Titanarum

Heather the plant has cropped up in conversation recently. A friend, B, who has the good fortune of a large south facing balcony, would like to grow some. I kind of like them. I like their scent, a sweet intoxicating waft coming at you in winter, when many varieties are flowering. I also like the fact that they are hardy, meaning no fleece or other namby-pampying in the winter. One bad thing: they like acid soil so it won’t do to take a spade and bucket to the local football ground or down the allotment or garden. If you want to give heather a good life fork out for some peat based soil from a garden centre (I hope this is in line with organic thinking – I don’t want to cause the end of the planet’s peat resources). Apparently heather can be planted all year round, into soil or containers. The root clump needs to be well watered and well drained and after flowering the stems should be pruned back hard. B will obviously be sticking to containers and I hope she’ll ask me along when she goes shopping so that I can learn a bit more. As for the other Heather, enough said.