriving. We are especially fortunate to have Maj.-Gen. Turpin as our Chairman; he and his wife Cherry put in a tremendous amount of work on the Society’s behalf: long may they continue. 27 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Progress by Members in Knowledge About Heathers Since 1963 David McClintock, Platt, Kent Looking back to what was being written about heathers in the earlier years of the Society shows how much clearer we have become in correct naming and grouping, and in understanding the nature of certain aberrations. This is quite apart from the progress which has been made in mic- roscope studies, deliberate hybridisation experiments, and the annual compilation of lists of literature references, per- sonal and geographical names (which no other society has done), and of sports and reversions. Plant hunting, both abroad and at home by members, has also helped. Much has been learned about the origins of cultivars introduced before the Society came into being. This is certainly not to suggest that there is not plenty more to do in such matters; and 25 more years on there should be a similar clarifying article, carrying us further still. Much of this progress has been incorporated into the two editions of our Guide to the Naming of Plants, 1969 and 1980, and here are some additional items. Andromeda 1. General Turpin showed in 1982 that the epithet polifolia here, and in Daboecia could not mean “with leaves like Teucrium polium,” as all the books said, but rather “with polished leaves”. Bruckenthalia 2. In 1984 f. albiflora was published for white flowered plants. Calluna 3. The double-flowered clones were listed and commented upon in 1977. Since then many more have appeared, which we are helping Herman Blum, our valued Dutch colleague, 28, YEAR BOOK 1988 to write about soon. However, it is often a moot point if a given sport on one plant in one place is the same as a similar one on another elsewhere; or, if it is. if it retains any really distinct identity. This is especially true of the derivatives of ‘H. E. Beale’ and of “Peter Sparkes’. 4. In 1979 it was shown that “Brachysepala Densa” was invalid as a cultivar name for either “Darleyensis’ or ‘Penhale’.. In 1984 it was verified that these were two distinct cultivars. 5. General Turpin did an important job in 1981 by setting out the three different forms of bud-flowerers, f. clistanthes. f. diplocalyx and f. polysepala, and showing to which form the various such cultivars belong. Much the commonest is f. diplocalyx. 6. Similarly in 1984 he usefully sorted the late-flowering cultivars, showing which were of f. multibracteata.. 7. In 1987 he treated the silver-leaved cultivars (var. hir- suta), grouping them by white or coloured flowers and by habit of growth. 8. The source of ‘Alba Plena’ had been guessed differently, but it now seems that it came from a sport on the moors near Oldenburg in NW Germany, found by August Lamken and introduced in 1934 by J. Bruns (not the big Bruns nursery). 9. The elusive finder of “County Wicklow’ was found to be Miss Meta Archer, the plant being introduced by Maxwell and Beale in 1933. 10. ‘J. H. Hamilton’ was always said to have been found on “Mount Maugham in Yorkshire”. Detailed enquiries failed to find any evidence for such a place, but D. F. Maxwell's daughter, Mrs. Rachel Tanner, recalled that it was found near Moughton, north of Settle, well before 1935 when it was introduced by Maxwell and Beale. Daboecia 11. f. albiflora was published in 1984 for white-flowered plants. 12. The only double-flowered plant of this genus known was found in 1978 by Dr. Charles Nelson in Connemara, and in 29 THE HEATHER SOCIETY 1982 named after its finder. 13. Four plants of D. cantabrica with erect flowers, which nobody had noticed before, were found in Holland and another in Ireland, all in 1983. In 1984 they were named f. blumii after their original finder. Then in 1985 it was dis- covered that another such had been collected some ten years earlier in Ireland, and is now ‘Doris Findlater’ after its finder. Two of the original Dutch plants are in the trade as ‘Pink Blum’ and ‘White Blum’. Erica andevalensis 14. This plant, newly described in 1980 from SW Spain, was visited in 1982 and its area of distribution importantly extended. Its white form. new to science, was named in 1984 f. albiflora.. F. arborea 15. The distinctions of ‘Alpina’ from normal plants were far from clear until General Turpin set them out in 1981. E. carnea 16. The arguments for retaining the specific epithet carnea rather than adopting herbacea were set out in 1982, and again in 1987. 17."Pink Spangles’ shown in 1979 not be to an E. x darleyen- sis, but to belong here. 18. Jack Stitt’ similarly by Bert Jones in 1983. 19. The finding of ‘Vivellit traced to Paul Theoboldt in Switzerland in 1906. It was propagated in his nursery in Wurttemberg in 1909, and named after the head of his for- mer firm, A. Vivell, a landscape architect of Olten. F. ciliaris 20. The value of separating glandular. f. glandulosa, from typical eglandular plant in grouping cultivars was shown in 1980. 21. Also in 1980 Bert Jones demonstrated that ‘"Globosa’ and ‘Rotundiflora’ (Norden’) were distinct cultivars. 30 YEAR BOOK 1988 22. In 1984 it was confirmed that the plants at Soussons Down in Devon had been transplanted from Dorset during the early years of this century. A record was also discovered of the finding of the species in North Wales at the turn of the century. E. cinerea 23. “Mrs. Dill’ found to have come from the Cullins about 1909, Var. kruessmanniana and subvar. depauperata published for imperfect schizopetalous variants. 25. Var. rendlei was written about in 1980. A number of fresh examples were found in 1982, 1983, and 1984, and a second commentary was published in 1985. 26. The “Splendid” Bell Heathers were discussed in 1982. 27. The first known British record was corrected in 1986 from John Gerard in 1597 to Clusius in 1576. E. x darleyensis 28. Artificial crosses made between E. carnea and E. erigena by Mrs. Parris in 1972. 29. f. albiflora published in 1984 to cover all white- flowered plants. E. erigena 30. “‘W. T. Rackliff proved to belong here, in 1979. 31. Dr. E. C. Nelson refound a specimen collected by D Llwyd “ex Hibernia” which predated by 130 years the for- merly accepted date for its discovery in Ireland by J. T. Mackay. FE. maderensis 32. This endemic species was visited in its own island in 1974, and also written up in 1981. E. mackaiana 33. f. eburnea published in 1984 for white-flowered plants. 3 THE HEATHER SOCIETY E. manipuliflora 34. Notes on this and allied species were published in 1987, a presage of more to come. E. lusitanica 35. The plant sold as ‘Louise Fortescue’ was found, in 1979, to be the normal form. E. scoparia 36. ‘Minima’ was shown to be the name for use for this small plant, and not “Compacta”, “Nana”, “Minor” or “Pumila”. E. sicula 37. The subspecies were discussed in 1980. E. tetralix 38. An example of the glandula form in the Linnean her- barium was selected as the lecotype of the species in 1980: the eglandular plant 1s f. eglandulosa. 39. f. racemosa was published in 1982 for aberrations with flowers not in umbels. 40. f. stellata was published in 1986 for plants with spreading or erect flowers. 4]. ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Morning Glow were shown by General Turpin in 1985 to be the same plant. Both are E. x watsoni ‘F. White’. FE. umbellata 42. f. albiflora published in 1984 for white flowered plants. FE. vagans 43. ‘Viridiflora’ was assessed in 1966. 44. In 1977 General Turpin found a plant which lacked both stamens and corolla. In 1983 he published f. anandra for this plant, which is now in cultivation. Sy YEAR BOOK 1988 E. x. watsonii 45. f. eglandulosa was shown in 1980 to be the name for plants differing from the typical glandular ones. 2K a 2 2k Growing Heathers in the Western Parts of Norway Mrs. E. B. Petterssen, Otervei, Norway Calluna (Ling) and Erica tetralix (Bell-Ling) are native to most parts of Norway, and E. cinerea (Purple-Ling) is a splendid sight on our west-coast islands. But heather has not been considered a garden plant, big and bright blossoms are more in demand. A catalogue may list five cultivars of E. carnea, but in practice just a few of them are available, and other Ericas are not listed. Some garden centres import a few E. carnea cultivars from Holland in spring and sell them, often only labelled as Spring-Ling (Norwegian for E. carnea), in full bloom. These are bigger plants than what seems to be the standard in England. They grow well here and a clump is quite often seen in a rockery or with spring bulbs. Catalogues may have up to five cultivars of Calluna, but they do not present themselves well at this time. In the autumn they appear in the flower-shops together with E. gracilis in big pots for use as decoration- plants. If planted in the garden they would have little chance of surviving. So planning a heather bed obviously has been impossible. As E. carnea do well here and are ideal for the small garden of today, and also go nicely with the dwarf Rhododendron and conifers popular at present, a new interest in the use of these with spring-flowering heathers is on its way with us, but we must have a wider selection of cultivars to make an interesting planting. Horticultural advisers, and a nursery, are working to present a limited, well-balanced variety of E. carnea cultivars in demonstra- 33 THE HEATHER SOCIETY tion plantings when a sufficient supply of plants are ready for sale. Asmall folder with advice is also planned. The keen amateur can obtain an import licence, but import regulations are very strict and transport a problem. The result is an expensive and poor-looking specimen if, or when, it arrives. Our climate is wet, with cool summers and mild winters. Temperature extremes of +30° and -30°C are rare, but an overnight drop of 10 to 15°C in the late autumn and winter is typical, and happens again and again. Growth continues all autumn, and it is not ripe when these frost spells start. While E. carnea copes well with this situation, other Ericas and Calluna weaken and need protection when winter hits hard. When to give a cover of spruce sprigs is difficult to decide. Will the frost last, or will it turn to rain again? A cover can do more harm than good. Spring frost in May might do down to -8 to 10°C, local variation is great. Average yearly rainfall in Bergen is 2100mm (about 82.5 inches), while the coastal islands with their Bell Heather might have about half that. To minimise the harmful effect of all this water it is essential to provide as dry conditions as possible. A solid rock garden, only planting in cracks, as nature does so well, would be best. I use gravel as a mulch. It keeps the surface clean, it dries up quickly, it makes it easier to fight slugs and snails, and the weight helps to prevent lift- ing of young plants by frost. My plants are tiny, cuttings taken in September are planted during May, and are prone to lifting the first winter. As the soil is acid, peat is only used to help a fast establishment by mixing a little in the soil when planting. Our share of sunshine is 1214 hours. Planting in full sun and keeping other plants in check is all one can do to make the most of the light. Our longer summer days compensate to some extent. During the winter the cover given will act as a screen against radiation on clear frosty nights, and also gives some shelter from wind during frost. 34 YEAR BOOK 1988 My own heather garden is on a south-facing slope, and was first planted in 1978, mostly from rooted cuttings from G. Yates. It was to be a natural planting to blend with the native Juniper, three Vaccinium species, Myrica gale (Bog Myrtle) and scarce native heather on the site. The first winter was a disaster, being the rare extreme one. A batch of cuttings, safe in the greenhouse, helped continuity, and over the years quite a few lessons have been learned. Plant young plants only in spring. Fast establishment is vital, as our growing-season is short, and an open eye on the needs of the first weeks after planting is very rewarding. Use a light, airy cover the first winter for all plants, and every winter for the tender species as late as I dare. A constant battle with snails and slugs, they destroy new growth at the base, and may encourage fungus. As for trimming, some more experience is needed. Summer-flowering heathers must be clipped very carefully, also due to the short growing season, otherwise the buds will not have time to open up before winter! The Callunas that have proved best are some early, single, green-foliage cultivars that have a low, yet upright habit, and ‘Tib’, ‘Alba Plena’, ‘J. H. Hamilton’, ‘Cuprea’ and ‘Aurea. The St. Kilda heathers seem promising — from our stay on Hirta last summer we know it can be equally wet there. Most E. carnea are reliably hardy. Bell-Heather is dif- ficult, but “Alba Minor’ and ‘Golden Drop’ have been good, and now some cuttings from native plants have performed extremely well. E. tetralix and E. mackaiana cultivars are very useful in the natural garden. ‘Alba Mollis’ and ‘Ruth’s Gold are the best, together with a white and a dark plant from the Falmouth outings, and of the E. mackaiana Hugh McAllister’s seedlings and ‘Wm. M Calla’ are the most robust. Of the E. tetralix hybrids ‘Connemara’, ‘Trish Lemon’ and ‘P. D. Williams’ have stayed with me for many years now. Daboecias are a favourite, and the hybrids seem to be hardier. A number of plants have been lost, but so far not all, and there are cuttings for replacements. I would save a5) THE HEATHER SOCIETY seedlings and use them as biennials if I had to. Most of my companion-plants are native ground cover ones, like Salix reticulata and S. herbacea, Phyllodoce coerulea, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Vaccinium vitis-idae and Andromeda, and there are some cultivars as well. Writing this in mid-October, the garden still has flowers to show, even if the late Callunas are no good here. The punctual buds of E. carnea seem to say with the poet Shelley “can spring be far behind”, and even when the tender plants get their dark green cover the buds will be in view to enjoy and one day, perhaps through white snow the brilliant flowers greet us coming home from a good day’s work. Growing heathers in my part of Norway has a very special peak of heather-joy when the first buds of Daboecia appear - itis almost as rare as