Erica vagans Mrs D.F. Maxwell - Cornish Heath

Erica vagans 'Mrs D.F Maxwell' is a low and compact heather ideal as a ground cover in a rockery or border. It can also find a place in a pot on a terrace. Its evergreen, dark green and glossy foliage, provides a perfect backdrop for its generous long summer flowering in red. It is an easy plant to grow that tolerates sun and heat well. It prefers neutral to acidic soils but can tolerate slightly chalky soils.

Erica vagans is a heather that blooms in summer and grows wild in Ireland, Great Britain, western France, and Spain. The 'Mrs D. F. Maxwell' variety is one of the most beautiful with its almost red flowers. It forms a low bushy mat not exceeding 40 cm (16in) high and 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) wide. Its leaves are small needles arranged in clusters on the branches. The 'Mrs D. F. Maxwell' heather remains leafy all year round. Its dense, dark green and glossy foliage is covered by numerous small bell-shaped flowers from July to October gathered in clusters at the ends of the branches. They are a purplish pink or even cherry red. They are nectar-rich and delight bees.

Heathers are particularly decorative when planted in groups. If you choose varieties with staggered flowering, they will provide year-round interest. For example, plant your 'Mrs D. F. Maxwell' Cornish heather with Erica darleyensis 'Darley Dale', which blooms from November to March, Erica carnea 'Rosalie', also known as winter heather (from January to May), and Daboecia cantabrica 'Waley's Red', also called Irish heath (from June to September).
It will complement dwarf conifers such as Picea pungens 'Kuba' with its bluish foliage or the Juniperus communis 'Green Carpet'in a rockery.