Daboecia cantabrica Purpurea

Daboecia cantabrica 'Purpurea' is a variety of Irish heath that is adorned with purple flowers from summer to early autumn. It is an undershrub with a flexible and spreading habit, bearing dark green, fine, evergreen and dense foliage, particularly useful for forming a ground cover or decorative borders throughout the year. It produces delicate stems adorned with large pendulous bell-shaped, brightly coloured flowers, clearly visible above the foliage. It thrives in light and requires light, well-drained, non-limestone, rather acidic and poor soil that remains moist even in summer.

Daboecia cantabrica, from the family of ericaceae, is native to Western Europe, specifically Ireland, Spain, Portugal and the Azores Islands. This undershrub grows spontaneously on the edge of woodlands and heathlands, on acidic, sandy or peaty, poor soils that do not dry out. This heather is also capable of withstanding temperatures around -12 to -15°C. The 'Purpurea' form is a cultivar of this plant.

The habit of this 'Purpurea' Irish heath is spreading, carried by prostrate, hairy and glandulous branches at the top, which partially straighten up. At maturity, the plant will measure about 40 cm in all directions. Its small, ovate-elliptical, 1 cm long and 4 to 5 mm wide leaves are evergreen, simple, leathery and arranged alternately on the branches. Dark green and glossy on the upper side, they are silvery, hairy and curl at the edges on the underside. The long-lasting flowering begins in June and lasts until September-October. Gathered in loose terminal clusters of 3 to 8 units, the flowers are charming pendulous bells measuring 8 mm long and 3 to 4 mm in diameter. Their colour is a purplish violet. This nectar-rich flowering attracts and nourishes many pollinating insects.

Cantabrian heather is an ideal small shrub for landscaping coastal gardens or further inland if the soil and climate allow. It can be adopted with other varieties with white and red flowers, planted en masse to clothe a rockery or sandy slope where few plants are willing to grow. It can be associated with Armeria maritima Splendens, Azorella, other heathers such as Calluna, or even Asteriscus maritimus. It can also be grown in pots on the terrace or balcony for its slightly wild appearance and long flowering period: choose a large enough container and keep the (exclusively acidic) substrate always moist.