The flowers are small, with a 4-separate calyx of lilac-pink color, a 4-separate bell-shaped corolla, slightly smaller than the calyx, colored lilac pink color, has 8 stamens and one pistil with a superior ovary. The flowers are collected in multi-flowered terminal racemes.

• Family: Heathers (Ericaceae)
• Homeland: North Africa, Southern Europe, Caucasus.
• Stem: evergreen branched from 30 to 70 cm tall.
• Leaves: small, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1 cm wide, sessile, triangular, imbricated, arranged on the stems in 4 rows, completely covering the surface of the stems.
• Fetus: capsule, ripens in September-October.
• Flowering period: July-September.
• Illumination: bright light, partial shade.
• Watering: abundant in the warm season; does not require watering in winter.
• Content temperature: summer +20-25°C, winter up to - 10°C, many varieties require winter shelter.
• Flowering period: depends on the variety.
• Reproduction: seeds, root division, cuttings.
• Retains viability in soil for up to 40 years.

Where does heather grow?

Naturally grows throughout almost the entire territory of Europe - from the north to Mediterranean Sea, in Siberia, Morocco, the Azores, the Komi Republic and Belarus. Widely distributed in forest areas of the European part of Russia, where heather mainly grows in pine forests, in their clearings and edges, swamps, peat bogs and wastelands. It forms huge multi-kilometer thickets called heathers. It often grows on mountain slopes and in areas with rocky soil.

Heather: plant species

There is only one species in the genus - common heather (Calluna vulgaris) and about 300. Varieties of heather differ in the timing of flowering and the color of leaves and flowers.

Decorative heather (Calluna Salisb)- a small, up to 50 cm tall evergreen shrub with small needle-like leaves. The flowers are small, lilac-pink, white or purple and bell-shaped. Heather placed indoors blooms from autumn to mid-winter, at a temperature of no more than +12°C.

Tree heather (Erika arborea)- an evergreen, bushy tree, growing up to 5 m tall, with small bluish leaves, up to 1 cm long, needle-shaped, bare or short-pubescent. Widely bell-shaped flowers are small, up to 3 cm long, white, collected in a complex pyramidal inflorescence 20 to 40 cm long. Flowers with a pleasant aroma. Blooms profusely in March-April. In culture since 1658.

Heather pink (Calluna Rose)– evergreen shrub up to 90 cm in height and up to 50 cm in diameter. The stem is straight, thin, and has rigid branches. The narrowed-oval leaves are bright green, elongated, up to 1.5 cm long, growing without cuttings directly from the stem. Hanging flowers are cylindrical, red, pink or white, up to 2 cm in diameter, collected in straight, thin, terminal racemes 10-15 cm long. Blooms in April-July. It is an excellent honey plant.

Garden heather- a group of frost-resistant varieties differing in bush height, leaf and flower color, divided into 3 categories: tall, medium-tall and low-growing varieties.

Tall varieties 50-70 cm tall

Long White Heather– with green leaves and white flowers.

Beale) – with dark green leaves and light pink double flowers.

Golden (S. Aurea)- with yellow leaves in summer, brown-red and purple flowers in winter and autumn.

Alport (S. alportii)– with dark green leaves and dark pink flowers.

Medium-growing varieties from 30 to 40 cm

Plenums of the Elbe (Alba Plena)– green leaves, double flowers, white.

Boskoop– in summer the leaves are golden-yellow, in winter and autumn they are copper-orange, the flowers are lilac-pinkish.

Darkness- with green leaves and purple-red flowers.

Hammondii- leaves are light green, flowers are white.

Low-growing varieties from 20 to 30 cm

Hamilton (J.H. Hamilton)- With yellow leaves and double flowers of a red hue.

Marleen- with dark green leaves and purple flowers.

Dark Star- with dark green leaves and semi-double ruby-red flowers.

Scottish heather

Scottish heather (Calluna vulgaris Hill)-, a highly branched, evergreen shrub, from 30 cm to 1 m in height. Stems with red-brown bark and thin, often rooting branches. The leaves are small, sessile, green, short-needle-shaped, imbricated, arranged in 4 rows.

