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No, I do not mean a woman, but the garden/wild flowering genera.
Cheap, not expensive or time consuming to maintain, needs only one hairdo a year and they keep their looks for years, who or what else can say this, no, definitely not a woman.
How can I in a few words say what marvelous plants these are.
You can have them flowering throughout the year, white and mauve flowers and many differing shades in between, and excellent ground cover.
Everyone should have some idea of what they look like as they grace many building entrances and are now popular in parks/gardens, often seen in the form of an 'island bed', take time to have a look.
They are just another plant I hear you say, not true, from early times they have been one of the most useful plant to man.
They have been, and may still be, used as roof thatching long before slates became popular,
They are used for dyes, bedding, rope, brooms, doormats, tattie baskets and scrubbers (to clean floors etc. words today do tend to have different meanings than yesteryear).
Finally, from the roots of some tree heaths, pipes for smokers are made. I have grown one such tree heath, which is now 4 foot tall; they can reach 10 foot in their country of origin.
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Present day, heather is used for making floor tiles and jewelry;
it is dyed, compressed and then cut to requirements. If you are ever
in Scotland pay a visit to Heathergems, Pitlockry, and watch the
jewelry being made.
Alternatively, why not have a taste of heather, for many years drinks have been made from heather and today are becoming quite popular. Heather Ale and Heather Wine I can vouch for (although I have not yet sampled the ale going under the name of 'Heather Crap Ale') and Heather Whiskey, I have an unopened bottle, which will not remain that way much longer. There are receipts for tea, including 'Tinkers Tea' which was popular with loch fishermen.
Heather is considered to have healing properties and is prescribed in books dating back to the middle ages as a remedy for ulcers, snake bite, eye infections, for dissolving kidney stones. Also, was in 1930 acknowledged by many doctors and chemists as effective against arthritis and similar complaints, and was even safe for diabetics to use.
I have hundreds of different heather cultivars (types), there is about 12,000 in all, and many in propagation, I am in trouble, the garden is to small and the containers lying about are to many, fortunately, I do not have health and safety rules to adhere to (which is just as well).
If anyone wants more descriptive details of Heathers visit the Heather Society's web site,
