Journal 2006
05/14.2006 - I'm a little late getting started this spring. Actually, I've been avoiding the heather garden this spring because it just looked too depressing to take on. Upon closer inspection, yes, I did lose a number of plants, and several more are seriously compromised. Altogether, I pulled up 10 carcases, and 9 others are on the questionable list. Many are just 'sort of' hanging in there, but some of those are showing signs of recovery from transplant shock. A few that nearly totally wiped out are recovering from branches that were buried under soil at planting. A single rather healthy sprout may save the entire plant!
Here's the analysis -
key:
/ = dead
? = questionable
! = very happy.
Calluna Vulgaris (13 varieties) Alice Knight [30] (1) Allegretto [12] (1)? Blazeaway [27] (1) Braeriach [21] (1) Bray Head [20] (1) ! County Wicklow [6] (1) ! Firefly [18] (1)? Foxii Nana [2] (2) ?! Naturpark [26] (1) Red Fred [24] (1) ! Robert Chapman [36] (1) Silver Cloud [10] (1) ! Spring Torch [15] (1) ! Wickwar Flame [35] (1) Tree Heath Erica arborea var. alpina [13] (1) / |
Erica carnea (22 varieties - 2 each of most) Adrienne Duncan [22] (2)? Bell's Extra Special [5] (2) ?! Aurea [31] (2) / Beoley Pink [9] (2) December Red [17] (2) Golden Starlet [19] (2) /? Jennifer Anne John Pook [4] (2) ? King George [16] (2) Myretoun Ruby [8] (2) /! Nathalie [7] (2) / Pink Mist [33] (2) Pink Spangles [28] (2) Pirbright Rose [3] (2) Porter's Red [32] (2) // Prince of Wales [29] (2) ? R.B. Cooke [34] (2) Robert Jan [14] (2) ! Rosalie [25] (2) Schneekuppe [11] (2) / Vivellii [23] (2) ?! Winterfreude [1] (4) / ??! |
I may have gotten a touch of fungus. The Foxii Nana growing in full sun just suddenly turned a funny shad of brown, the branches got all spongy and fell off. There are still a few green scales present, but it's not looking happy. The other one I treated with sulphur early in the season and it did well. I'm thinking I'm going to treat the entire bed with sulphur this summer and fall. Most of the things I lost were very late summer and autumn losses. Spring torch was a spectacular plant last fall. Today, there's almost nothing left.
So, now that everything is trimmed up, dead stuff removed, and the ground raked up, it doesn't look as bad as I had feared. We're still a couple of years away from realizing my vision, but we're more or less still on track.
Learnings from the past year include -
- Treat regularly for fungus. Powdered Sulphur has shown initial promise
- Clean a little more vigorously in the fall - make sure there aren't any dead leaves in the centers of heather plants.
- Keep a closer watch on what's happening at the end of summer. Too many plants were lost without adequate explanation.