a tree on St. Kilda. It reminds me of all the heather gardens visited in Britain and the helpful heatherfolk of our Society who have helped to make it poss- ible to grow heathers over here. Heathers in Sweden Brita Johansson, Vargon, Sweden I wish I could tell you about flourishing heather- plantings in Sweden, but I can’t. Heathers are rare guests in Swedish gardens, and are grown mainly by members of the garden society Sdallskapet Tridgardsamatorerna (STA). Most of its about 3,500 members grow some heather, but not many are specially interested in them. The poor interest in heather growing has to be seen in the sight of the poor interest in horticulture as a whole. Yet there are some special reasons why it is difficult to make heather popular. First, plants are not easily available. The best nurseries offer, on average, six sorts of Erica and six of 36' YEAR BOOK 1988 Calluna. Others have maybe three of each. One single nur- seryman with heathers as a speciality listed in 1987 14 Erica and 73 Calluna. His assortment had earlier been available exclusively to STA. People who buy heathers in their local nursery seldom get any advice on planting or treatment. They go home and put the plants on heavy clay at the bottom of a shady, north- facing slope and get disappointed and angry at “that rub- bish they are selling in the nurseries”. In fact it is very little known what excellent garden plants heathers are. We are used to seeing Calluna in the wild. It is one of the com- monest species in our country, but not many people have seen a double or a yellow-leaved form. Each year we are blessed by a stream of gardening books, but usually they pay no attention to Ericaceous plants other than Rhododendron. The Swedish heather book remains to be written, and at the moment I don't think anyone here has the knowledge and experience to write one, quite apart from the fact that no publishing house would venture to publish it. Many ofthe cultivars brought from Britain and the Con- tinent in the 1970s have proved less hardy, and that is another reason why heathers have got a bad reputation, and itis areason too why I am trying to growas many as possible to get an idea about what is worth growing here. That is a job I cannot do alone. I need help from other STA members, and to some extent co-operation is already established. In that work, cuttings received from members of the Heather Society and other heather-friends abroad have been very valuable and important, and I take the opportunity to senda warm thanks to all those who have generously shared their plant material with me. It would be easy to think that we have a lot of Swedish garden forms at least of Calluna, because that is wide- 37 THE HEATHER SOCIETY spread in our country, but we have just a few. Those who have deliberately sought for deviating plants in the wild can certainly be counted on one hand, so maybe we have a good deal to find on our moors and peat-bogs. Seedlings come up in our gardens, but less often than abroad, and as far as I know, no cultivar has arisen here in that way. The fact that a plant is collected from the wild here is unfortunately no guarantee of its hardiness, if it hasn’t grown there for a long time. Calluna in the wild is very often killed in spring when clear, sunny days are followed by severe night frosts. A lot of plants succumb and it is just Calluna’s extraordinary power of reproduction and unpretentiousness as to soil conditions that ensure its survival. Of the true heathers only Calluna vulgaris and Erica tet- ralix are native here, though Andromeda is very common all over the country, and Cassiope tetragona, C. hypnoides and Phyllodoce coerulea grow in the north. E. tetralix is limited to the south west, but Calluna goes far to the north, though its optimal area is on the west coastal side, where it formed in older times large Calluna heathlands. As in other parts of Europe with extensive Calluna moors, the plant has had economic importance and has been used for many pur- poses. Maybe we have to see in the light of that formerly common use of Calluna that strange idea, which is one more reason why there is in our country such a persistent dislike of Calluna-plantings in gardens. Calluna is for many people a controversial plant, because, brought into the house, it is said to bring poverty or death to the family, and that belief seems to be very wides- pread. No “lucky white heather” here. A Swedish journalist, Goran Jacobsson in 1977 did some research at the Univer- sity of Gothenburg about what he calls “the heather idea”. Jacobsson never uses the word “superstition”, and I don't want to either, because I am convinced that what is said about Calluna is based on realities in the past. Starting his 38 YEAR BOOK 1988 investigation, he had expected to find answers to the ques- tions, where, when, and why the heather idea came up. His work however, gave a poor result. In the literature he found almost nothing, and in the archives of ethnography not much more. All the information he managed to collect came exclusively from private people. He got no answers to his questions, and the facts collected were not enough to draw more than very uncertain conclusions. What I find specially hard to believe is his suggestion, that the heather idea should have been spread at about 1800 from a written source. An idea that is so deeply rooted can hardly have arisen from outside influence. Jacobsson put forward some hypotheses, of which the following seems to me the most probable. When in older times the harvests failed, scarcity of pro- visions forced people to bring Calluna indoors, using it dried and ground when baking bread. The small nutrient content with this plant made it no suitable food and left people (and cattle) underfed and susceptible to disease. Calluna got associated with death and poverty. It is hardly surprising if people felt it as a challenge to fate to bring that plant into their homes, if not forced by circumstances. I guess that the last word about the heather idea is not yet said, but no doubt that is a difficulty to overcome when try- ing to make heather growing popular in Sweden. My thoughts about what is possible to grow here are based just on my experience of our garden, which is situated at the south west corner of Lake Vanern, on the same latitude as the most northern part of Scotland. The lowest temperature reached during the last three winters was -25°C, and 25°C was reported many times. We had a good snow cover, 50 cm or more and lasting from December into early April. In 1985-86 the snow fell wet and heavy, and cold periods alternated with thaws, causing a very harmful ice layer round the plants. Though a number of heathers and other plants died, some pleasant surprises occured too. We lost no E. carnea or E. x darleyensis ‘Silberschmelze’ 39 THE HEATHER SOCIETY and ‘Jack H. Brummage’, grown for many years, are both excellent and reliable. “White Perfection’ looks good. Old ‘Darley Dale’ is not hardy — ‘J. W. Porter’ doubtful. The E. carnea cultivars seem not to differ much as to hardiness, except for “Springwood White’, which always suffers. E. tetralix usually looks miserable in spring but it never dies, and is in fact more tolerant of drought and soil condi- tion than its reputation says. The cultivars seem to be equally hardy. The hybrids with E. tetralix have got on well. We lost just one ‘P. D. Williams’ on pure peat. F. mackaiana and Bruckenthalia spiculifolia are some- times slightly damaged, but on the whole fairly reliable. Thatis not whatcan be said about E. cinerea, though the hardiness differs very much between the garden forms. Pretty good here are ‘Velvet Night’, ‘C. D. Eason’ and ‘Stephen Davis’, but they are unlikely to grow specially old. The same can be said about Daboecia. FE. vagans has proved unexpectedly hardy. I am always surprised to find them quite happy on heavy soil and in the shade. They grow very slowly in our climate and, once established ‘their ability to sprout from old wood keeps them going even if they suffer a little sometimes. There is probably some difference as to hardiness, but all of our ten sorts have not grown long enough to make a fair comparison. E. ciliaris is considered impossible in our country, but my two plants of Stoborough’ on pure peat don't know it, so they have grown for three years, looking shamelessly happy. which of course encourages me to try more E. ciliaris cultivars. Calluna vulgaris - the most interesting and my special love is at the moment represented in our garden by about 160 cultivars. Some have been discarded - new ones are con- YEAR BOOK 1988 tinuously added. Generally early-flowering plants are the most reliable. Late-flowering ones grow too late in the autumn to stand the winter, and for that reason all plants related to ‘H. E. Beale’ are less suitable.Fortunately there are other good doubles. ‘Alba Plena’ and ‘J. H. Hamilton’ have reached an age of 20 and 16 years respectively. ‘Radnor’ has been here just for a few years but I daresay, it is the best choice for Swedish conditions. It is a healthy and in all respects excellent plant. Dwarf cushion plants often suffer from too much moisture in the winter, even if planted high up in an open position. I tried last winter a layer of Leca-pellets (2-3 cm) underneath the plants, and for the first time a mature plant of ‘Velvet Dome’ escaped completely undamaged. Gravel is not likely to have the same effect because Leca not only drains but insulates too. Finally, Sweden is divided into provinces something like the English counties. Each province has a flower symbol, typical for just that part of the country. I guess I don't sur- prise you when I say that for the province where we live the flower is Calluna vulgaris! is Ik 2c 2c 2 Erica manipuliflora in Western Turkey Mrs. O. Hall, Itchen Abbas, Hampshire When at the Conference last year I mentioned that I was shortly going to Turkey for a holiday, I was asked by David McClintock and Bert Jones to note what heathers I might see. My husband, son, and I, first visited Istambul, and then hired a car. Our route lay westward along the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara, on a busy motor road, then across the Dardanelles in order to visit Troy. No heather was seen in these areas, and much of the land was cultivated. 4] THE HEATHER SOCIETY It was not until we reached Foca, a small seaside resort near Izmir on the Aegean coast, that we had our first sight- ing of heather. On the road above the town, leading into the mountains, we were alerted by a row of beehives set out under pine trees. We said “heather”, and there round the next bend was a familiar pink colour which signalled a large group of straggling bushes of Erica manipuliflora just com- ing into flower. There were also a number of bushes with gold foliage and faded flowers, while others were up to one metre tall. These were later identified by Kew as Hypericum empetrifolium. All were growing amongst pine trees, with Cistus, broom and dwarf oak, in a terrain of white, broken- up silicious; rock, dusty at the edges of the road, and at a height of 260 ft. as indicated by the altimeter which David McClintock had kindly lent me. We collected a number of specimens, including one of EF. manipuliflora carrying galls. We frequently saw E. manipuliflora after this as we drove southwards visiting various historical sites on the way, through mountains and across wide plains. We stopped twice to assist a tortoise on its hazardous walk across the tarmac. We recorded heather from heights of 1,000 ft. down to sea level, but it was seen most often between 300 to 500 ft. I did not see any E. arborea, nor E. bocquetii, despite making an expedition to Elmali, which ts given as its station in Volume 6 of P. H. Davis’s Flora of Turkey. This proved to be a fas- cinating, but eroded area of the Bey Daglai1 Mountains, where we reached 4.500 ft. and were above the tree.line, but there was no sign of heather here. On the way we visited Ter- messos National park (350 ft). In its small Botanical and Zoological Museum I was able to verify my findings with a pressed specimen of E. manipuliflora. The park guide-book has a note about the ancient city remains, some 2,000 years old, which are included in its domain, and of which it hopes “to prevent their demise at the hands of bushes and heather”. 42 YEAR BOOK 1988 Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, and where it was noticeably warmer, was our last stop. There we stayed at Lara Bay, 5 km east of the city, in a new hotel almost at the edge of the cliffs. On the cliff face, beside the path leading down to the bathing rocks, were E. manipuliflora plants, including the only pure white one that I saw. It was a neat compact shape, about half a metre tall, and with every stem in full flower. I searched the nearby top of the cliffs, but no heather at all was growing there. Not far along the road towards the airport we saw what may have been a planted group, being an “island bed” near an Official entrance. This was quite striking, in full bloom, dark mauve, nearly one and a half metres tall, and flourish- ing in very sandy soil. And so at 5.30 a.m., bearing specimens and cuttings, we took to the air, bidding a regretful goodbye to the moun- tains, sea, and fascinating world of Turkey. A Name for Erica manipuliflora with White Flowers David McClintock, Platt, Kent Until Mrs. Olivia Hall sent me in the autumn a specimen of a white-flowered Erica manipuliflora, | knew of only three printed references to such a plant, and had never come across a specimen. These three were in a Dutch translation by J. J. Hof of Girthoorn, of an appendix on ericaceous shrubs to a work by Franz Goeschke dated August 1901, p. 101 “Bloemen vleesch-kleurig to rood, ook wit”. The next came from A. Hansen in Die européischen Arten der Gattung Erica L., 1960, p. 22 “Korolla....selten weis”. The last is from Dr. P. H. Davis’s magisterial Flora of Turkey, Vol. 6, p. 96, 1978 43 THE HEATHER SOCIETY “Corolla white or pink”. I had also heard that David Small’s father had seen one in Dalmatia about 1978. The inference is that such a plant is not all that rare, but has escaped much mention or collecting. I have found nobody who has named this variant. Without a specimen no name could be published in my paper on The White Heathers in The Plantsman, Vol. 6, No. 3, p. 188, 1984. Now however, thanks to Mrs. Hall this can be remedied, so - Erica manipuliflora Salisbury forma albiflora D. McClintock, f. nova, differt a typo floribus albis. Holotypus ex Lara Bay, Antalya, Turkey, 1 October 1987, coll. Mrs. Olivia Hall, Hb. Heather Society. 