Erica carnea Winterfreude - Winter Heath

Erica carnea 'Winterfreude' is a variety of winter heather that starts to flower early in the season and continues for several months, in a beautiful, dark pink to magenta colour. Its many small flowers open from December to March, almost hiding its green foliage. This extremely hardy (-20°C (-4°F)) variety tolerates slightly chalky soils, which means it can be grown in many regions. Its lovely spreading cushion is perfect for rock gardens or covering the ground between shrubs, in well-drained soil.

Erica carnea 'Winterfreude', like all heathers, belongs to the Ericaceae family. It is one of the many descendants of the Erica carnea native to the limestone Alps. The 'Winterfreude' heather is an undershrub with a spreading, rounded, heavily branched habit, reaching 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12in) high and 40 cm (16in) wide. It grows quite slowly, with a lifespan of about fifteen years. From late autumn to early spring, it produces a multitude of small urn-shaped flowers that range from dark lilac pink to magenta arranged in 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4in) long clusters at the ends of leafy stems. The flowering is nectar-rich, providing a valuable source of pollen and nectar for bees, hoverflies, and other insects in early spring. The evergreen, very narrow, upright, medium-green leaves take on olive tones in cold weather.

Erica carnea 'Winterfreude' makes an elegant ground cover at the base of deciduous or evergreen shrubs, where it enjoys light shade. It can also be used in rock gardens, alongside alpine perennials or creeping dwarf conifers. It can be grown in both urban and rural areas. It can be planted as a specimen or used in a heather garden to create a mosaic of colours, in borders and containers.

While heathers are often associated with the damp Atlantic heaths of Brittany, Ireland, or Scotland, some heathers thrive in dry climates and on limestone soils, such as those found in Mediterranean regions. However, one of the areas richest in heather is in South Africa. In the Cape region, there is a plant formation on acidic soil called Fynbos, which includes nearly 625 of the 740 heather species listed worldwide.