Garden jewel revealed 1

love the flowers on heathers - ericas I have a few of these too :)

Yes, me too Paul....the frozen ice melted and there they were! I hadn't realized they were in bloom.....:o)

mine are same - tough little things!

Beautiful!:)))))

Never seen a heather looking so good!

so lovely close-up arent they :o)

Great shot, real atmosphere in the photo.

How lovely for you. :-)

isnt it lovely to see the flowers again...

What a pleasure to see........

Stunning!

Great to see some vibrant coloured flowers after so much white! :-))

Thanks for all the great comments....:o)) I was so pleased to see these when everything looked so grim. I think it's time for a re-think this coming year....roll on Spring!

Happy New Year Janey to you and your family, puss and dear little Lottie.

Thanks Tetra....Happy New Year to you and hubby too....:o)) X

Beautiful, Janey. Happy New Year to you and your family.

Happy New Year Gee!! Love to Millie and everyone!...:o)) X

What a lovely surprise Janey .. A Happy New Year to both you and Ian :o)) x

what a lovely picture.

Heathers are tough plants aren't they.

not tough enough for my garden ~ i dont know why.
this picture would look lovely on the wall

Thanks Amy....and to you and Tony.....:o))

Thanks Sticki! Yes I think they are Linda, they do need the right soil though, at my old house I couldn't keep them Sticki.......

I think that heathers tend to prefer an acid soil although we have a clay soil I tend to cover the top with bags of compost once a year and let the worms do the rest. I just hoe the top over.

this is fairly acid soil ~ grows camellias, acers,
also hostas and pierris [but i dont really know which soil type they prefer]

perhaps you could grow some in pots.

Yes that's a good idea Linda, then you can place them where you like Sticki....:o) I think our garden is more clay than acid, but like you Linda I do empty lots of pots of used compost where these are growing during the summer months. Also I prune them after flowering Sticki...it does make a difference, stopping them getting leggy and brittle.

maybe i will give that a try, last time they didnt even live long enough to grow, they just died after a few weeks ~ do they like quite damp soil?

When did you plant them Sticki? Yes damp but well-drained...like moorland. I always unravel the roots of them as they sometimes are pot-bound.....these have been here about 3 years now...they do like leaf-mould too.

it was last summer, but i cant remember which month, there is a lot of leaf mould in the garden ~ surrounded by trees, perhaps the roots needed unravelling ~ i didnt check; the soil is very well drained ~ bordering on dry so maybe thats what they didnt like ~ i was very surprised ~ thought they were tougher than that.

I usually trim my heathers when they have flowered and the blossom is going brown. They don't like being too dry.

It sounds as if they were too dry Sticki, they do need to get established the first few weeks......I bought a new one in the Autumn, a Spring flowering one, and its looking really well, brilliant green foliage and purple flowers in Spring....:o))

Lovely

i think you are right janey ~ i may try again but i will look after them better this time!

Thanks Camillia...Happy New Year to you!
Lol Stcki....just get them established and remember to prune off the old flowers when done....:o)

ok, will try