The leaves are almost triangular in shape, arrow-shaped at the base, with a blunt apex. The flowers are small, pale lilac or less often white, collected in a multi-flowered one-sided raceme. The calyx is shiny, 4-parted. Eight stamens, a pistil with a tetrahedral upper ovary and a long style. The fruit is a capsule with small seeds.

Common heather (Calluna vulgaris)

It is a perennial, evergreen, pollinated shrub with a height of 20 to 70 cm and a width of up to 45 cm. Common heather has scale-like, imbricate-overlapping, triangular, dark green sessile leaves up to 2-2.5 cm long. The bell-shaped corolla is slightly irregular in shape, lilac-pink, less often white, with fused petals. The flowers are located at the ends of the side shoots and are collected in dense racemes.

Flowering period: July-August, after which the perianths do not fall off and common heather retains its attractive appearance.

Graceful heather (Erica gracilis)

The plant comes from South Africa. Graceful heather is an evergreen shrub up to 50 cm tall with short lateral shoots and very small, up to 5 mm long linear leaves of light green color. The flowers are elongated-oval, pubescent, goblet-shaped, constricted at the throat, bright red. Flowers are collected in 4 pieces. at the short ends of the shoots.

Blooms in October-February. There are varieties differing in flower color. An indispensable variety of heather for winter gardens, landscaping bright rooms and forcing.

Diseases and pests of heather

The culture is incredibly resistant to disease and is practically not affected by pests, but fungal and viral diseases are possible. Heather is mainly affected by diseases and pests when Not proper care or kept in soil that is too damp.

The most common disease of heather is sulfur rot, which affects the plant and develops when elevated level soil and air humidity. When the first signs appear (a gray coating on the shoots, falling leaves and partial death of young shoots), it is necessary to treat the plant with the antifungal drug Fundazol or Topaz, and in case of more severe damage, use a 1% solution copper sulfate. Treatment is carried out in 2-3 doses with an interval of 6-10 days, and preventative treatment held in early spring or late autumn.

The leaves turn brown and the tops of young shoots wither - waterlogging of the soil or excessive fertilization.

If the young shoots dry out and the leaves become covered grayish-white coating, then this is a powdery mildew infection. Antifungal drugs are used for treatment.

Deformation of shoots and flowers, uneven, uncharacteristic coloring of flowers and leaves are obvious symptoms of viral diseases for which there are no cures effective treatment. In this case, the plant must be dug up and burned, preventing the spread of the disease.

The most common pest is scale insects. Morning spraying with soapy water helps effectively in the fight.

Heather in the garden plot

Due to its unusual appearance, noticeable, abundant, long-lasting and beautiful flowering heather on garden plot takes its rightful place. Heather does not require special care, is drought-resistant and thrives in the shade, which allows it to be used as a decorative flowering plant that complements the overall picture of the garden.

With proper care, you can easily create a closed continuous carpet of heather plants, very picturesque both in individual heather gardens and in compositions with tall plants, on alpine roller coaster or as a border along paths.

Heathers with decorative shapes look very impressive coniferous plants or beautiful flowering shrubs and are great for decorating the foreground of a site.

Use of heather

Heather has been used since ancient times in winemaking, brewing and for dyeing yarn in shades yellow color. Currently, heather is used in a variety of areas:

• V agriculture used as a forage plant;
• dried shoots and flowers are used as fillers for fragrant pillows and for making winter bouquets;
• dried and crushed flowers are used as a seasoning for appetizers and first courses;
• in landscape design;
• for making heather tea.

In many countries, heather is grown in industrial scale for honey extraction, production of pharmacological preparations and further processing into feed additives for animals.

Medicinal properties of heather

Chemical properties. The above-ground part of the plant contains such elements as:

• about 7% catechin tannins;
• 0.3-0.86% glycoside arbutin and ericoline;
• quercitrin;
• arbutase enzyme;
• starch, resins, gums, flavonoids, carotene;
• compounds of potassium, potassium, sodium and phosphorus;
• organic acids and dyes.

But the most valuable substance contained in heather is silicic acid, which affects the condition of connective tissues.

