Calluna vulgaris Bettina - Heather

Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls® 'Bettina' is a summer heather with evergreen grey-green foliage, adorned in autumn with white bud flowers along the leafy stems. The varieties in the 'Garden Girls' series keep their flower buds closed and are not pollinated. This ensures a long-lasting flowering that is unaffected by bad weather or frost. Plant this very bright heather in rock gardens, at the edge of flower beds, or in a beautiful pot on the terrace, in acidic and well-drained soil or substrate.

Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls® 'Bettina' belongs to the Ericaceae family. Its ancestor, the common heather, the only species in the Calluna genus, is the dominant vegetation in its natural habitat of barren heathland in cold regions of the UK and Northern Europe. 'Bettina' is an evergreen shrub that forms small, bushy plants with a wide, upright habit, reaching about 60cm in height and 50cm in width after 5 years of cultivation. Decorative year-round thanks to its evergreen foliage, this cultivar blooms from early September to December. Its white flower buds are arranged in upright and flexible spikes.

The 'Bettina' Garden Girls summer heather is a light and refined plant that thrives in any acidic, moist to dry soil, in full sun or partial shade. It adds elegance to wild areas of the garden as well as low-maintenance weekend gardens. Spectacular when planted in mass with other species and varieties, it also pairs beautifully with dwarf autumn asters and small ornamental grasses in rock gardens, on slopes, or in informal borders. In acidic soil beds, it can be planted at the base of witch hazels, Pieris, or Skimmia japonica. On the terrace or balcony, it fills pots and containers, creating autumnal floral compositions with small perennials and bulbs.

Calluna vulgaris tolerates moderate grazing. It serves as an important food source for sheep and deer when the vegetation is covered in snow. It has the ability to regenerate after a fire. In the past, this plant was considered magical and used in white magic rituals; it was believed to have protective powers, as in the Breton heathlands where it is said to ward off ghostly spirits. Calluna is also an ingredient in gruit, an aromatic composition used in beer brewing before the use of hops in the Middle Ages. Its flowering tops have been used in herbal medicine for a long time, as they are reputed to "dissolve stones in the bladder".