2K 36 3 2K ok Book Review Heidegarten Lothar Denkewitz 356pp. 69 coloured photographs, 39 black and white drawings. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, 1987- ISBN 3-8001-6190-7. Herr Lothar Denkewitz has written a very comprehen- sive book about hardy heather, with sections on the wild habitat of heathers, and on heathers in cultivation with invaluable advice on how to grow them under different con- ditions. There are descriptions of the various species and hybrids and detailed lists of cultivars. He also writes about other Ericaceae and plants which make good companions for heathers. There are chapters on propagation, the selec- tion of new varieties, and the pests and diseases which attack heathers. In dealing with each species Herr Den- kewitz gives his own preferred selections, in addition to the more complete lists. YEAR BOOK 1988 The coloured photographs are of a high standard and have been carefully selected in order to give the reader a panorama of the best heathers. Black and white illus- trations have been used to good effect to show details of the different species and to provide designs for ane and other aspects of heather growing. There are a number of misprints, mainly among the cultivar names, but these will, no doubt, be corrected in later editions. To English readers one strange omission is Erica erigena, which is only referred to as one of the parents of E.. x darleyensis, and there is no mention of such good cultivars as ‘Superba’, ‘W. T. Rackliff and “Golden Lady’. Nor are E. terminalis ot E. x veitchii mentioned. But these are minor criticisms. I have enjoyed reading this book and I can warmly recommend it to anyone who can read ‘German. P.G.T. 2K 35 36 2K OK The Culture of Cape Heaths David Small, Creeting St. Mary, Suffolk In our 25th year, it is fitting to remember that among the earliest heathers cultivated in Britain were the tender ones from South Africa. In fact the collecting recording and growing of Cape Heaths started in the late 1700s. It was the time when many great botanists were being sent to the four corners of the Earth in search of exotic plants to adorn the conservatories and orangeries of their employers. As a result many called in at Cape Town for supplies of fresh food and water a..d were greeted by flower sellers who had gathered wild flowers from the mountains around Cape Town. The flower sellers 45 THE HEATHER SOCIETY used to guard jealously the places where they picked the more choice species as interest in these flowers grew. Even today some of these species have never been found. Such was the variety that several special expeditions were launched to find these and other wild flowers. Details of these early collections can be found in the article written by Barry Sellers in the 1982 Year Book.. Ruth Hayden also gives an insight to these times with her account of Mary Delany in the 1976 Year Book. Unfortunately, as the great houses declined so did the collections of Cape Heaths and it was not until after the second World War that any serious attempt at re-establishing a collection was contemplated. Perhaps the best known private collection was that of Dr. Ronald Gray who gave an account of how he started his collection in our first Year Book in 1963. In that article he says “Many amateur gardeners have been tempted by the beauty of the flowers, but like the nurserymen, gave up the struggle because of the high death rate”. Dr. Gray goes on to cite three main reasons why they are difficult to grow. 1. Hardiness. They are not hardy and must spend from late September to June in a greenhouse. 2. Watering. He states “He who knows how to water Cape Heaths can water any plant in existence”. 3. Difficulty of Propagation. Seed of only 12 species was available from the South African Botanical Society. Cut- tings were next to impossible as Dr. Gray had no-one with whom he could exchange material. Cutting material from South Africa, although possible, was of little help because cutting material taken in mid summer in the southern hemisphere would arrive in the depths of our winter. 46 YEAR BOOK 1988 So 25 years on, is the cultivation of Cape Heaths any easier? The number of species available has certainly increased with about 30 available as plants or rooted cut- tings and about 100 available as seed from several sources in South Africa. Satoshi Miwa, one of our Japanese members, gave an account of how to grow Cape Heaths from seed in the 1974 Year Book and Phil Joyner, one of our keenest growers of these plants gave an insight into how to pro- pagate them from cuttings in 1979. We also know much more on the watering of Cape Heaths thanks to Phil Joyner again. Linked with watering is the hardiness of them and John Moore gave information on this topic in the 1982 and 1983 Year Books. A Sakai and S. _ Miwa wrote on the subject in J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 1979, Vol. 104, No. 1, pp 26 - 28. Work that I have done also shows that some of the Capes are much hardier than was first sup- posed. Some of them, with the watering strictly controlled from September onwards, are capable of withstanding air frosts of -5°C although few will survive -10°C. Anyone contemplating growing Cape Heaths for the first time may be interested in knowing which available species are the easiest to grow. Erica gracilis is the most widely available Cape Heath and is seen in most Garden Centres and florists shops in November. It has masses of small flowers, magenta, pink or white. A great many of these plants originate in Holland or Germany where they are used as a decorative autumn bed- ding plant to be discarded dead in winter. The way in which they are grown reflects this view and therefore many of the imported plants die shortly after purchase. If, however, the plant is potted on immediately after purchase into a pot several sizes larger and the foliage is kept well watered for the first month, there is no reason why such a plant should not reward you with masses of flowers each autumn for many years. 47 THE HEATHER SOCIETY E. canaliculata is, perhaps, the next most widely avail- able and easiest to propagate and grow. This heath flowers in profusion in January with magnolia pink bells with dark brown stamens which give a dark “eye” to the flowers. It grows tall and will reach the height of the average greenhouse or conservatory in about five years. It is reasonably hardy being able to withstand -7°C frost, pro- vided it is kept on the dry side from October. E. cruenta is another heath easy to grow but not quite so easy to propagate. It has curved red flowers 2cm long in sprays of 30cm or more. It flowers over a long period bet- ween August and January but is usually at its best in Sep- tember. It is as hardy as E. canaliculata, and grows to Im in height. Finally one more and certainly my favourite, E. cur- viflora. It is a neat compact heath growing to Im with masses of sulphur yellow flowers 2cm long, reliably borne from August to December. In the wild there are several other colour variations which I would dearly like to get some day. The flowers are in such profusion that care has to be taken after flowering as the dead flowers usually cause fungal problems. These are overcome by removing them by tapping the plant and giving it plenty of air. So much for the Cape Heath species, but, like their Euro- pean counterparts, they too produce hybrids. Fred Esgate of Milton Hutchings has spent many years hybridising them to produce the majority of the E. x hyemalis that we see in the shops each Christmas. In April 1973 (see the summer Bulletin of that year) Mrs. Ronald Gray and the directors of Milton Hutchings threw a party for Cape Heath lovers where everyone was given a number of hybrids, several of which had not been named. I only have space to pick out one of this beautiful range of hybrids, so pride of place must go to ‘Limelight’. The lem 48 (puog AW -010Y4d) YAD WALD) AOSPULY, Ul SdaYyJDAY BULAMO], 4]ULY iety Slide Library) (Photo: Heather So ‘< ~~ v —) Ry s “a mM = 88} is 8 = 5S aS Ng >= je) ~ = > = 8 <= S aS = ” , oxhollow “““ L to R: Mr. J. W. Sparkes, Mr. H. L. Nicholson, Sir John Charrington and Mr. Peter Sparkes during the 1966 presentation to Sir John of the New Calluna cultivar bearing his name (1966 Year Book) Mrs. Constance MacLeod, Norwich, 1977 (Photo: Mr. F. B. Rice) Maj.-Gen. P. G. Turpin, CB. O.B.E. The Chairman of the Heather Society (1981 Year Book) WBN, WAS WF \Y; Y Sy VUES SSS Calluna vulgaris (Mrs. B. E. Johansson) The Heather Garden at Liverpool University Botanic Gardens, Ness in September 1982 (Photo: Mr. A. W. Jones) (uDine 'F CL “W :oloyd) 186] 4QUIUING U1 ADD MODE] ID Punoséy S]DIU], Soiaid0g AaYyIDAF] IY YEAR BOOK 1988 long sulphur yellow flowers are tightly packed in long inflorescences between December and February, making a fine shaped bush 0.5m high. It is reasonably hardy too, being able to withstand up to 5°C of air frost. In fact Jack London grew it outdoors for several years, simply placing a cloche over it in severe weather (1972 Year Book) and was able to enter it in the 1973 RHS Spring Show where it won the class for a vase of heather in bloom from 17 other entries. Hybridisation is not confined to these shores and there is a fine account of the work John Crewe-Brown has been doing in the Transvaal in the 1983 Year Book. So since the Society began, the knowledge of the culture of Cape Heaths has increased considerably thanks to our members, and maybe the next 25 years will bring success to the hybridisation of Cape Heaths with our hardy heather species so that we can grow some of these beautiful cousins from the southern hemisphere outdoors. A Letter from New Zealand Cynthia Aston, Taumaruni, New Zealand I am writing in reply to the comment following my arti- cle in the 1987 Heather Society Year Book. 1 mentioned among South African heaths I have grown, Erica parker, which you say is not listed in Baker and Oliver's Ericas in Southern Africa and is not known to you. I have done a bit of detective work, without very con- clusive results, but you may be interested. EF. parkeri was lis- ted in Duncan and Davies’ (New Plymouth) catalogue in 1964, and since then was widely grown. Mr. J. Rumbal of Duncan and Davies states “It is obviously of hybrid origin with flowers similar to those of E. bauera, but larger and 49 THE HEATHER SOCIETY longer with distinctly differing foliage. Other forms with similar characteristics are E. intermedia and E. gilva, but each having differing flower colour. I don’t knowif gilva is a species but it has similar foliage, and probably close affinity with E. parkeri. As to its origins and who it was named after, all I can suggest is a well-known New Plymouth nursery- man and plantsman of long standing, the late Fred Parker, whose outstanding horticultural ability was well-known locally”. A local garden centre also list parkeri under the name ‘Jubilee’, just to complicate things! I well remember “Parkers Gardens” in New Plymouth. Fred Parker grew the most incredible variety of all sorts of plants — a fascinating place, and one where interesting seedlings or hybrids could very well appear. [The contents of this letter also call for some comment. Baker and Oliver treat E. intermedia Klotzsch. as E. coc- cinea L. var. intermedia (Bolus) Dulfer, and E. gilva Wendl. as E. mammosa L. E. bauera and E. mammosa are in the section Pleurocallis, which has the characters that the flowers are axilliary and the corollas tubular, mostly over 12mm long. Those of E. bauera are 16 to 20mm long. The leaves of these plants are long and incurved. E. coccinea is in the section Gigandra, which has terminal flowers with tubular-inflated corollas and far-exerted anthers without appendages. The leaves are short and straight. E. coccinea var. intermedia and E. mammosa are thus not very similar. Peter Boyce of the Enquiry Unit at Kew tells me that E.x parkeri is probably validly published, but does not appear © in Index Kewensis or any of the standard reference works. Ed.] 26 3 2K 2K 2 50 YEAR BOOK 1988 Personal Names for South African Ericas. Part 2. David McClintock, Platt, Kent. As for Part | in the last Year Book, I am grateful to Ted Oliver of Stellenbosch for helpful comments. No-one else helped! lamarcku. J. P. A. P. de M. de La Marck, 1744 - 1829. x lambertia. Aylmer 8. Lambert, 1761 - 1842. x lawrenceana. pre 1841 lawsoni/lawsonia/lawsoniana. Sir Wilfred Lawson, Brayton Hall, Cumbria, 1822. leea/leeana. James Lee of Kennedy & Lee, 1715 - 1842. x lehmaniana. J. G. C. Lehman of Hamburg, 1792 -1795. leipoldtii. Dr. C. L. Leipoldt, collector, 1880 - 1947. leleupiana. 1957. lerouxiae. Miss E. Le Roux, finder by 1887. lichtensteinu. M. H. Lichtenstein, collector, 1780 - 1857. x leibigii. Liebig, Dresden nurseryman by 1843. x linautana. 1834. linderi. Dr. D. H. Linder, 1899 - 1946. lindleyana. Dr. J. Lindley, 1799 - 1865. linku. J. F. H. Link, 1767 - 1851. linneai/linneana. Dr. C. Linnaeus, 1707 - 1778. ‘Lobe’s Rot’ (gracilis) R. Lobe, Hartmannsdorf, 1883 -1953. loddigesii. C. Loddiges, 1743 - 1826, or G. Loddiges 1784 - 1846, nurserymen. loganii. J. D. Logan of Matjesfontein, Cape Province, 1931. x macnabiana. W. Macnab of Edinburgh, 1780 - 1848. (cf. nabea). macowanu. Dr. P. MacOwan, 1830 - 1909, Director of Cape Town Botanic Garden. maden. P. A. Mader, finder, pre-1905. "L. S. Manning’ (regia) 1976, of Sebastopol, California. ‘Marcelline’ (cylindrica). ‘Marguerite’ (cylindrica x wilmoreana). 1879. mariae. Mrs. Maria E. Galpin, d. 1933, wife of E. Galpin, 1858 - 1941. 51 THE HEATHER SOCIETY marlothi. Dr. H. W. Rudolf Marloth, botanist and chemist, _fin- der, 1855 - 1931. (cf rudolfi1). x marnockiana (hartnelii x retorta). R. M. Marnock, 1800 - 1889. massoni/massonia. F. Masson, 1741 - 1806. ‘Dr Masters’ (shannonii x retorta). By 1881. maximiliana. Maximilian Schlechter, 1874-1960, brother of R. Schlechter. (cf. schleckterii). | mertensiana. Inspector F. K. Mertens of Herrenhausen. 1764 - 1831. merxmulleri. Dr. H. Merxmuller of Munich, b. 1920, finder. x meuronu. Meuron, collector, pre-1939. ‘Klon Meurs’ (gracilis). Leo Meurs of Badburg, pre-1984. meyeriana. E. Meyer, 1791 - 1858. monsoni/monsoniae/monsoniana. Lady Ann Monson ?1714 - 1776, collector. monsorriana. Misprint for monsoniana. xX mooreana (linnaeana x _ retorta major). 