The medicinal properties of heather are used in medicine as anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, sedative, expectorant, hypotensive, astringent, wound-healing, diaphoretic and diuretic. Allows its use in practical medicine at:

• inflammation Bladder and renal pelvis;
• kidney stone disease;
• diarrhea and entercolitis as an astringent;
• nervous excitement, as a sedative and hypnotic;
• catarrh of the stomach with high acidity;
• rheumatism, gout, stones and sand in the kidneys, cough;
• cystitis, prostatitis, liver and spleen diseases.

Heather is used as an external remedy for rashes, body ulcers, rickets, eczema, allergies, burns and as a wound healing agent. Baths with heather are very effective for swelling of the legs due to kidney and heart diseases and rheumatism, and powder from dried flowers is sprinkled on festering wounds.

- (Calluna), a genus of plants of the family. heather One species is common V. (C. vulgaris), an evergreen, highly branched shrub with small triangular leaves. The flowers are small, in one-sided racemes. The calyx is longer than the corolla, and, like the corolla, is colored... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

heather- Erica Dictionary of Russian synonyms. heather noun, number of synonyms: 7 shrub (357) ... Synonym dictionary

Heather- (Yaremcha, Ukraine) Hotel category: Address: Petrasha Street 12, Yaremcha, 78500, Ukraine ... Hotel catalog

HEATHER Modern encyclopedia

HEATHER- a genus of shrubs of the heather family. 1 species, in Eurasia, Northern. Africa, America. Honey plant, ornamental plant. Sometimes species of the genus Erica are called heather... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

HEATHER- HEather, heather, husband. (bot.). Low evergreen shrub with small leaves and lilac-pink flowers. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

HEATHER- VERESK, ah, husband. An evergreen shrub with small leaves and lilac-pink flowers. | adj. heather, oh, oh. V. honey Heather family (n.). Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

heather- lilac (K.R.) Epithets of literary Russian speech. M: Supplier of His Majesty's court, the Quick Printing Association A. A. Levenson. A. L. Zelenetsky. 1913... Dictionary of epithets

Heather- HEather, a genus of evergreen shrubs (heather family). 1 species, in Eurasia, North Africa, on the Atlantic coast North America, in Greenland and the Azores. They grow strongly in clearings pine forests, burning, forming... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Heather- This term has other meanings, see Heather (meanings). ? Heather ... Wikipedia

heather- Original. Re-registration of public honors. noun veres (*versъ, cf. Polish wrzesień “September”, literally “the month when the heather blooms”), also known in dialects. The sound k in heather from euonymus, sometimes in dialects noted and (under the opposite influence... ... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language

Books

• Heather of Oblivion, Korab-Brzozowski S., Korab-Brzozowski W.. Stanislaw Korab-Brzozowski (1876-1901) is known as the author of poetic translations from Baudelaire, Verlaine, Maeterlinck and original poems recognized today as examples of Polish... Buy for 297 RUR
• Heather - autumn color, Evgeny Maksimov. The book includes stories and tales about the Great Patriotic War. They are about tank soldiers, artillerymen, infantrymen, sailors, pilots, border guards, about their heroic deeds at the front,…

IN natural conditions In Europe, from the southern border of forests to the northern tundra, the heather plant grows with unusually beautiful inflorescences. These small shrubs are rare in Russian gardens and not known to everyone. But if you plant heather on your site, it will immediately fit into landscape design and transform the garden.

After reading the description of the plant and its photo, many will want to organize personal plot heath But you will need to prepare for some difficulties that you will encounter when growing shrubs. Therefore, it is first recommended to study the rules of planting and caring for heather.

Heather: photos, general characteristics, varieties

The plant is an evergreen shrub and is the national flower of Norway. A beautiful legend tells, that only heather agreed, at the request of God, to grow on the slopes of the hills, which are blown from all sides by cold winds. For this plant, it was awarded with a magnificent aroma, natural charm, increased endurance, unpretentiousness and excellent honey-bearing qualities.

In nature, there is only one species of this plant - common heather. Creeping shrub is distinguished by slightly rising branches. They grow no more than 30 cm, but some forms of heathers have shoots 80 cm long. Numerous branches are covered with narrow small leaves, which can have different colors.

