Erica darleyensis Winter Belles Lucie - Winter Heath

Erica x darleyensis Winter Belles 'Lucie' is a beautiful improvement on the famous winter heather Erica x darleyensis 'Kramer's Rote', possessing all its qualities. Slightly larger, with a nicely rounded and compact habit, the bush offers a later but truly remarkable winter flowering: its bell-shaped flowers are a deep, intense pink, and twice as large as those of its parent. They almost hide the evergreen foliage, which displays beautiful bronze to coppery tones in winter. This heather is hardy and accommodating, and will find its place in any garden. By combining different varieties with staggered flowering periods, Darley heaths create a patchwork of colours for 6 to 7 months, in the garden or in pots, even in slightly chalky and dry soil.

Erica x darleyensis is a cross between Erica carnea, native to mountainous areas of southern and central Europe, thriving in chalky soil, and Erica erigena, acidophilous and native to western Europe. The Winter Belles 'Lucie' cultivar was developed in France in 1997 by Renault nurseries. This hybrid was awarded "The Heather Society's Premier Award" in England in 2011 as the best introduction in the heather category, for its performance in the garden and its longevity.

This small evergreen bush, with a rounded and spreading habit, reaches a height of about 55 cm (21.7 in) and a width of 60 cm (23.6 in) at maturity. Its growth is quite slow. Its lifespan is around 10 to 15 years. Winter Belles 'Lucie' blooms for a long time, between December and April depending on the climate. Its flowers resemble small urns, 7 mm (0.3 in) long and 4 mm (0.2 in) wide. Their colour ranges from magenta pink to amethyst purple, highlighted by brown stamens that protrude from the corolla. These flowers are gathered in beautiful clusters, 6 cm to 10 cm (2.4 in to 3.9 in) long, scattered along the branches, amidst linear, slender leaves, 3 mm to 10 mm (0.1 in to 0.4 in) long. The evergreen foliage is dark green. It takes on bronze or coppery shades when exposed to cold.

Hardy and not demanding in terms of soil type, it is an ideal small bush for creating winter heather beds, in the company of other varieties, such as the white and snowy 'Silberschmelze', or 'Eva Gold' with its golden-copper foliage. It is also an excellent ground cover, whether alone or combined with dwarf creeping conifers (Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star', J. horizontalis 'Blue Chip', J. repanda). A row of heathers planted at the top of a retaining wall always creates a sensational spectacle in winter, mixed with basket-of-gold or aubrietas, for example.