1853, ex Turnbull. muirt Dr. J. Muir, 1838 - 1914, collector of Riversdale, Cape Province, medical practitioner. mundii/mundtiana J. L. Mundt, d. 1830, collector. X murrayana (aristata minor x vestita coccinea). S. Murray, superintendant of Glasgow Botanic Garden ? 1789 -1958. nabea. W. Macnab, 1780 - 1848, of Edinburgh (cf macnabiana). x neilliana/neillii (aristata major x linnaeoides). Dr. P. Neill 1776 - 1851, Secretary of Caledonian Horticultural Society. nestphalingu. Misprint of westphalingu. nevillei. Neville S. Pillans 1884 - 1964, collector (cf eustacel). newdigate1. Miss C. B. Newdigate, 1857 - 1937, of Knysa, Cape Pro- vince, collector. nietneriana. By 1872. (Rollison). niveni/nivenia. J. Niven ? 1774 - 1827 collector. oatesil. F. Oates 1840 - 1875, collector. oliveri. E. G. H. Oliver, b. 1938. Co-author of Enicas in Southern Africa. ottonis. C. F. Otto, Director of Berlin Botanic Garden, 1782 - 1856. x pabstii (colorans x ?). Pabst of St. Petersburg, 1857. pageana. Miss M. Page, botanical artist, 1867 - 1925. x parker. F. Parker, nurseryman of New Plymouth, New Zealand, by 1964. 52 YEAR BOOK 1988 parmentieri (cruenta). J. Parmentier of Enghien, 1775 -1810. patersoni/patersonii/patersoniana. Col. W. Paterson, 1755 - 1810. patersonit. W. Paterson of Hermanus, Cape Province, collector, 1926. x paxtonii. ? Sir J. Paxton, 1801 - 1865. pearsoniana. Prof. W. H . W. Pearson, first Director of Kirstenbosch, 1870 - 1916. (cf haroldiana). petiveri/petiveriana. J. Petiverc 1658 - 1718. ‘Pfeiffer's Red Lady (gracilis) P. W. Pfeiffer of Neu Ilsenburg, 1970. phillipsu.Dr. E. P. Phillips, Pretoria botanists, 1884 -1967. pillansu. Neville S. Pillans, 1884 - 1964, botanist at Bolus herbarium (cf eustacei, nevillet and sociorum). plukeneti/plukenetiana/plukeneti. L. Plukenet, 1642 - 1706. pohImanu. Pohlmann, German traveller, c. 1816. portenschlagiana. ? F. E. von Portenschlag-Ledermeyer, finder, 1772- 1822. porteri. H. Porter, collector, founder of Harold Porter Botanic Garden, 1883 - 1958. princeana. Frau Hauptmann Prince, finder, b. 1909. priori. Dr. R. C. Alexander, late Prior, 1809 - 1902 (cf alexandri). rachu. L. T. Rach, 1821 - 1859 regeliana. Dr. E. A. Regel, Director of St. Petersburg Garden, 1815 - 1892 rehmani. A. Rehmann, collector 1840 - 1917. rehmii. Prof. S. Rehm of Gottingen, finder, b. 1911. reineckeana. J. H. J. Reineck, 1779 - 1871. rinzil. ?S. Rinz, 1781 - 1861. robynsiana. Dr. W. Robyns of Brussels, b. 1901. x rollinsonia. Rollinson & Sons Nursery, Tooting. roxburghii. J. Roxburgh, fl. 1770's d. 1817. Dr. H. W. Rudolfii. Rudolf Marloth, finder, 1855 - 1931 (cf marlothii). x russelliana. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, 1865 -1939. sabana. Misprint for sebana. sainsburyana. A Mr. Sainsbury, by 1825. salisburia. R. A. Salisbury, 1761 - 1829. salteri Paymaster-Capt. T. M. Salter, co-author of Flora of Cape Penin- sula, 1883 - 1969. sander. E. Sander of Kitzingen, by 1828. savilea/savileae/savileana/savileia/savilliae. Countess of Scarborough. scaettae. H. Scaetta, finder, 1929. schlechteri. R. Schlechter, finder, 1872 - 1925, (cf maximiliana). schmidti. A. K. Schmidt, finder, 1931. ‘Schmittbauer’ (gracilis) W. Bayer, Rodgau, 1964. 53 THE HEATHER SOCIETY ‘Schmittbauer Dunkel’ (gracilis). ditto. scholliana. G. Scholl of Vienna, collector, fl. 1787 -early 1800's. ‘Lady Mary Scott’ (aitoni x jasminiflora abla). By 1880. sebana. A. Seba of Amsterdam, 1734 - 1785. shalliana. Pre 1838 (Hort Beislensis) shannoni/shannonia. ?Emily, Wife of 4th Earl of Shannon, 1832. sieberiana. F. W. Sieber, Prussian botanist and traveller, collector, 1789 - 1844. smithiana, Sir J. E. Smith, President of the Linnean Society, 1759 - 1828. sociorum. N. S. Pillans (cf pillansii) and E. S. Stephens, 1924. solandra/solandriana. D. Solander, Banks’s librarian, 1736 - 1782. sonderiana. Dr. O. W. Sonder of Hamburg. Co-author of Flora Capen- sis. 1812 - 1881. soulangeana. By 1864. sparmanni. A. Sparmann, pupil of Linnaeus, 1747 - 1820. X Spenceriana. 1856. sprengelii. ?C Sprengel,1757 - 1859. sternbergiana. one Sternberg. 1838.- storey1. 1882. stokoei. T. P. Stokoe, printer, collector, 1878 - 1959 (cf. thomae) straussiana. Obergartner Strauss of Berlin, 1911. x swainsonii. A. Swainson, by 1809. swynnertoni. C. F. M. Swynnerton, 1877 - 1938. symonsii. R. E. Symons, game warden, naturalist in Natal, 1884 - 1974. x synderiana (linnaeoides x prepandens). One Synder, pre 1882. x templea/templeana.Mr. Buckingham’s Heath, 1812. thode1. H. J. Thode, naturalist, itinerant tutor, finder. 1859 - 1932. thomae. Thomas P. Stokoe, 1878 - 1959. (c f stokoei). thunbergii. C. P. Thunberg, plant explorer, finder, 1743 -1822. totta. Hottentot. x turnbullii (aitoni x macnabiana) A. Turnbull, Head Gardener Bothwell Castle, 1804-1886. ‘Typ Geiger (gracilis). K. Geiger, Tagerweiler, Switzerland, in 1960’s. tysonii., W. Tyson, teacher, collector, 1861 - 1920. uhria. Someone called Uhr. uysil. Prof. P. Uys, a medical man, finder, 1972. vanheurckii. Dr. H. F. van Heurck, 1838 - 1909. varderi. R. Varder, 1918. vernonil. By 1846. x victoria. Before 1875. vilmorin. ?Error for willmorei. Gartenwelt 75/8. vogelpoelii. Dr. L. Vogelpoel, physician, collector, fl. 1967. ‘Oberinspektor Vorwerk’. W. Vorwerk of Dahlem, 1873 -1934. 54) YEAR BOOK 1988 walkeri/walkeria. Mr. Walker of Liverpool by 1818. X warszewitzii. J. von Warszewicz of Berlin, 1812 - 1866. webbiana. By 1859. wendlandiana. J. C. Wendland of Herrenhausen, 1755 -1828. wescotia/wescotil. 1844, Paquet. westii. W. C. West, finder, 191 ‘Wettley’ (gracilis) Wettley, 1913. whyteana. Dr. A. Whyte, 1834 - 1908. wildii. Dr H. Wild, collector, Chief of Botany, Salisbury, 1917 - 1973. williana (regia). Mr. W. Will. x wilmoreana/wilmorei. J. Wilmore of Oldford near Birmignham, 1838. wilsonii (tricolour). Seedling by 1846. ?John Wilson, gardener to Earl of Surrey. winteri. J. Winter, Curator, Kirstenbosch, fl 1986. ‘Wohnig’ (gracilis) E. & A. Wohnig of Breslau, fl. 1926. woodii. J. Medley Wood, botanist, finder, of Durban, 1827 - 1915. wyliei. J. Wylie, horticulturalist, finder, 1882 - 1947.- zeyheri. K. L. Zeyher, collector, 1799 - 1858. Personal and Geographical Names for Hardy Heathers — 7th Supplement David McClintock, Platt, Kent. The sixth supplement was in the 1987 Year Book. The originating lists started in the 1971 Year Book. Personal Names ‘Amy Backhouse’ (carnea). At Macpennys since the 1970s. ‘David Coombe’ (x williamsii). Dr. D. Coombe, Vice-master of Christs College, Cambridge, finder in 1976. ‘Devon’ (Calluna). Eldest daughter of David Wilson of Sardis, British Columbia, c. 1980. ‘Eleonore’ (Calluna). Anna-Eleanore, wife of finder, Becker of Borstel-Hahnenroder, Hamburg. ‘Diana’s Gold’ (vagans) Mrs. D. Lunn of Crail Nurseries, Nottingham, c. 1984.Julia’ (Calluna). (At Veldhuis’s nursery, 1987). ‘Evelyn Kirby’ (vagans) Mrs. E. H. Kirby of Iver Heath, Bucks, 1985. 55) THE HEATHER SOCIETY ‘Kramers Rote’ (x darleyensis). Kurt Kramer of Edewecht- Suddorfraiser in 1981. ‘Lily’ (cinerea). Mrs. (Lily) Evelyn. Richards, wife of Don Richards, 1980's. ‘Little Peter’ (carnea). Son of Kolster, nurseryman of Boskeep, pre 1987. ‘Jack London’ (cinerea). Heather Society stalwart, 1987. ‘Dorothy Metheny’ (x watsonii). Mrs. D. Metheny of Seattle, USA. Founder member and former Editor for the North American Heather Society’s Vice-president of the Heather Society. ‘P.L.C.’ (cinerea). Peter Lawrence Cunnington, Assistant Curator of Ness Gardens, c. 1970. (Illegitimate name, needing altering). ‘John Pook’ (carnea) Nursery foreman at Goscote Nurseries, 1975: ‘Rob Roy’ (cinerea). Robert McGregor (1671 - 1734), storied Highlander. ‘Stan’s Choice’ (Calluna). R. W. Reeves’s son, c. 1980. ‘Whitneyii’ (Andromeda) (Mon Jardin et ma Maison, Nov. 1987, p. 23). Geographical Names ‘Blueness’ (Calluna). The former Nesspolder in part of which Bakhuysen’s nursery at Boskeep is c. 1980. ‘Cornish Lime’ (tetralix). 1980 seedling ex Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall. ‘Creel’ (cinerea). Hill near Threave, near Castle Douglas, Kirkcud- bright, c. 1980. ‘Cunnereyensis’ (Calluna). Name of W. Goodwin’s nursery at Tan- sley, Derbyshire pre-1961. ‘Dorset Cream’ (cinerea) . S. English county, c. 1985. ‘Dunwood Splendour’ (x darleyensis). Barncroft Nurseries, Dun- wood Lane, Longsdon, Staffordshire, c. 1985. ‘Errigal Dusk’ (mackaiana). Mountain above L. Nacung, 1978. ‘Goldsworth Purple’ (Calluna). Sport on ‘Goldsworth Crimson pre- 1985. ‘Goscote’ (Daboecia x scotica). Goscote Nurseries, Crossington Leicestershire, 1983. ‘Plantarium’ (Calluna). Name of flower show at Boskoop, 1985. ‘Salland’ (Calluna). Part of province of Overijssel in which is Dalfsen where Veldhuis has his nursery, 1983. ‘Schatzalp’ (carnea). Near Shafthausen, Switzerland, pre-1987. 56 YEAR BOOK 1988 Amelioration ‘Forsteri’ (cinerea). No such plant. The label had got misplaced. 76 36 KK OK The Cultivars of Erica x watsonii Maj.-Gen. P. G. Turpin, West Clandon, Surrey. Erica x watsonii, the hybrid between E. ciliaris and E. tetralix, is the commonest natural hybrid of our hardy heaths and 1s likely to occur wherever the two parents grow in proximity to one another. It is comparatively common on the moors in Cornwall and Dorset where E. ciliaris thrives. It was first collected and recorded by H. C. Watson from Carrine Common, a few miles from Truro, in 1831 and named after the finder by George Bentham. The first cultivar name given to this hybrid was ‘Ciliaris Hybrida’, which was found by D. F. Maxwell in Dorset sometime before 1925. He admitted later that this was an unfortunate name, which he had bestowed too hurriedly. This was a typical form of the hybrid, with characteristics intermediate between those of the parents — flowers shaped like those of E. ciliaris, grouped in an umbel like E. tetralix, with short appendages at the base of the anthers, with leaves in whorls of four and with glandular hairs. Like most of these hybrids, the young spring growths are tipped with golden yellow with orange or red centres. The flowers are a pale lilac pink (H.11). Plants of the hybrid can be found in all states of intermediacy between the parents. mS Previously these hybrids were distributed under the general name E. x watsonii. In 1969, to conform to Article 19 of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, it was decided that a suitable name for the original clone would be ‘Truro’, near where Watson had first dis- covered it (first suggested by David McClintock in the 1965 Year Book). This cultivar has glandular hairs and large lilac pink flowers. 57 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Between 1924 and 1931 five more cultivars were named and introduced by Maxwell and Beale, all of them from Dorset. ‘Dawn’ was found in 1923 near the Wareham - Corfe Castle road and was named after a niece of H. E. Beale. It has darker flowers than the other cultivars (H12/H14) and makes a neat hummock covered with flowers. It has glan- dular hairs. ‘Gwen’ was found at the same time as ‘Dawn’ and was named after another niece of H. E. Beale. It has pale pink flowers (HB) and also has glandular hairs. ‘H. Maxwell’ was found by D. F. Maxwell and named after his father. It is taller than ‘Dawn and has slightly paler flowers (H11/H12). Its main difference from ‘Dawn’ is that the hairs are eglandular. ‘Rachel’ was found before 1929 and named after D. F. Maxwell’s daughter. It is similar to “H. Maxwell’, with lilac- pink flowers (H11). It also has eglandular hairs. ‘F. White’ was found east of Wych Common and named after Frank White, an employee of Maxwell and Beale, and introduced in 1931. The flowers are white with a pink flush. The appendages on the anthers are very small and some- times difficult to find. It is often necessary to examine several corollas, in order to detect them. It has glandular hairs. No fresh cultivars were named for enarly half a century until in July 1978 Mrs. Turpin found a pale pink-flowered plant on Silverwell Moor, near Truro, in Cornwall, which has an inflorescence like that of E. ciliaris. On examination it proved to be E. x watsonii, with appendages at the base of the anthers. In 1981 it was registered as ‘Cherry Turpin’, after the finder. It has long racemes of pale pink flowers (H8) and has glandular hairs. In 1979 a plant of E. x watsonii was found on Hartland Moor, in Dorset, during the Heather Society Conference, 58 YEAR BOOK 1988 which appeared to be almost white, with a pink flush. As it was similar to ‘F. White’, except that the hairs were eglan- dular, it was grown on in comparison with ‘F. White’. It pro- ved to be more vigorous and to have more brightly coloured spring tips than the older cultivar and in 1987 it was decided to register it under the name of ‘Dorothy Metheny’, of the North American Heather Society, who is a Vice-President of our Society and who was present when the heather was found. We still await the discovery of a pure white form of the hybrid and a darker red variety than the existing cultivars. ae KK OK The Yellow-Foliage Cultivars of Erica carnea A. W. Jones, West Camel, Somerset. Until the late 1960 s there was only one named cultivar of Erica carnea with yellow foliage. I now grow 12 clones, though four of these have only recently come into my possession. I know of a further three cultivars that are reputed to have this characteristic. In addition to these, seedlings with yellow foliage have been reported from time to time. However, it is probable that only three or four of the named cultivars are produced in substantial numbers in this country at present. ‘Aurea’ The first known such cultivar is ‘Aurea’. The earliest reference to it that has been traced is that it was known to G. Verboom by about 1928, but it was slow to get into circula- Sy) THE HEATHER SOCIETY tion. It was not mentioned in the first edition of The Heather Garden by F. J. Chapple in 1952, nor in the second edition of A. T. Johnson’s Hardy Heaths in 1956. As late as 1966, D. F. Maxwell and P. S. Patrick described it in The English Heather Garden as “One of the newer varieties”. I have, what appear to be, two clones of this plant, and there may well be more. Further information on this may become available from the clonal selection trials which are being prepared by the British Heather Growers Association. The better of my clones has a rather stiff, upright habit, the plants being about 30cm tall, and with a moderate spread. The foliage is less vivid than that of many of the others. In the late summer it is yellowish green, but in the winter the yellow becomes more prominent, and darker than that of the other well-known cultivars. In spring it pro- duces brilliant yellow new growth, which appears similar to that of FE. x darleyensis. This seems immune to the dep- redations of late frosts. In fact, it was for its summer foliage that ‘Aurea’ was given an Award of Merit by the R.H.S. in 1971. It is the most floriferous of this group of plants, carrying many lilac-pink (H11) flowers on tightly packed racemes, up to 6cm long, from February until April. I have counted 16 racemes, with about 15 florets per cm, passing through a S5cm x 5cm hole cut in acard. The flower buds, which have a pink tinge, and are said to be produced later than those of most E. carnea cultivars, give the plants a pleasant overall sheen in the autumn and early winter. The second clone is more prostrate, being only about 15 cm tall, and lacking the upright habit of the other. The tips of the branches appear more red in winter, but the general effect is rather dull. It flowers about a fortnight earlier than the other clone. 