Small flowers on short stalks form unusually beautiful inflorescences up to 25 cm long. The corolla and calyx of the flowers are pink-lilac. There are different varieties of the plant, which differ in the shape and color of leaves and inflorescences. The leaves can be green, golden orange or bluish white. The color of the inflorescences ranges from white to purple. The flowers bloom in July and continue to bloom until August. Heather seeds are produced in a 2.5 cm long box, which has partitions and four doors.

Popular varieties

Today, more than 50 varieties of heather are grown in gardens, among which three are the most famous:

Common heather - growing features

The plant loves well-lit areas and can grow even in open areas. In the shade, its flowers become pale and bloom for a short time. Therefore for the heather It is recommended to choose semi-shaded places next to low trees and bushes. It can be planted in gravel gardens, rock gardens and alpine hills.

The soil

The plant is undemanding to soil richness; it can grow even in poor soils. sandy soils. Heather prefers acidic soil and does not like calcareous soils, on which its growth deteriorates. Most for good growth And long flowering For shrubs, an earthen mixture of the following composition is suitable:

• coniferous land - 2 parts;
• sand – 1 part;
• peat - 3 parts.

To make the soil mixture acidic, red high-moor peat is used for its preparation.

Selection of seedlings

Heathers do not tolerate transplantation well, since they have a symbiosis with the mycelium found in the ground. Therefore, it is best to purchase shrubs in special containers where the roots and mycorrhiza are completely preserved.

The plant is distinguished by the fact that long time retains flowers and foliage after death. Therefore, when choosing a shrub for your garden, you need to pay attention to the following points:

1. The container should fit snugly against the root ball to prevent air from entering the roots and drying them out.
2. The soil should be slightly moist. Too much wet soil leads to the death of roots and plants.
3. The shoots should be both old and younger light. They should be elastic, have many leaves and vegetative buds.

Landing Features

IN open ground seedlings are planted in the fall at the end of September or in the spring, starting from the second half of April until the beginning of May. Experienced gardeners It is recommended to plant heathers in spring, since during the season the plants will have time to take root and by autumn, with a gradual decrease in temperatures, their shoots will fully ripen and survive the winter without any problems.

When planting shrubs in groups, the distance between them should be 30–40 cm. For one square meter per plot, 12–15 specimens of weakly growing varieties are planted, and 6 to 8 plants of vigorously growing varieties. The hole should be as deep as so that the soil reaches strictly to the level of the root collar. If the soil is clayey, then drainage is poured into the bottom of each hole, which may consist of broken bricks and sand. Before planting, 50 g of horn flour and 30 g of nitrophoska are added to the holes. The planted bush is watered abundantly with 5–6 liters of water.

Throughout the season, and especially in dry summers, it is necessary to monitor the moisture of the soil in which the heathers grow. Their compact root system with many small roots needs to be upper layer the soil was always wet. On hot days, the plant suffers from dry air and responds well to spraying, which must be done in the evening with water at room temperature.

During grooming, heathers are fed mineral fertilizers. To do this, you can use Kemira Lux fertilizer diluted in water. During the season, the soil around the bushes must be cleared of weeds and loosened shallowly.

To prevent the soil from drying out and becoming clogged with weeds, immediately after planting heathers, it can be mulched. For this wood chips are used coniferous species , peat, fern soil or large sawdust.

In spring, young shrubs are pruned moderately. Old plants pruning is done like this to remove the part of the stem located below the faded inflorescences. At the same time, the shape of the crown should be preserved.

Heather shelter for the winter

In early November, when the ground freezes to about -5 degrees, tree trunk circles bushes are covered with dry leaves or peat. The layer thickness must be at least 10 cm. It is recommended to cover the plant itself with spruce branches, which will help:

1. Protect bushes from frost.
2. Do not let the plants get wet under the condensation that is created under the polyethylene.
3. Create a new layer of mulch, which is formed from needles that have fallen from the branches.

The cover is removed in mid-April, the peat is raked away from the root collar. Old spruce branches can be finely chopped and used as mulch.

Propagation of heathers

Plants can be propagated in three ways:

• dividing the bush;
• cuttings;
• seeds.

