Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls Franca - Heather

Calluna vulgaris 'Franca' is a summer heather from the prolific Garden Girls series, with its original flowering expressed in prolific flower buds along the leafy stems. They remain closed, are not pollinated, and thus ensure a long-lasting flowering that is insensitive to bad weather. 'Franca' develops long purple spikes on its dark green evergreen foliage, bringing intense colour to the autumn months, in perfect harmony with the warm colours of the season. Plant it in a rock garden, at the edge of a flower bed, or in a nice pot on a patio, in well-drained acidic soil or substrate.

Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls® 'Franca' belongs to the Ericaceae family. Its ancestor, the common heather, is the only species of the genus Calluna. In its natural habitat, it is the dominant vegetation of barren heathlands in the cold regions of the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. 'Franca' is an evergreen shrub that forms small, bushy, wide and erect plants, reaching about 50cm (20in) in height and 60cm (24in) in width after 5 years of cultivation. Decorative all year round thanks to its beautiful evergreen foliage, this cultivar blooms from early September to November-December. Its nectar contains a high sugar content, making this honey-bearing plant invaluable in beekeeping. Heather honey is characterised by its gelatinous texture and dark colour.

The 'Franca' Garden Girls summer heather is a light and refined plant that can be planted in any acidic, moist to dry soil, in full sun or partial shade. It brings elegance to wild areas of the garden as well as to weekend or low-maintenance gardens. Beautiful when planted en masse with other species and varieties, it pairs nicely with dwarf asters in autumn and small grasses, in rock gardens, on banks, or in informal borders. In an ericaceous soil bed, it can be planted at the base of witch hazels, pieris, or Skimmia japonica. Plant it in pots and containers on a patio or balcony to create autumnal floral compositions with small perennials and bulbs.

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