60 YEAR BOOK 1988 At present, in excess of 60,000 plants of ‘Aurea’ are pro- duced annually in Great Britain, but I do not know how that number is divided amongst different clones. There is a colour photograph of a good clone in bloom in Heathers in Colour by Brian and Valerie Proudley (pl. 23). ‘Foxhollow’ It is said that yellow-foliage seedlings occurred reasonably frequently in the Lett’s garden at Windlesham. In the late 1960’s John Letts selected one and named it ‘Fox- hollow’ after their garden. In 1966, in Hardy Heaths and the Heather Garden he described ‘Aurea’ as “The only Winter flowering heath with golden foliage”. Nor was ‘Foxhollow offered in his 1967-8 catalogue. However, it appears in the section on new introductions in his 1970-1 catalogue, less than twenty years later, the annual production exceeds 100,000 plants, putting it among the ten most popular heathers of any species in the nursery trade. It is among the most vigorous of E. carnea cultivars, smothering its weaker bretheren as well as weeds. The foliage is bright yellow with orange tips, that become more prominent when the plant is under cold or drought stress. There are good photographs of the plant in summer in Heathers in Colour (pl. 24), The Gardener's Book of Heathers by G. Yates (p. 85), and the second edition of Heaths and Heathers: A Wisley Handbook by F. P. Knight (p. 54) The new growth is regularly burned by late frosts here, causing the plants to be unsightly for about a fortnight. However, they have yet to suffer any permanent damage. It carries a few flowers between January and April. These open almost white and darken to shell pink (H16). 61 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Flowers of all shades between those two colours may be found on the plants at the same time. The sepals are slightly darker than the corolla. The late Joyce Burfitt wrote in a let- ter in 1982 “ ‘Foxhollow Corolla No. (sic.) 11 (H11) but not as dark as ‘Altadena’. Sepals stand away from corolla and a much deeper shade of No. 11.Corolla larger and fatter than ‘Aurea’ or ‘Altadena’ ”. The corolla is indeed larger than that of many other E. carnea cultivars, being 7 mm long. The racemes are up to 6 cm long, and have about 12 florets per cm. Only four or five pass through a 5 cm square. ‘Sunshine Rambler’ ‘Sunshine Rambler arose as a seedling in Mrs. Cowan’s garden at Farnham. It was introduced by Primrose Hill Nursery, Haslemere in 1971. In their advertisement in the Year Book for that year they described it as “...the brightest purest yellow all yeare through, and the fastest grower. ... this rapid spreader is a seedling of either Carnea or Darleyensis type”. It is, of course, E. carnea. I would not dis- pute the claim for the foliage, but it is certainly less vigorous than ‘Foxholiow’.. The plants are rather flat, and have a moderate spread. The flowers are comparatively small, being only about 5.5 mm long. The colour is somewhere bet- ween pink (H§8) and heliotrope(H12), and they are open bet- ween February and April. I have measured racemes up to 9 cm long, but the average length is 5.5 cm, with about 11 florets per cm. Twelve passed through the 5 cm square, and the plants thus appear well-clothed with flowers. I find the foliage can sometimes be burned by prolonged hot sun, but it is one of my favourite plants in this group. Unfortunately it is not produced in great numbers, and I know one nurseryman who has withdrawn it from his list due to its reputed susceptibility to fungal attack. 62 YEAR BOOK 1988 ‘Westwood Yellow’ A second good yellow-foliage seedling had appeared in John Letts’s garden in 1973. As he was then planning to go to New Zealand, he gave it to John Hall of Windlesham Court Nursery, who introduced it as “Westwood Yellow in 1978, and registered that name in 1982. The foliage is slightly paler than that of ‘Foxhollow,, and the orange tips are less marked. It flowers from February to April. The flowers are as long, but slightly narrower than those of ‘Foxhollow’.. The corolla is shell pink ( H16) here, with sepals of the same shade. Joyce Burfitt gave the colour as heliotrope (H12). The average length of the racemes is 7.2 cm, with a maximum of 9 cm. There are about 14 florets per cm, and seven racemes passed through a 5 cm square. It is thus almost as floriferous as ‘Sunshine Rambler’, and cer- tainly far more so than ‘Foxhollow. In the fourth edition of Pocket Guide to Heather Gar- dening, Yates described it as “A compact ‘Foxhollow ”, and suggested that it would be “A good companion for ‘Eileen Porter and ‘Cecilia M. Beale’ ”. He has probably changed that opinion. I feel that those two cultivars would be rapidly over-run by “Westwood Yellow’. Having grown it for eight years, I find it almost as vigorous as ‘Foxhollow’.. Over 30,000 plants are now produced annually. ‘Altadena’. ‘Altadena’ was found in Mrs. Godbolt’s garden in Crowborough in about 1973, and named after their house by her nephew Alan Taylor. He gave plants to David Small, and it was from David that I obtained the cultivar in 1977. It is a prostrate plant, of moderate size, with foliage that is nor- mally described as clear yellow, without a trace of orange at any time during the year. Here, some of the mature leaves do show orange on their undersides. In the 1979 Year Book (p. 48), Jack Platt commented on the pink and bronze tips of 63 THE HEATHER SOCIETY the foliage, and said it was slightly redder than ‘Foxhollow in winter. It blooms from mid January until April. The corolla is lilac pink (H11), with sepals between rose pink (H7) and light lilac pink. The mean length of the racemes is 5 cm, with a maximum length of 7 cm, and about 13 florets per cm. Six or seven racemes passed through a 5 cm square. The amount of flower is no more than fair. It has always been but a poor thing here, with far too much bare stem showing. However, on a recent visit to Wisley it was oustanding. It is possisble that it requires free- draining sandy soil to give of its best, and furthermore, that the absence of such soil may be responsible for the dis- colouration mentioned above. It provides an example of the often forgotten fact that some heather cultivars do well in one area and less well in another. “Tybesta Gold’ “Tybesta Gold’ was found as a seedling by J. N. Anderson on his nursery in Grampound near Truro in 1975. It first flowered in 1977. Mr. Anderson introduced it by 1980. The plant, which is of moderate size, has a rather flat habit, with lemon-yellow foliage throughout the year. It is, however, brightest in the spring, when the new growth begins to appear. The flowers are present from January until April. They open mauve (H2), but darken with age. The con- trast between flower and foliage colour is pleasing. The racemes are short, being about 3 cm long. They have about ten florets per cm, and eight pass through a 5 cm square. The amount of flower is poor. ‘Barry Sellers’ The plant which became ‘Barry Sellers’ was found as a a YEAR BOOK 1988 seedlimg beside ‘Aurea’ by Mr. Sellers of Chandlers Ford in the late 1970's. He gave me plants in April 1980. The plants are still compact, being 30 cm in diameter and 12 cm tall. The foliage is yellow in summer, but darkens to light orange in winter. The winter foliage colour is intermediate between those of ‘Foxhollow’ and ‘Ann Sparkes’. It blooms from mid January. The flowers open pink (H8) with cream sepals, and darken to a colour between deep heliotrope (dark H12) and light magenta (pale H14) with light heliotrope sepals. It is the deepest flower colour among the yellow-foliage carneas. The mean raceme length is 4.5 cm, with about 13 florets per cm. Nine racemes passed through a 5 cm square. The amount of flower 1s fair to good. This 1s a useful plant for places where limited space precludes the more vigorous cultivars such as “Foxhollow’. ‘Golden Starlet’. ‘Golden Starlet’ came from a deliberate cross between ‘Foxhollow and ‘Snow Queen’, which was made by Kurt Kramer in 1982. My plants came from cuttings I rooted in 1986, and can therefore only give my first impressions of them. It appears that they will be more robust than “Snow Queen’. The leaves are recurved and bicoloured. The shaded half adjacent to the stem is light green, and the outer half is a clear yellow. This gives a rather pleasant overall effect. Viewed from a distance the plants appear lemon- yellow. The foliage is brightest during the summer before the new leaves develop their bicoloured character. The flowers are white. General Turpin tells me that his plants came into bloom in mid December. It seems a most promis- ing addition to the list of FE. carnea cultivars. Kurt Kramer has a number of other yellow-foliage E. carnea from deliberate crosses. These are currently being grown on to find which are worthy of introduction. 65 THE HEATHER SOCIETY ‘Rosalind Schorn’ This is another plant with white flowers. It was found as a seedling growing between Aurea’ and ‘Springwood White’ by H. Schorn in his garden at Hellendorn, Holland, in 1981. He named it after his young daughter (b. 1975). It was introduced by P. G. Zwijnenburg of Boskoop in 1985. The new growth is yellow-green, but matures to a pure yellow during the summer. It returns to a yellow-green in winter, the habit is broad and spreading, but it is less virogous than ‘Springwood White’. It flowers during February and March. ‘Winter Gold’ William Parsons of Upper Woolhampton, Berkshire, had introduced ‘Winter Gold’ by 1981. It is said to bloom from January to April, and have pink (H§8) flowers. The spr- ing foliage is a bright lemon green, but quite early in the season the orange tips begin to appear. I look forward to a longer acquaintance with this plant. ‘Hilletje’ H. Verweg of Boskoop propagated a sport he had found on ‘Praecox Rubra in 1976. The resulting plant has greenish yellow foliage with faint bronze tips in summer. The bronze becomes more pronounced, and dominates the foliage colour in winter. The flower colour is similar to that of ‘Praecox Rubra’. In 1980 the plant was named ‘Hilletje’ after the wife of the finder. ‘January Sun’ I have not yet seen January Sun’. It was found by A. Berg as a sport on ‘Winter Beauty’ at The Nurseries, Dunton Bassett, Lutterworth in about 1973. It was listed by Bressingham Gardens in 1982. It is slower growing, and 66. YEAR BOOK 1988 more compact than “Westwood Yellow’. Presumably, the flower colour is similar to ‘Winter Beauty’. Jack Platt wrote in February 1983 that it was a deeper gold than any other foliage EF. carnea in his garden. Another plant which should be discussed here is “Win- ter Beauty Gelbe Form”, (Gelbe is German for yellow). The name appeared in the catalogue issued by Dietmar Rud- kowski of Wegberg, Germany, in May 1982, but I have heard of it nowhere else. It is invalid under Articles 30 and 31c of the International code of nomenclature for cultivated plants — 1980, since it contains more than the maximum permissible three words, and one of them is the inadmiss- ible “Form”. ‘Margery Frearson’ The tast of the named cultivars, which again I have not seen, was found by Mr. W. D. Frearson of Grange-over- Sands, as a sport on ‘Queen Mary’, some time before 1981. He named it in honour of his wife. There is some doubt in my mind as to whether it should be included here. Yates described it in The Gardener's Book of Heathers (1985, p. 85) as similar to ‘Aurea’, but with coloured flowers. In fact, the flowers are lilac pink (H11), and the plant blooms from January to March. Mr. Frearson himself wrote that the foliage was “yellow-bronze in winter, going green in summer’. Mr. Kingsford wrote in The Bulletin for Autumn 1984 “It is an attractive plant, compact and very floriferous; ... The foliage however seems similar to ‘Mrs Sam Doncaster and is by no means “yellow-bronze’. My plant unfortunately is not growing in full sunlight and I wonder whether this accounts for the lack of foliage colour”. Jack Platt says that his plants are dark green throughout the year. The variable performance may be explained in one of several ways. The original plant may have developed its 67 THE HEATHER SOCIETY coloured foliage as a result of some peculiarity where it was growing, and once removed from that sitaution it returned to its normal colour. The sport may have been unstable and the plants used for commercial cutting material have rever- ted to ‘Queen Mary’, or wrongly named plants may have been supplied. It will now be difficult to decide between these alternatives, as the original plant perished during the winter of 1981 - 82. Where possible, I have set down my own observations on plants I have grown for some time in one garden. The recorded experiences of others has sometimes been at varience with mine. Should you disagree with what I have written please tell me so. Few would want to grow all the yellow-foliage cultivars of FE. carnea. I have tried to show how the individual cultivars differ from each other. Amongst them it should be possible to find several, though not always the same ones, that are worthy of a place in almost any garden. 36 2K OK 3K OK Cultivars Registered During 1987 The Registrar 47. Calluna vulgaris ‘Sellingsloh’. A sport in 1983 on ‘Darkness’ with orange yellow-flecked foliage, noticed by J. Krebs at Hoyerhagen and registered by him. 48. Calluna vulgaris ‘Hoyerhagen’. A sport on ‘Sellingsloh’ in 1984 at Hoyerhagen with yellow foliage and paler flowers. Registered by J. Krebs. 