Dividing the bush

This is the fastest and easiest way to propagate heathers, which is done at the end of summer. They begin to prepare the bushes for division in early June. To do this, peat is scattered around them so that root collar 0.4-0.5 cm was immersed in the soil. This necessary for growing new roots. In August, the plant is dug up and divided. The roots are cut into equal parts directly with a lump of earth.

Cuttings

At the end of summer, strong shoots of varietal heathers are cut apical cuttings. To form a good root system, it is recommended to root them in separate containers filled with peat and sand. Caring for cuttings consists of: keeping the substrate moist and fertilizing with microfertilizers and urea solution. Rooting should take place at an air temperature within +15C-+20C. Cuttings cannot be taken from flowering shoots.

Propagation by seeds

Since heather seeds are small, they It is best to sow on the surface of the soil into shallow containers. The soil mixture should have the following composition:

• sand – 1 part;
• peat – 2 parts;
• heather or coniferous soil - 1 part.

At a temperature of 18–20° C, the first seedlings will appear in about a month. In the first week you need to create for them high humidity air. In the summer, containers with seedlings are taken out to the site, hardened off and grown. On permanent place grown plants are planted at the age of 1.5–2 years.

Useful properties of heather

The plant is an excellent honey plant, from which bees collect honey in the fall, when many plants have already bloomed. Dark yellow or red-brown fragrant, thick heather honey contains many proteins and minerals. IN medicinal purposes it is used for bronchial asthma, rheumatism, gout, urolithiasis. Honey has a diuretic effect and purifies the blood.

Heather flowers contain polysaccharides, essential oil, arbutin, flavonoids, therefore widely used in folk medicine. They are harvested during the period of mass flowering. To do this, the flowering tops are cut off and dried in a well-ventilated area.

Infusions used for colds, rheumatism, gout, kidney and bladder diseases. Used as a diuretic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent.

Heather flowers can be used to make drinks, syrups and tea. Not only tasty but also healthy a drink made from heather honey and flowers. It should be drunk cold.

The syrup is made from fresh flowers, which are steeped in boiling water. After a day, sugar is added to the infusion and everything is boiled. Very delicious and vitamin tea It is obtained from a mixture of dried strawberry leaves, rosehip petals and heather flowers.

At correct landing and proper care, you can create a heath in your garden that will look like a picturesque carpet. Very heathers look impressive with dwarf conifers and rhododendrons, ferns and beautiful flowering shrubs. They are usually planted against taller plants in the foreground.

Heather

HEATHER (Calluna vulgaris), comes from the Greek kallyno - to make beautiful, to clean, as brooms were made from heather. The Russian name for heather comes from the ancient Slavic “vrasenets” - frost. Many small lilac-pinkish flowers give the impression that the heather shoots are covered with frost.

The Scottish ballad about heather honey is widely known. Once upon a time, on the northern heather fields of Scotland, there lived brave and strong people- Picts. Only they possessed the secrets of preparing a miraculous drink - heather honey, which gives people strength and youth. The King of Scotland decided to master the secret and sent his army to this tribe to find out everything about the drink. But the freedom-loving and proud people did not reveal the secret of preparing the drink and took it to the grave.

In Ukraine, the first autumn month - September - is called "spring", at this time heather blooms profusely. In the language of flowers, heather is a symbol of loneliness and hopelessness.

A wreath of separation was woven from heather and primrose. A girl gave such a wreath to a guy when their relationship did not work out. For example, a guy dated one girl, and then started dating another.
In the old days, all the guys knew about the meaning of such a wreath. If the reason for the separation was a girl, then she gave the young man a wreath of willow seals, periwinkle and asters. Willow is a symbol of truthfulness, periwinkle in combination with asters meant a silent plea: “Forgive me, but I love another!”

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Many legends about the ancient elves who inhabited Scotland many thousands of years ago, about their ability to make a drink from heather that prolongs life, and romantic stories are associated with heather as a symbol of Scotland. It is so loved by the people that it was even the family coat of arms of one of the country’s communities in the Middle Ages.

Scottish ode to heather

Since time immemorial, heather has settled on scarce waste lands, populating them according to the well-known law: “Nature abhors a vacuum.” IN different places wastelands and fires are overgrown with grass and bushes, then they are replaced by stronger plants. At first, heather looks like a harmless bush that does not have long to live. But it gradually forms a curtain that expands and occupies new wasteland. Reproduction occurs by layering from creeping branches, seeds and rhizomes.

