Erica mediterranea - Irish Heath

Erica mediterranea, now renamed Erica erigena, is tall and very bushy. It offers an abundant and long flowering in pink-lilac in spring, but sometimes as early as January in very mild climates. The flowers are fragrant and honey-bearing. This heather tolerates limestone without appreciating it, and is very resistant to drought once established. It can also tolerate brief frosts of around -12° C (10.4° F). Plant it in isolation or in groups of 3 specimens in a wild or romantic garden: this is how it will be the most beautiful!

Erica mediterranea, also called Mediterranean heather, belongs, like all heathers, to the Ericaceae family. It is native to the Mediterranean region, Portugal, Spain, the Moroccan Atlas, southwest France (Gironde), but also northwest Italy and western Ireland. It is a relatively hardy shrub, perfectly adapted to seaside and dry, well-drained, acidic, neutral or even slightly limestone soils. This beautiful evergreen shrub, with a flexible and very bushy habit, is rather slow-growing and generally does not exceed 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in all directions. Its lifespan is about 15 years at a minimum. The branches are thin, brittle, and adorned with tiny olive-green leaves in the form of needles. Flowering begins from January to March, earlier or later depending on the climate, and lasts almost 2 months. The flowers resemble small urns, about 3 mm to 4 mm (0.1 in to 0.2 in) long and 2 mm (0.1 in) wide, with small brown stamens protruding. Their colour is a soft heather pink, slightly mauve, and they are so numerous on the shrub that they transform it into a colourful cloud. These flowers are gathered in beautiful long clusters scattered along the branches, in the middle of the evergreen foliage that persists throughout the year.

Water-efficient, not demanding on soil type, tolerant to salt spray, and endowed with the charm of wild plants, it is an ideal shrub for landscaping dry gardens or seaside areas. This large heather can be planted with shorter species and varieties that bloom at the same time in various colours: Erica carnea or darleyensis offer blooms ranging from pure white to purple-violet, as well as all shades of pink and red in winter and spring. It can also be paired with shrubby veronicas (Hebe), small-sized Pittosporum (Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb'), Viburnum fragrans, dwarf hollies, or even Chimonanthus praecox. In a naturalistic garden, this heather can form, in a group of 3 to 5 specimens, an extremely romantic setting at a time when flowering is rare.