Winter flowering heathers - I though winter flowering varieties were Ericas but I've just bought a Calluna that I'm assured is winter flowering

Callunas are flowering now and will go on till the end of the month, maybe a bit longer. Unlike Erica carnea, callunas will not tolerate anything other than acidic soil.

Oh dear, Bamboo. And I made sure to ask at the garden centre, and the lady was very reassuring that it was a winter flowering one despite its name. I've planted it in my pot today and it looks beautiful. I'll be so disappointed if it stops flowering next month.

some of the recently introduced bud bloomers are likely to last until well into November if you're lucky enough to have the right cultivars, and there are one or two that might even make the beginning of December, but that's it!

Grrr, I'm so annoyed! I'll have to get another one and do the job all over again now. And I was so pleased with myself for getting it done before the cold weather comes - because once it does, I don't do much in the garden. After buying this one at a garden centre a few days ago, I was at my local farm shop yesterday where they also had lots of lovely callunas, and I asked if they were winter flowering, and was told yes. When I queried this, the lad said - all I know is that I've been told they're winter flowering. So I dare say lots of people will be buying them under false pretences and then be disappointed when they stop flowering in a few weeks, at most. It's very irritating.

Well not really, Jan65 - most plants like this (effectively a small shrub) will flower for 6-8 weeks, so obviously, if it was flowering when you bought it, the maximum length of time when it will be in flower will be 8 weeks from purchase. Erica carnea flowers 'between early winter and early spring' and the eight week rule applies to them as well, so if they flower in November, they'll be done by Christmas, if they flower in February, they're done by end of March, and so on.

Ah, I didn't realise that. I was told that the "winter flowering heather" that I bought would flower all through the winter right through to spring. (And my dad had a heather in his garden that seemed to do just that - perhaps he was just lucky with that particular plant?) Thanks for the explanation Bamboo, I will remember that in future.

Sometimes during mild winters, plants stop for a little while and then start all over again, but as you know, even pansies and violas stop flowering when its really cold.

I'd be tempted to take it back Jan,ask them to swap it for something more suitable,if it's been miss sold.

I was thinking that Pajo, but even though I'm annoyed about it, it does look very pretty in the pot at the moment! I'll just keep it and see how long I get out of it, and maybe plant it in the garden if the weather's not too cold when it finishes flowering.

With any luck, it'll have foliage which colours differently when the weather gets cold, providing non flowering interest.

That would be great, fingers crossed!

Just out of interest, does it have the name of the variety on the label Jan ?

Hi Bluespruce, no all it said was Calluna and elsewhere on the label it said Winterharte. Not sure what that means. It's still looking very nice but then again I've only had it about a week!

Well here we are three months later, and my calluna heather is still happily flowering away in its pot! Admittedly we haven't had any snow, but we've had several hard frosts, and arctic winds, and its in an exposed spot in the middle of the garden, so I'm pretty pleased! I'm curious to see how long it lasts.

Bet you're glad you kept it now...

I am, it's still lovely! I don't really understand how it's still flowering though after everyone told me to expect it to stop flowering after 8 weeks at the most. Maybe the mild(er than usual) weather.