49. Calluna vulgaris “Feuerwerk’. A very hardy 1983 seedling at Hoyerhagen. It is an erect compact plant with many-coloured young shoots and single pink-violet flowers. Registered by J. Krebs of Hoyerhagen. 68 YEAR BOOK 1988 50. Calluna vulgaris ‘Fokko’. A sport in 1983 on ‘County Wicklow’ at Hoyerhagen differing in its small compact habit and yellow- tipped leaves. Registered by J. Krebs. 51. Erica vagans ‘Evelyn Kirby’. A seedling in Mrs. Kirby’s garden at Iver Heath in 1985 and registered by her. It has Red-Purple 65D (H16 Shell Pink) flowers on long racemes. 52. Erica x watsoni Dorothy Metheny’. A plant found on Hartland Moor, Dorset during the 1979 conference, which Mrs. Metheny attended. It is like *F. White’ but differs in being eglandular and having brighter spring growth. Named and registered by Maj.- Gen Turpin. 53. Erica cinerea ‘Crimson Glow. A vigorous seedling at Bracken Hill, Platt about 1980 with long racemes of RHS Red-Purple T1A (H9 Beetroot) flowers. Registered by D. McClintock. 54. Erica ciliaris ‘Fada das Serras’, (Mountain Fairy). A plant collec- ted in the Algarve in 1983 by John Tucker, which he has found to be hardy. It is of tall loose growth with long racemes of RHS Red-Purple 74D (H11 Lilac Pink) flowers which last into December. Registered by Mr. Tucker. 55. Erica cinerea ‘Christina Payne’. Collected near Tintagel by the registerer G. A. Payne in 1981 and named after his daughter-in- law. It has Heliotrope H12 corollas with Cerise H6 tips, similar to ‘Stephen Davis’, the plant is earlier and more compact than ‘C. D. Eason’. 56. Erica tetralix ‘Pink Pepper’. A seedling which appeared by chance in soil from Wisley Common brought in about 1982 for a collection of insectivorous plants in the laboratory, Its pink flowers show up well against the white-speckled foliage. Shown by the entomologist there, Andrew Halstead, to D. McClintock, who registered it. 57. Erica erigena “W. T. Rackliff Variegated’. A sport on “‘W. T. Rackliff found in Guildford market in 1978 by Maj.-Gen Turpin. It has creamy white variegated foliage and white flowers. He registered it in 1987 after nearly ten years trials. Awarded a silver medal in Berlin in 1985. 69 THE HEATHER SOCIETY New Acquisitions J. Platt, Ulnes Walton, Lancashire (Jack Platt’s lists of new acquisitions have appeared in almost half our Year Books. The first was published in 1977, and there has been one every year since then. I do not know how many cultivars have been introduced during that period, but Jack has described 232, about 50 of which were of Dutch or German origin. Many of them are excellent plants, but only a few have become widely available. As usual I must thank David McClintock and General Turpin for providing extra information on many of the plants in this year’s list. Ed.) Calluna vulgaris ‘Asterix’ Aug. - Oct. This is a small plant with pale mauve (light H2) flowers. The growth is generally prostrate, but with erect stems. It was found a seedling in 1976 by Mr. M. van de Berg, in the nursery of a clinic at Bennekom, Ede, Holland, where he was gardener. It was named after one of the clinic’s buildings. (Year Book, 1984, p. 71). ‘Copper Glow 35cm _ Aug. - Sept. Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt found this as a sport on ‘Darkness’ on their nursery at Frensham, Surrey, in 1981. They registered it in 1983. It has mauve (H2) flowers. The colour of the pink new growth was thought to resemble that of freshly polished copper. The foliage matures to yellow-green, and turns bronze in winter. It is similar in habit to ‘Cuprea’, though more upright and vigorous than that cultivar. (Year Book, 1984, p. 69) ‘Gold Mist’ 30cm Aug. - Sept. This cultivar has white flowers. The foliage is green-gold in summer. The habit is similar to that of ‘Firefly’. It was raised by C. Benson. 70 YEAR BOOK 1988 “Old Gold’ The flowers of this plant are white and the foliage dark gold. It has a broad erect habit, and yet it is compact. This choice plant was raied by J. N. Anderson, of Grampound, near Truro. (The Gardener's Book of Heathers, 1985, p. 146). Daboecia x scotica “Goscote’ June - Nov. This cultivar occurred as a seedling at Goscote Nurseries, Crossington, Leicestershire, in 1983. It has dark green foliage and dark ruby red (Dark HS) flowers which are a shade darker than those of “William Buchanan’. It was registered in 1988. Erica arborea *Picos Pygmy’ 2m _ April - May Found as a 30 cm plant by Terry Underhill on the Picos de Europa in 1972. It has dark green foliage, and pure white flowers. The habit is more erect than ‘Alpina’, and it is very hardy. (Year Book, 1979, p. 59). Erica carnea “Golden Starlet’? 15cm _ Jan. - March The result of a deliberate cross between ‘Foxhollow and ‘Snow Queen’, made by Kurt Kramer in 1982. The flowers are white. The foliage is a pure glowing yellow in summer, becoming an attractive lime-green in winter. A first class plant. ‘John Pook’ 25cm Jan. - March White in bud, it opens pink, giving a bi-coloured effect. It is a strong-growing plant which was raised by D. Cox of Goscote Nurseries from a seedling found there in 1975. Itis named after the nursery foreman, and was registered in 1988. (The Plant Finder, 1987, p. 142) _ Erica ciliaris ‘Ram’ Sept. - Oct. The flowers of this cultivar are magenta (H14), and the foliage light green. The habit is compact. It was introduced by G. van Hoef of Boskoop. ale THE HEATHER SOCIETY Erica cinerea ‘Bojorrow June - Oct. A very slow-growing prostrate plant found near Kynance Cove in 1983 by Mr. and Mrs. N. Froggatt of Woodland Nursery, Garras, Helston. The flowers are amethyst (H1). ‘Jack London’ July - Aug. This plant occurred as a seedling in Jack London’s garden at Taverham by 1979. It is a slow-growing, and differs from similar cultivars in that it retains the yellow-green colour of its foliage throughout the year. The flowers are light mauve (pale H2). This choice plant was introduced by Denbeigh Heather Nurseries in 1987. Erica x darleyensis ‘Dunwood Splendour’ This is one of the tallests cultivars of E. x darleyensis. It carries a profusion of deep pink flowers. The spring foliage is tipped pink and cream. It was given to Mr. R. Warner of Barncroft Nurseries, Dunwood Lane, Longsdon, Stoke-on-Trent, by a customer about 11 years ago. (The Plant Finder, 1987, p. 146). Erica mackaiana ‘Errigal Dusk’ 60cm _ Aug. - Sept. A strong-growing plant with an upright habit. The flowers are darker magenta than those of ‘Donegal’, and barrel-shaped. It was found below Errigal in Donegal by Dr E. C. Nelson in 1978, and registered by him in 1984. (Year Book, 1985, p. 67) Erica tetralix ‘Cornish Lime’ 25cm _ June - Sept. The flowers are pink (H8). The base of the shoots are yellow, fusing into lime-green tips. These turn bronze in winter. When I found it on Goonhilly Downs in 1980 in foliage was a deep yellow. It is more vigorous than “Ruth’s Gold’. Erica vagans ‘Diana’s Gold?’ 15cm_ Sept. - Nov. This seedling, found in the gardens at Crail Nurseries some years ago by Mr. Lunn and first offered for sale in 1987, is very similar to ‘Valerie Proudley’. It is slow-growing, and the foliage is bright gold. Ux YEAR BOOK 1988 Crail Nurseries say that it has pink flowers. but mine have only borne white so far. It is named after Mrs. Diane M. Lunn. 28 OE KK Recent Writings on Heathers, 1987 Anon. Plante officinale Italiane. 3rd ed. Edagricola, 1986, p. 437. “L’Erice medecinale e le Calluna™, which is described. and its uses as a drug set out. Anon. “Heathering your beds”, Plants and Garden News, 1987, p. 10. 217 heathers given by Jim Cross to Brooklyn Botanic Garden, including “Springboard White”. Anon. “Just Imagine”, Practical Gardening, March 1987, pp 24 - 6. Our member, Dorothy Goode’s garden at Thorpe Bay, Essex. Anon. “Nursery shares its secrets”, Sevenoaks Chronicle. 1st May 1987, p. 20 Mrs. Tessa Forbes’s nursery at Plaxtol. Anon. “What compost for heathers?”, Horticultural Week. 19th June 1987, p. 27. “Heathers have been grown in a variety of com- post mixes”! Anon. “Daboecia, Une bruyére a grandes fleurs”, Mon Jardin et ma Maison, Sept. 1987, p. 39. Good, small, photograph and good, short, text. Anon. “Auf der Suche nach Enrica gracilis in Sudafrika”, Gar- tenborse + Gartenwelt, 1987, No. 33. The slender basis for the taxa of this species-rich area. Anon. “La Bruyére pour le couleur”, Mon Jardin et ma Maison. 1987, No. 342, p. 45. Brief note with a photograph allegedly of ‘Eden Valley.’ Anon. “Herbstputz in dem Balkonkasten”, Mein schener Garten. Oct 1987, p. 14. How to plant a window box, mostly with Erica gracilis. Anon. “Heather lost or missing — £10,000 reward”, Country Life. 29th Oct. 1987, p. 130. An award scheme “to strengthen the viability ..of heather uplands” by the Joseph Nickerson Heather Improvement Foundation. Anon. “Andromeda glaucophylla. “‘Whitneyii, une nouveaute a planter cet automne”, Mon Jardin et ma Maison, Nov. 1987. Pas: 15 THE HEATHER SOCIETY “Chez Allavoine, une petite arbuste aux fleurs printaniéres en clochettes roses, magnifique”. (The cv name is illegitimate). Anon. “Winter Heaths”, Practical Gardening, Dec. 1987, p. 30. Includes a fine photograph, chiefly of ‘“Myretoun Ruby’. Askjaer, SV. AA., “Bruckenthalia spiculifolia”, Haven 87, 1987, No. 9, p. 45. Good general account with a photograph of the usual pale plant. Beith, Mary, “A drop of the ancient stuff’, The Times, 28th July 1987, p. 8. Can Celtic heather ale be reproduced from the clues in a 4,000- year-old pot? Berdowski, J. J. M. and Zeilings, R., “Transition from heathland to grassland; damaging effects of the heather beetle”, J. Ecol., 1987, No. 75, pp. 159 - 75. A Swiss study from 1980 - 2. Grass can take over from heather defoliated and killed by this beetle. Blazek, A., “Ein Heidegarten im Hausgarten”, Garten, 1987, No. 7/ 8, pp 268 - 270. Brief, but OK and well illustrated. Bloom, Adrian. “Oldie but goodie”, Garden News, 12th Sept. 1987, p. 10 Eulogy of ‘Mrs. D. F. Maxwell’. Bohnen, Pauline, Flowering Plants of the Southern Cape, 1986- A guide to 760 plants. Plates 60 and 61 depict 31 Ericas, two of them unnamed. Bouma, A.S., “Ziekten en Erica en Calluna”, de Plantenbeurs, 14th Aug. 1986. Reported in Ericultura, No. 65, pp 11 - 13. Bramwell, D., “Contribution a la biogeografia de las Canarias”, Botanica Macaronesica, 1985, No. 14, p. 24 fig. 20, p. 27 (Published May 1987) The importance of Erica arborea in interpreting African biogeography; the map of it showing also fossil finds. Brickell, C.D. and McClintock, D., “Proposal to conserve Erica car- nea L. against E. herbacea (Ericaceae)", Taxon, 1987, Vol. 36, No, 2, pp 479 - 481. The case for not altering the familiar name, bolstered by the commercial importance - perhaps 20 million sold each year. 74 YEAR BOOK 1988 Brullo, S., Minissala, P., Signorello, P. and Spampinato, G., “Studio fitisociologico delle garighe ad Erica manipuliflora del Santo (Puglia meridionale)”, Archivo botanico e biogafico italiano, 1986, Vol. 62, No. 3/4, p. 201. Its very pecular secondary plant community in its sole Italian area., Darthuizer Boomkwerkerijen, Darthuizer Vademecum, 3rd Ed., 1987. This luxurious catalogue includes 111 Callunas, 15 Daboecias, 3 Erica arborea. 26 E. carnea, 4 E. ciliaris, 35 E. cinerea, 8 E. x darleyensis, 1 E. erigena, | E. mackatana, 2 E. x stuart, E. x stuart, E. terminalis, 12 E. tetralix, 11 E. vagans,2 E. x watsonii and 1 E. x williamsii. Edge, D., “Heathers are heavenly”, Horticultural Week, 15th Sept. 1987515: A riposte to “Woodsman” on 18th August (see below). Foss, P. J. Doyle, G. J. and Nelson, E.C., “The distribution of Erica -_ erigena R. Ross in Ireland”, Watsonia, 1987, Vol. 16, pp 311 - 32 i] A comprehensive and updated description with site maps. No mention of the sources of white-flowered plants or of any CVs. Gerhardt, K. and Friedrich, M., “Micropropagation of Calluna vulgaris ‘H. E. Beale’ ”, Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 1987, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp 137 - 154. Results of various culture media for microcuttings (1 - 1.5 cm) and shoot tips (0.3 - 0.5 mm). Gibbs Russell, G.E. et al, “List of South African plants. Ed 2, part 2” Bot. Soc. of S. Africa No. 56, 1987, pp 140 - 145. Lists of all the Ericas, some 632 species, 219 varieties and 89 syn- onyms, revised by E. G. H. Oliver, plus 26 references to literature. Gimingham, C. H., “Harmonising the winds of change, heathland ecology in retrospect and prospect”, J. Ecol., 1978, Vol. 75, No. 4, pp 895 - 914. His Presidential address to the British Ecological Society, December 1986, plus his photograph. Gormer, A., “Winter Colour, courtesy of Ericas”, Amateur Gar dening, 22nd Dec. 1987, pp 22 - 23. Good advice. Green, B. H. and Townsend, N. D., “Heathlandscape change and management at Hothfield Common”, Transactions of the Kent Field Club, 1986, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp 73 - 84. A good article, says Herman Blum. 75 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Haddon, Celia, “Garden of the month”, Sunday Express Sup- ple ment, 18th Jan. 1987, pp 44 - 46. An excellent account of Furzey Gardens, plus good notes from our Editor. Harig, R. and Kruger, U., (Careful application is needed in the use of herbicides), Gartenborse + Gartenwelt, 86/33, pp 1219 - 1224. The effect of various sorts on E. gracilis. Harig, R., “Correct calcium supply to Erica and Calluna” ibid, pp 1234 - 1235 ‘C. D. Eason’, ‘Peter Sparkes’, ‘Carmen’ and ‘Christina’ grown in 70% white and 30% black peat. Optimum substrate for E. cinerea pH 4.7; for Calluna 3.4 - 4.4 Harley, J. L. and E. L., “Mycorrhizal Check List”, New Ph ytologist, 1987, Vol. 105, No. 2 Supplement, pp 51 - 52. Annotated list of mycorrhiza associated with heathers by D. J. Read. Andromeda 7 references, Calluna 33; Daboecia 3: Frica cinerea 2; E. erigena 2; E. mackaiana |; E. tetralix 2: E. vagans 2. ; Hilliard, O.M. and Burt, B. L., “Notes on some South Atrican plants”, Notes from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 1985, No. 42 pp 240 - 246. Five new Ericas, E. albospicata, E. anomala, E. austroverna, E. caespitosa, and E. dissumulans. Hilliard, O. M. and Burt, B. L., Botany of the Southern Drakensburg, Kirstenbosch, 1987, pp 187 - 190. 23 species and two subsepcies of Erica keyed and described, plus photographs on PI. 23 of E. aestiva, E. dominans and E. thodie. van Himme, M., Bulcke, R. and Stryckers, J.. (Flower Crops), Medeling van het Centrum voor Onkruidonderzoek van de Riyksuniversiteit Gent, 1986, No. 44 pp 121 - 125. 