Calluna vulgaris Wickwar Flame - Heather

Calluna vulgaris 'Wickwar Flame', also known as Common Heather or Ling or Heath, is a variety with attractive coloured foliage all year round! It is a small shrub with a sturdy, spreading habit, bearing persistent foliage in densely imbricate scales along its numerous thin and flexible branches. In spring, the foliage is yellow-orange to copper before turning golden yellow in summer, contrasting with the terminal spikes of small pink-purple bell-shaped flowers that attract bees. In autumn and winter, this small bush lights up the garden with its red-orange and bronze tones. Resistant to cold and drought once established, it is a low-maintenance dwarf shrub that is perfect as ground cover or in pots, and it only requires acidic, most but well-drained, not too rich soil.

Calluna vulgaris, the only species in the genus Calluna belonging to the Ericaceae family, is the dominant vegetation of heathlands in the cold regions of the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. 'Wickwar Flame' is one of its many cultivars and was obtained in 1970 by breeder George Ormond in Great Britain. This evergreen shrub forms small, slightly wind-swept bushes, reaching a height of 20 cm (7.9 in) and a width of 40 cm (15.7 in). Its growth is rather slow. Decorative all year round, it offers a simple flowering of fairly light pink-purple buds in summer, grouped in upright, compact yet flexible spikes. The scale-like foliage on curved, somewhat tousled stems is its main attraction and bears yellow-orange and copper colours in spring, turning golden yellow in summer and red-orange and bronze in autumn and winter. It is a honey plant, used in beekeeping because of the high sugar content of its nectar. Heather honey is characterised by its gelatinous texture and dark colour.

Winter heather 'Wickwar Flame' is a cultivar with intense colours. It will thrive in acidic soil, in low-maintenance gardens, and wild areas, bringing colour throughout the year. It can be planted in groups with other varieties and cultivars (which are countless). To achieve a long winter flowering, one can imitate nature by mixing common heather and ash-coloured heather, changing the colour of the landscapes they form during their flowering. It will brighten rockeries and borders along pathways. It adapts very well to cultivation in pots and planters, where it will create beautiful seasonal compositions. Plant it in ericaceous beds to cover the base of rhododendrons or witch hazels. You can create lovely, slightly wild scenes by planting 'Wickwar Flame' alongside grasses, ferns, and dwarf conifers at the base of silver birch trees.

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