There are no other claimants to the land where the heather grows. There are few people willing to occupy the sour, dry area with burnt earth. For its persistence and reliability, nature rewarded heather with the ability to obtain food where there is none.

Each root of the plant is entangled with mycelium, which decomposes and makes available food from infertile soil, converts substances into the form necessary for the plant. The mycelium itself feeds on heather juices. Symbiosis, without which both species would die.

Heather is praised in Scotland not only because it covers the scarce rocky soil with a blanket of color. Its branches were used for weaving baskets, making brooms, and creating roofs. The late flowering of the heather thickets on the vast expanses of the rolling hills gives the bees the last bribe of the passing summer. Honey is obtained with a bitter taste, but it is healing.

The intoxicating drink ale, which is a traditional product of Scotland, is brewed from heather flowers. From these same inflorescences a dye was extracted for artisans who wove textiles, dyed threads in traditional colors and sewed national men's celts and rugs from tartan.

Each Entrance door homes even in winter time was decorated with a basket with unfallen heather flowers on thin twigs. Many Scottish legends, beliefs and rituals are associated with heather - the symbol of Scotland.

They pay tribute to the plant for the benefits it brings to people:

• unpretentious ground cover shrub;
• honey plant for the last bribe;
• material for folk crafts;
• healing properties;
• sacred meaning.

Currently, the only Heather Center in the world has been created in Scotland, and it houses a beautiful Botanical Garden. The bush of life and longevity, revered in the land of the elves, thanks those who sing its praises. Ecotourism is now gaining popularity. And in this country, with a large life and constant friendliness, relaxation routes are laid out for tourists. The symbol of Scotland, heather helps support the country's economic well-being.

Psychologists say that after two weeks of detachment and contemplation of untouched nature, a person returns renewed. Local residents believe that their spiritual harmony is protected by heather. There are still many rituals in which this particular plant acts as a protector of man in the fight against evil.

Heather in the Moscow region

IN Central Europe There are no such open spaces on which wild heather could freely settle down. However, heather grows everywhere and is a single species. Evergreen heather looks like a branched woody stem slightly thicker than a pencil. Its leaves are small and rolled into a tube. The flowers resemble a bell, strung with a brush on a branch. They bloom in the second half of summer and in September. In the densely populated Moscow region with country estates, cultivated forms of shrubs are common.

With the help of this plant, a landscape design with stunning landscapes of a heather garden is created. Cultivated varieties are mainly imported. Therefore, the climate of the Moscow region is not always suitable for travelers. Locally propagated plants take root better. By the way, the plant can be propagated by layering, seeds, etc. The simplest thing is to take a petiole from a plant you like in the summer, root it and grow it in a container, and in the spring plant the finished plant in a permanent place.

It is necessary to plant heather gardens in the climate of the Moscow region spring planting so that the plant develops over the summer root system and went into the winter prepared. But to preserve heather compositions from freezing for the winter, they should be covered. Any heather garden cannot grow unless the soil is acidic. It requires moderate topsoil moisture, so plants should always sit under mulch.

To create a heather flowerbed in the Moscow region you will need:

• choose a landing site;
• purchase or grow seedlings yourself;
• create suitable substrate and prepare seats;
• plant bushes using technology;
• provide proper care during the summer.

In order not to make a mistake when purchasing seedlings in a store, you need to remember that seedlings remain decorative even with dead roots. Therefore, you should carefully check how alive the buds are and the condition of the root system. When planting, do not bury the neck into the ground.

Remembering that the plant loves acidic soil, from time to time you need to water with the addition of apple cider vinegar to maintain the acidity level of the soil.

IN further care for in the Moscow region consists of superficial loosening of the earth, clearing of weeds, etc. The garden will reward you with long-lasting flowering, with its winter color fading. The created compositions will require formation after three years of growth.

Heather has almost no diseases or pests. However, if there is excessive moisture or excess fertilizer, gray mold. It may still be viral disease, characterized by spots on the leaves and drooping crown. Such plants should be removed immediately to avoid infecting others.

How to care for heather - video