1 kg Simazine and 1.5 kg Lenacil applied just before standing pot-grown Calluna out in the open, controlled weeds between, but not in, pots. Hodgson, I., “A heather haven”, Garden News, 24th Jan. 1987, p.13. J. & B. Gorman’s fine garden at Peterborough. Hodgson, I., “Stunners from the sunny south”, Garden News, 19th Oct. 1987, p.12. “For those who would like a bit of a challenge” - 8 Cape heaths listed. Howards, J., “Growing grandma's heather bed”, Country Journal (USA), Dec. 1987. Four illustrated pages about a garden on the Massachusets coast. 76 YEAR BOOK 1988 Hulten, E. and Fries, M., Atlas of European Vascular Plants, LX.XII. 1986. Plate 1445 Erica tetralix, 1146 E. cinerea, 1447 Calluna. Maps show distribution into Siberia and N. W. America — locations in the latter marked “not native”. Calluna noted as also in Mexico and New Zealand. Johansson, B., “Plantjakt 1 Vastergotland”, Tradgardsamatoren, 1987, No. 1, pp. 16 - 17. How she finds good plants in the wild, with fine photographs of her ‘Brita Elizabeth’ and “Swedish Yellow’. van de Laar, H. J., “Erica Carnea” ‘Challenger ~, Dendroflora, L987 No, 23. p: 87 An improvement on ‘Vivellii’, granted an Award of Merit at Boskoop. Lancaster, R., in Woman at Home, Dec. 1987, p. 13. Winter-flowerers with photographs of “Myretoun Ruby’ and ‘King George’. Lichtart, R.,“Dode Heid - Zure Regen”. Natuurbehoud, 1986, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp 106 - 108. McClintock, D., “Vresy a vresovce na britishkych ostrovech”, Zahradnictve, 1986, No. 12, pp 567 - 568. A shortish oversight of the history of hardy heather growing in the British Isles, mentioning “Britiska Spolecnost pro vres” - The Heather Society. McClintock, D., “A history of hardy heathers”, Hortus, 1987, No. 3, pp 55 - 64. Just what the title says. McDonald, D. J. and Oliver, E. G. H., “Erica barrydalensis - rediscovery of a rare species”, Veld and Flora, Sept. 1987, p. 101. Known previously only in 1923 and 1944, refound in 1986 in the Lemoenshoek district on the slopes of the Langenberg. Marr, R. H., “Studies on the conservation of lowland Calluna heaths. I. Control of birch and bracken and its effects on heath vegetation.”, Journal of Applied Ecology, 1987, Vol. 24, pp 163 - 7/5. Mature Calluna reduced, especially under dense bracken. Marr, R. H., “Studies on the conservation of lowland Calluna heath. II. Regeneration of Calluna and its relation to bracken infestation”, ibid, 1987, pp 177 - 187. Ui) THE HEATHER SOCIETY Methods of restoring degenerate Calluna heath. Minissala, P. and Spampinato, C., “Sulla prezenza de Enica manipuliflora con considerazioni sulla sue distribuzione ed ecologia”, Giornale botanica italiana, 1986, supp. 2, p 120. Goes with Brullo, S. above. Moore, D., “Heathland revisited”, Country Life, 17th Sept. 1987, pp 136 - 139. The Sandlings in Suffolk, with glorious photographs of heather. Naturforschende Gesellschaft Luzerne, Flora des Kanton Luzern, 1987. Dot map for Erica carnea on p. 269. E. tetralix has its only Swiss station near Entelbuck, probably introduced during World War 1, but now spreading. Nelson, E. C., “Calluna ‘County Wicklow ”, Irish Garden Plant Society Newsletter, 1987, No. 26, p. 4. Found by Miss Meta Archer, but perhaps propagated and passed to Maxwell and Beale by Miss Wynne of Avoca. Nier, H., (Peat application and pH of heathers in sandy soils). Groen, 1985, Vol. 41, No. 7/8, pp 32 - 35. After eight years of trials on Calluna, Erica carnea, E. cinerea and E. tetralix, peat markedly improved plant growth. Optimum pH 4.2. Philip, C., The Plant Finder, The Hardy Plant Society, 1987. Said to list 22,000 species and cultivars and in which of some 100 nurseries they can be had. There are 14 entries for Andromeda, | for Bruckenthalia, about 176 for Calluna, 38 for Daboecia and about 345 for Ericas. Prentice, I. G.. van Tongeren, O. and D. and Smidt, J. T., “Simulation of heather vegetation dynamics” J. Ecol., 1987, Vol. 75. pp 203 - 219. A computer model compared favourably with actual data over 19 years. Schmalscheidt, W., “Heideseminar in Bad Zwischenahn’, Deutsche Baumschule, 1986, No. 11, pp 434 - 435. Report on Seminar No. 5 with Kurt Kramer and others speaking. : Seabrook, P., “Pick of the week - winter-flowering heathers”, Amateur Gardening 14th Feb. 1987, p. 15. Not only winter-flowerers. “It is tempting to collect heathers like stamps”. 78 YEAR BOOK 1988 Seabrook, P., “Erica vagans”, Amateur Gardening, 22nd Aug. 1987, p. 9. Praise. Simmons, C., “Heathers”, Gardening Now, Dec. 1987, pp 38 - Al. Standard stuff with colourful, unnamed, pictures. Small, D., “Heathers”, Amateur Gardening, 19th Dec. 1987, p 21. Advice on planning. Starling, B., “Andromeda polifolia var. minima”, Bulletin Alpine Garden Society, 55 (1) No. 227, p. 70 and plate on p. 71. This variety of Nakai's said to include ‘Nikko’, ‘Kirikamina’ and ‘Shibutsu’. The AM provisionally awarded to Valerie Finnis at the 1985 Chelsea Show for “Minima” rather resembled ‘Shibutsu’. Straka, H., Heupler, H., Llovens, L., and Garcia, J., Guide to the Flora of Majorca. p. 23 poor colour photograph of E. multiflora; p. 79 poor b & w of E. arborea, said to grow on “decarbonated soil” — the text is in four languages. Strong, G., “Floral carpet’, Practical Gardening, March 1987, p. 38. Winter heaths, “12 - 15 million heaths and heathers pro- duced annually”. Tuxen, R., “Bibliographie phytsociologica syntaxonomica”. Leiferung, 1983, No. 37. Indexes references to plant associations, 6 for Bruckenthalia, 10 for Calluna and 38 for Ericas. Valdes, B., Talavera, S. and Fernando-Galliano, E., Flora vascular de Andalucia Occidental, Vol. 1, Ketmes, 1987, pp 454 - 459. Admirable keys, descriptions, drawings and distribution maps for Calluna, Erica andevalensis, E. arborea, E. australis, E. ciliaris, E. erigena, E. scoparia, E. terminalis and E. umbellata . Warner, B. G. and Chinnappa, C. C., “Taxonomic implications and revolutionary trends in pollen of Canadian Ericales”, Canadian Journal of Botany, 1986, Vol. 64, No. 12, pp 3113 - 3126. Measurements of tetrad pollen of Andromeda glaucophylla from Ontario and A. polifolia from NW Territories showed that the latter's is somewhat larger. Welch, D., “Studies in the grazing of heath moorland in north-east Scotland, V. Trends in Nardus stricta and other unpalatable graminoids”, Journal of Applied Ecology, 1986, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp 1047 - 1058. i THE HEATHER SOCIETY Nardus (Mat-grass) declines once Calluna’s mean height exceeds 15 cm. Willens, L., “Restoring City’s historic heather garden”, Newsday (NY), 10th April 1987, p. 31. Fort Tryon Park in Manhatten, opened in 1935, nearly derelict in 1970's, “the historic heather garden” restored since 1985. Whitsey, F., “Sweeping carpets of colour”, Daily Telegraph, 14th Feb. 1987. Winter-flowerers, with trivial errors. Whitsey, F., “Bonnie Heather”, The Gardener, Kagiseee 1987, pp. 22 - 25. Not as accurate as he should be. Winter, G., “The heather vanishes”, Country Life, 18th Aug. 1987, pp 72 - 73. “Heather in Britain’s uplands is... on its way to becoming an endangered species”. Wolff, J., “Heidelandschaft von Meisterhand gestaltet”, Mein schoner Garten, Aug. 1987, pp 102 - 107. Fritz Kircher’s Heidberg Hospital garden in Hamburg and its present Head Gardener, Norbert Graue. 180 different heathers there. Good colour photographs of various cvs. “Woodsman” (J. Street), “A horticultural trick?” Horticultural Week, 18th Aug. 1987, p. 14. Do heathers, “the success story of modern times”, deserve the attention they receive? Or is it clever marketing? Sticking his neck out. See D. Edge above. “Woodsman”, “Heathers of merit”, Horticultural Week, 4th Sept. 1987, p. 16. Comments on a few AGM Callunas. This list could be considerably extended by including articles from our contemporaries, Ericultura, Heather News, and Der Heidegarten.To these has been added since January 1986, the North-east Heather Society Newsletter (USA), which appears quar- terly. This Society is a chapter of the N. American Heather Society. Well over 300 sources have been cited in the 16 annual lists since 1970, but more help in hearing of any articles on heathers is always welcome. D. McC. 80 YEAR BOOK 1988 NURSERYMEN MEMBERS * Further details in our advertisements. We thank these members for the sup- port which they give to the Year Book. W Wholesale only W/R Members who cater for both wholesale and retail trade. Nurseries in this group, and the preceding one, welcome enquiries from other traders needing supplies. MO Nurserymen who are willing to supply plants by “mail order”. All other nurserymen members cater for retail trade only. ZONE 1. Scotland. W/R R. J. BRIEN, Pitcairngreen Heather Farm, Perth, Perthshire. *W/R Mr. and Mrs. G. W. CARTWRIGHT, Blairhoyle Nurseries, Blairhoyle, Port of Menteith, Stirling FK8 3LF. W/R Mr. & Mrs. BRYCE S. CRAIG, Carmyle Nurseries, Maxwellton Station Road, Dumfires DG2 9RL. W/R A. HALL, “Hallmark Heathers”, Rosebay Cottage, The Sneep, Mellerstain, nr. Gordon, Berwickshire TD3 6LG. W/R G. HALL, Achamore Gardens, Galloichoille, Isle of Gigha, Argyllshire PA41 7AD. W Maj. C. B. & Mrs. C. J. INNES, Inverliever Nurseries Ltd., Achahoish Nursery, by Lochgilphead, Argyllshire PA31 8PD. * D. A. LAMBIE, Speyside Heather Centre, West End, Skye of Curr, Dulmain Bridge, Inverness-shire. D. C. MacARTHUR, Camore Gardens, Dornoch, Sutherland IV25 3MX. *MO C. P. PIPER, Pennyacre Nurseries, Crawley House, Springfield, Fife KY15 3RU. W/R G. S. STURROCK, Angus Heathers, 10 Guthrie Street, Letham, Angus DD8 2PS. P. D. TARRY, Dah-Mhor, 37 Breakish, Isle of Skye [V42 8QA. D. H. TODD, The Nook, Annfield, Alyth, Perthshire PH11 8ET. W C.A. WESTON, Whitehills, Newton Stewart, DG8 6SL. D. W. WILLIAMSON, T. & W. Christie (Forres) Ltd., The Nur- series, Forres, Morayshire I1V36 OEA. W/R/ J. D. WILSON, Messrs. Oliver & Hunter, Moniave, Thornhill, MO Dumfries-shire. ZONE 2. Ireland W/R Mr. & Mrs. T. R. R. CARSE, Scrabo Nurseries, Glen Hill Cottage, 12 Ballyrogan Park, Newtownards, Co. Down BT23 4SD, N. Ireland. 81 THE HEATHER SOCIETY MO W/R W/R P. KANE, Kane Bros. Nursery, 92 Dundrinne Road. Castlewellan, Co. Down BT31 9EX., N. Ireland. Mr. & Mrs. D. KERINS, Fernhurst Garden Nurseries, Killowen, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Mr. & Mrs. J. MORRIS, The Locks Nursery, 25 Terryhoogan Road, Scarva, Craigavon, Co. Armagh BT63 6NF. M. SLEVIN, Model Nursery & Garden Centre, Horseleap, Moate, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. Zone 3, North East. ZONE 4. W/R Messrs. J. D. & S. M. LISHAM, Heighley Gate Nursery Garden Centre, Morpeth, Northumberland NE61 3DA. North West Mr. & Mrs. J. CURRAN, Rosedale Nurseries, Butchers Lane, Aughton, Nr. Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 6SY. T. FODEN, Foden Nurseries, Rowley House, Kemincham, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 8DX. R. HOLMES & SONS, The Nurseries, Natland, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7QC. Mr. & Mrs. J. KENNEDY, 3 Gretna How, Greina, Carlisle CA6 SOB. Mr. & Mrs. H. LAMBERT, 62a Chorley Road, Wingates, Westhoughton, Bolton, Lancashire. Mr. & Mrs. P. LOMAS, Middle Lane Nurseries, Middle Lane, Buglawton, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 3PU. P. J. NAISBY, Moss House Nurseries, Justicetown, Westlinton, Carlistle, Cumbria CA6 6AN. W Mr. & Mrs. P. NEWSHAM, Twin Acre Nurseries, Hulme Hall ZONE 6. *W/R/MO Lane, Allostock, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 9JN. Mr. & Mrs. R. G. RIMMER, Hinton House, Pygons Hill, Lydiate, Nr. Liverpool, Merseyside L31 4JF. Humberside and Yorkshire C. GRIFFITHS, Clifton Garden Nurseries, 50 St. Phillips Grove, Clifton, York YO3 6JPJ. G. P. VICKERS, 139 Swinston Hills Road, Dinnington, Sheffield, S. Yorkshire S31 7RY. East Midlands A. ANNABEL, Springwood, 22 Church Drive, Ravenshead, Not- tingham NG15 9FG. CRAIL NURSERIES Ltd., Newstead Abbey Park, Linby, Not- tingham NGI5 8GD. Mir. & Mrs. L. JONES, Heatherscaping, Linden Lodge, Station Road, Broughton Astley, Leicester. G. M. SALMON, Ash Tree Nurseries, 14 Shepherds Way, Unpingham, Oakham, Leicestershire LEIS 9PW. 82 WwW W/R ZONE 7. *W/MO W/R *MO W/R/MO W/R YEAR BOOK 1988 Mr. & Mrs. J. P. SWAIN, Thatched Cottage, Main Street, Burton Overy, Leicester LE8 ODL. H. J. TOMLINSON, Greenwood Gardens, Ollerton Road, Arnold, Nottingham NGS 8PR. West Midlands J. L., ALLEN, Green Beech, Oxleys Road, Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, W. Midlands B76 9PA. G. J. COOKES, Little Froome, 2 Drayton Lane, Fenny Drayton, Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Mrs. B. I. EVANS, Ridway Heather Nursery, Hoderley Farm, Horderley, Craven Arms, Salop SY7 8HP. Mr. & Mrs. M. EVERETT, Greenacres Nursery, Bringsty, Worcester WR6 STA. K. KISBY, Westhaven Nursery & Co., 6 Tythe Barn Close, Stoke Heath, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 3QP. Mr. & Mrs. A. E. LOVEYS, 83 Haycroft Drive, St. Leonards Park, Gloucester GL4 9XX. G. OSMOND, Archfield Nursery, Wickwar, Wootton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire GL12 8NA. Mr. & Mrs. M. N. STREATER, Tunnel Lane Nursery, Orleton, Nr. Ludlow, Shropshire ST8 4HY. Mr. & Mrs. R. WARNER, Barncroft Nurseries, Dunwood Lane, Longsdon, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST9 9QW. Mrs. H. WARREN, Conifers, 10 Outwoods Street, Burton-on- Trent, Staffordshire DE14 2PJ. . Wales J. D. M. FORD, Beacons Nurseries, Hilltop, Sunnybank, Brecon, Powys LD3 7RW. . Eastern Mr. & Mrs. B. J. BOSLEY, B. J. & C. Heathers, Pandora, Elsing Road, Lyng, Norwich, Norfolk NR9 SRP. CHRIS BOWERS & SONS, Whispering Tree Nursery, Wim- botsham, Norfolk PE34 8BQ. Mr. & Mrs. A. G. CLARKE, Birch Lodge, Anchor Lane, Canewdon, Rochford, Essex SS4 3PB. Mr. & Mrs. G. J. DYER, 86 Goshawk Drive, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 8XP Mr. & Mrs. B. A. GODFREY, Bridge Nurseries, Dunwich, Nr. Saxmundham, Suffolk IP17 3DZ. Mr. & Mrs. B. F. HIPPERSON, Norwich Heather & Conifer Centre, 54a Yarmouth Road, Thorpe, Norwich, Norfolk IP21 4QP. Mr. & Mrs. H. B. OAKES, The Nurseries, Pulham St. rary, Diss, Norfolk IP21 4QQ. 83 THE HEATHER SOCIETY W Mrs. P. RODWELL, Upminster Lodge Nurseries, Tomkyns Lane, Upminster, Essex RM14 1TP. *W/R/MO Mr. & Mrs. D. J. SMALL, Denbeigh Heather Nurseries, All Saints Road, Creeting St. Mary, Ipswich, Suffolk IP6 8PJ. W/R Mr. & Mrs. M. J. STTUTT, Woodland Nursery, Gardiners Lane, North Cray Hill, Billericay, Essex CM11 2XE. Mr. & Mrs. c. J. WHITAKER, 51 Gilmore Way, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 7AP. W/R Mr. & Mrs. S. B. YOUENS, The Gardens, Holkham Park, Wells- next-the-Sea, Norfolk NR23 1AB. ZONE 10, North Thames W/R Mr. & Mrs. D. O. CHANDLER, Aldenham Heather Nursery, Round Bush, Aldenham, Watford, Hertfordshire. W/R S. CHEETHAM, Askett Nurseries, Flowery Field, Askett, Ayles- bury, Buckinghamshire HP17 9LY. W/R D. & P. GARDENS, 95 Elphinstone Road, Walthamstow, London E17 5EY. ZONE 11. Southern Mr. & Mrs. J. FRANCIS, The Nursery, 37 Stone Lane, Worthing, W. Sussex, BN13 2BG. “W/R/MO PLAXTOL NURSERIES, Spoute Cottage, Plaxtol, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0QR. W/R H. F. TAIT, 11 Water Slippe, Hadlow, Tonbridge, Kent TN11 OEP.- W/R Mr. & Mrs. B. J. THORPE, Strikers Nursery, Stilland Farm, Chid- dingford, Godalming, Surrey GU8 4SX Mr. & Mrs. G. A. WALTERS, 8 Barn Crescent, Newbury, Berkshire. RG14 6HD. *W WINDLESHAM COURT NURSERIES, London Road (A30), Windlesham, Surrey. ZONE 12. South West W/R Mr. & Mrs. D. CHALK, Polden Acres Gardens, Edington, Bridgwater, Somerset TA7 9HA. W Mr. & Mrs. D. M. EDGE, Forest Edge Nursery, Verwood Roa’ Woodlands, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 6LJ. * FURZEY GARDENS, Minstead, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO4 7GL. HEATHERWOOD NURSERIES, Merley Park Road, Wimborne, Dorset. W/R/MO D. G. JOHN, 366 Wallisdown Road, Bournemouth, Dorset BH11 8PS. *W/R/MO Mrs. D. H. JONES, Otters Court Heathers, West Camel, Nr. Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7QF. 84 ~W/R/MO Ww YEAR BOOK 1988 Mr. & Mrs. R. S. KEW, 10 Beechen Drive, Fishponds, Bristol BS16 4DQ. Mr. & Mrs. R. KOERPER, Battle House Gardens, Bromham, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 2EX. NAKED CROSS NURSERIES, Waterloo Road, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset. Mr. and Mrs. D. K. PRICE, Orchardleigh Nursery, Botley Road, Bishops Waltham, Hampshire SO3 1DR. Mr. & Mrs. H. PRINGLE, 166 Woodlands Road, Ashurst, Southampton SO4 2AP. Mr. & Mrs. A. J. SELFE, Copperfield, Chatter Alley, Dogmersfield, Basingstoke, Hampshire. Mr. & Mrs. F. WHYMARK, 2 Heath Villas, Hollywater, Borden, Hampshire, GU35 OAH. ZONE 13, Far West. *W/R W/R/MO W/R W/R BERRYDOWN PRODUCTS Litd., “Berrydown”, Gidleigh, Nr. Chagford, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 8HS. Mr. & Mrs. N. FROGGATT, Woodland Nursery, Garras, Helston, Cornwall, TR12 6LN Mr. & Mrs. C. IVENS, Trewince Nurseries, Trewince Lane, St. Issey, Cornwall PL27 7RL. Mr. & Mrs. R. A. NOYCE, Watering Lane Nursery, Pentewan, St. Austell, Cornwall PL26 6BE. ZONE 14. Overseas. W/R W W/R K. W. AYERS, P. O. Box 40, Orland, Maine, USA 04472. Mr. & Mrs. J. BYWATER, 22 Winchester Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3P 2C8. Mrs. R. M. KNIGHT, Heather Acres Inc., 62 Elma-Monte Road, Elma, Wa. 98541, USA. K. KRAMER, Edammer Strasse 26, 2905 Edewecht-Suddorf, West Germany. RAES PASCAL, Middelweg 55, 3030 Heverlee, Belgium. H. ESTERMANN, D-3045 Bispingen, Baumschulenweg 2, West Germany. D. WILSON, 6227 Hopedale Road, Sardis B.C., V2R_ 1B3, Canada. 2K Kk ok LOCAL ORGANISERS ZONE 2. Ireland. Mrs. E. CLAVERT, Mimos, 10 Manse Road, Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland BT23 4TP. 85 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Mrs. J. M. S. McCOLLUM, The Orchard, Lucan, Co. Dublin, Ireland. ZONE 3. North East. Mrs. D. M. WARNER, “Littlecroft”, Ponteland, Newcastle-on-Tyne NE20 9BQ. ZONE 4. Merseyside Mr. R. H. P. PICKERING, 19 Bushby Park, Formby, Liverpool 137 2EE: ZONE 5. Yorkshire Dr. K. C. BARRACLOUGH, 19 Park Avenue, Chapeltown, Shef- field S30 4WH. (Hon. Secretary/Treasurer of the Heather Group of the Northern Horticultural Society, Harlow Car). ZONE 6. East Midlands. Mr. LEIGHTON-JONES, Linden Lodge, Station Road, Broughton Astley, Leicester. ZONE 7, West Midlands Mrs. D. EVERETT, Greenacres Nursery, Bringsty, Worcester WR6 STA. ZONE 10. North Thames Mr. A. J. STOW, Widmour, Limmer Lane, High Wycombe, Buc- kinghamshire HP12 4QR. ZONE 11. Southern Mr. & Mrs. J. B. VICKERY, “Timberly”, Ringley Park Avenue, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7DN. Zone 12, South West Mr. P. L. JOYNER, 84 Kinross Road, Rushington Totton, Southampton, SO4 4BN. 2 3k 2K 2 86 YEAR BOOK 1988 COMMITTEE MEMBERS: FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES Mr. D. B. OLIVER, 17 Hayclose Crescent, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 TNT. (chairman). Mr. D. M. EDGE, Forest Edge Nursery, Verwood Road Woodlands, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 6LJ. Mr. P. J. JOYNER, 84 Kisnross Road, Rushington, Totton, , Southampton SO4 4BN. Mrs. P. B. LEE, Birches, Kingswood Firs, Grayshott, Hindhead, Surrey GU25 6EX. Mr. D. J.T. MAYNE, 16, Poplar Avenue, Kirkbymoorside, Yorks, YO6 6ES. Mr. D. H. E. ROPE, Clouds, 38 Vernon Crescent, Ravenshead, Not- tinghamshire NG15 6BL. Maj.-Gen. P. G. TURPIN, Cottswood, West Clandon, Guildford, Surrey, GU4 7UW. PUBLICATIONS Mrs. D. H. JONES, Otters’ Court, West Camel, Somerset BA22 7QF (Chairman) Mr. A. W. Jones, Otters’ Court, West Camel, Somerset BA22 7QF. Mr. P. L. JOYNER, 84 Kinross road, Rushington, Totton, Southampton SO4 4BN. Mr. D. B. OLIVER, 17 Hayclose Crescent, Kendal, Cumbria LAS 7NT. Mr. A. J. STOW, Widmour,Limmer Lane, High Wycombe, Buc- kinghamshire HP12 4QR. TECHNICAL Mr. D. J. SMALL, Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St. Mary, Ipswich, Suffolk IP6 8PJ (Chairman) Mr. D. CHALK, Polden Acres Gardens, Edington, Bridgwater, Somerset TA7 7HA. Mrs. D. EVERETT, Greenacres Nursery, Bringsty, Worcester WR6 5TA. Mr. A. W. JONES, Otters’ Court, West Camel, Somerset BA22 TOF. 87 THE HEATHER SOCIETY Mr. T. A. JULIAN, Lee Wood, Reservoir Road, Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire. Mr. H. L. NICHOLSON, Farm Cottage, Westcott Road, Dorking, Surrey RH4 3EB. Mr. T. L. UNDERHILL, Fairlight, Mill Cross, Rattery, South Brent, Devon TQ10 9LB. Mr. G. P. VICKERS, 139 Swinston Hill Road, ‘Dinnington, Sheffield S31 7RY. 88 Barncroft Nurseries (R. Warner, S. Warner B.Sc.(Hort) M.!. Hort) Plants for heather gardens Our policy is to grow all types of plants which we believe associate well with heathers. and which may be required to provide the com- plete heather garden — whether it is a single small bed or many acres in extent. In furtherance of our policy we grow: CONIFERS — over 400 varieties in various sizes — from Abies to Tsuga. SHRUBS and TREES — over 300 varieties including extensive range of ericaceous subjects, and of course, : HEATHERS. more than 400 varieties selected from the 800 or so varieties of heathers in our new garden and stockbeds and which are now available in three sizes: standard in 8cm2pots; larger size plants in 12.5 cm pots and specimen size plants in 23 cm pots. RETAIL OPENING HOURS: The gardens (which extend to over an acre) and nursery are open every Friday. Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. (or earlier dusk) (WHOLESALE AND LANDSCAPE CUSTOMERS Monday - Thursday please) Dunwood Lane, Longsdon, Stoke-on-Trent (Off A53. 3 miles west of Leek) Phone Leck (0538) 384310. 372111 SORRY, STRICTLY NO POSTAL TRADE Plants are obtainable only by collection from the nursery 89 RIDGWAY HEATHER NURSERY HORDERLEY FARM HORDERLEY Nr. CRAVEN ARMS (off A489) Shropshire High quality container grown Heather propagated from our own Heather garden. Excellent range of Dwarf Conifers. Collections only Closed Mondays Heather Society Members particularly welcome NMirs. Brenda Evans CRAVEN ARMS 2248 BLAIRHOYLE NURSERY (on edge of Trossachs) Blairhoyle, Port of Menteith, Stirling (on A 873 between Stirling and Aberfoyle) Telephone: 087 75 669 High quality container grown Heathers at competi- tive prices. Also small selective varieties of conifers, alpines and shrubs. View our display beds at your leisure in pleasant surroundings. 90 Denb eigh Heathers Suppliers of quality” rooted cuttings io retail and trade wish to congratulate the Heather Society on its 25th birthday Please send 30p in stamps for catalogue to: ~ DAVID SMALL DENBEIGH HEATHER NURSERIES Aff Saints Road, Creeting St. Mary, IPSWICH, Suffolk IP6 8P] Tel: 0449 711220 (after 6 p.m.) Windlesham Court Nursery London Road (A30) Windlesham, Surrey Ascot (0990) 21456 WHOLESALE GROWERS OF HEATHERS Visits by Heather Society Groups welcome but by appointment please 91 Holden Clough Nursery (Peter J. Foley) An old-established nursery growing a wide range of HEATHERS (over 200 varieties), DWARF CONIFERS, ALPINES, HERBACEOUS PERENNIALS and SHRUBS Please send £1 for our latest catalogue full of interesting plants and information. Visitors welcome all year. From Dec. to Feb. please phone beforehand due to possible adverse weather conditions. Mail order service. Dept. H.S. Holden, Bolton-by-Bowland, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 4PF Telephone: (02007) 615 Hurzey Gardens pi ill Selmood Art and Craft Gallery and Ancient Cottage 1560 AB. Minstead, Nr. Lyndhurst Cel: Southampton 812464 Displaying HAND-MADE CRAFTS of a high standard by 100 local craftsmen and 50 artists. Eight acres of peaceful glades of botanical interest throughout the year. Including large areas of many varieties of Heathers. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Dark in Winter) Adult £1.50, Child 75p,Mar-Oct Adult 90p, Child 40p, Nov-Feb. 10% reduction for parties — by prior arrangement v2 OTTERS’ COURT HEATHERS West Camel, Nr. Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7QF (4 mile south of A303 trunk road to the south-west) We specialise in a wide range of lime-tolerant heathers and dwarf conifers and welcome visitors who wish to see these plants established in our own garden. Please send 2 x 13p in stamps for catalogue or Tel. Marston Magna 850285 Berrydown Nurseries Heather and Conifer Specialists Very wide range of Heathers. Suppliers of rooted heather cuttings Wholesale only BERRYDOWN PRODUCTS (GIDLEIGH) LTD “Berrydown,” Gidleigh, Nr. Chagford, Devon TQ13 8HS Telephone: Chagford 23273 93 Speyside Heather/Garden Centre Dulnain Bridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland PH26 3PA Where better to view approx. 300 varieties of Heathers than in the heart of the Central Highlands of Scotland? Our Centre is situated in the shadow of Cairngorm Mountains — a short walk from the River Spey TEAROOM - Open Spring, Summer and Autumn Tel: 0747 359 (Betty and Davie Lambie) BRIDGE NURSERIES (Joan and Brian Godfrey) We specialise if high quality heathers grolwn in 342 inch pots. Why not spend a day at the seaside on our beautiful unspoilt coastline, go birdwatching at the famous MINSMERE bird reserve, and then visit our display beds at the same time? We also do mail order in collections of 10 - Summer, Winter, and Mixed, or your own personal selection. Please send s.a.e. for free Catalogue to: Bridge Nurseries, Dunwick, Nr. Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 3DZ. Telephone: Westleton (072 873) 270 BLUE, GOLD, GREEN, AND VARIEGATED DWARF AND SLOW GROWING QUALITY CONIFERS Over 100 varieties grown as well as many heathers H. WARREN Open daily 9.30 a.m..- Dusk 10 Outwoods Street Burton-on-Trent, Tel: 0283-43913 Staffordshire. (evenings) Naked Cross Nurseries (inc. Maxwell and Beale) The Heather Specialists Waterloo Road, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 3SR Proprietors: P. French, J. Paddon. Also Herbaceous border plants 94 What a shame! Your Nursery could have had its name JUST HERE Seen by afl our members Write for special members rates for 1989 to the Society PENNYACRE NURSERIES Heathers and Dwarf Conifers Nearly 200 varieties available individually or in collections. Despatched by first class post. S.A.E. for descriptive list to: PENNYACRE NURSERIES, SPRINGFIELD, FIFE, KY15 5RU M. G. FRYE HEATHERS The Willows, Poors Lane North, Daws Heath Thundersley, Essex SS7 2XF Plants despatched throughout UK CATALOGUE FREE (Send stamp) NURSERY OPEN DAILY 8 a.m. - Dusk except Wednesdays Telephone: Southend (0702) 558467 D &M Everett Greenacres Nursery, Bringsty, Worcester WR6 5TA Telephone: Bromyard (0885) 82206 Specialists in Heathers and Dwarf Conifers Heather Society Members especially welcome, but please telephone in advance to ensure that someone will be available to talk to you. 95 Bressingham Gardens Alpines, Conifers, Hardy Perennials, Bamboos and Ornamental Grasses, Hardy Ferns, Hardy Shrubs, Ornamental Hedges, Clematis, Climbers and Wall Plants, Dwarf Rhododendrons and Azaleas and not forgetting of course HEATHS AND HEATHERS! All available by Mail Order carefully grown by hor- Qi ticulturally trained staff and packed to a standard Qiu second to none. Why not send for a copy of THE BRESSINGHAM GARDENS 1988 SPRING CATALOGUE Now available from Bressingham Gardens. Diss. Norfolk. [P22 2AB. Telephone Bressingham (037 988) 464 at £1.00 (refundable with first order). (All opening times specified with regard to the Bressingham Plant Centre. Live Steam Museum and Gardens). THE BRESSINGHAM PLANT CENTRE : Since opening in March of 1985 the Bressingham Plant Centre has already established a reputation for quality, plant variety and availability. Members of staff who have been horticulturally trained are on hand for help with any questions you may have! Open 7 day a weck (telephone Bressingham (037 988) 8133 for opening times. THE GARDEN SEAT Coffee. tea and a wide range of food freshly prepared food — choose from the menu. Situated in the Bressingham Plant Centre Pavilion open 7 days a week. LIVE STEAM MUSEUM Probably the largest in Europe! Victorian Gallopers (roundabout) and trains which have been lovingly restored such as the Oliver Cromwell, the Royal Scott the Duchess of Sutherland and many more. Experience the thrill of riding on a narrow gauge railway through woods and the gardens! (Telephone Bressingham 386 for specified opening times). THE FAMOUS DELL GARDEN Open at certain times (telephone Bressingham 386 for specified opening times). Six acres of garden filled with thousands of varictics of plants. Wander round the gar- den. picnic in the grounds. Dont worry about the weather most of the exhibits are under cover. ALL IN ALL A GREAT DAY OUT! 96 CRAIL NURSERIES LID Newstead Abbey Park Nottinghamshire Tel: 0623 792866 Varieties by the score, grown by the thousand to help satisfy the still growing number of Heather enthusiasts. HEATHERS AZALIAS RHODODENDRONS CONIFERS Business Hours 9.00 to 1.00 2.00 to 5.00 Catalogue on request OF o> SG ” is