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Heather News ElectronicJuly-Aug 2018

Publication of the North American Heather Society

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From the president

Dear Society Members:

I hope you have been enjoying the new HNE. I personally have enjoyed Karla Lortz’s articles recounting her exploits as a modern day nursery person. I have found her stories to be not just interesting but also thrilling. Maybe I just don’t get out enough, or maybe I’m a plant nerd. Either way, Karla, you rock!

NAHS has successfully held it’s first election in many years. The slate of candidates put forward by the nominating committee was elected. The new officers are: President, myself, Don Jewett; First Vice-President, Barbara Reed; Second Vice-President, Bill Dowley; Secretary, Sue Skillings; and Treasurer, Maria Kreneck. Short bio’s of your new officers in this and following issues of HNE will help you get to know them better.

I would like to extend my gratitude to John Calhoun of Fort Bragg, CA. John was a member of the Mendocino Heather Society before it disbanded and has been Treasurer of NAHS since 2010. He now passes the torch to Maria Krenek of Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire (H.E.R.E.). John, on behalf of our Society, thank you for keeping our finances in such good order for so many years. Your work is greatly appreciated. Sheri and I will also always remember your amazing garden, which we toured during the 2010 NAHS Conference.

I think that one of the traits of a successful club or society is that they provide products, services or experiences that their members want. Just as retailers must provide the products and services that their customers want, in order to be successful, societies must do the same.

So I ask you. What do you want? Why are you here? What would you like? What are you expecting to receive by being a member of NAHS? This is the kind of information that will help grow NAHS into a vibrant organization.

If you are willing to share your expectations of and dreams for your heather society, please contact me at donjewett@att.net.

Happy gardening!

Don JewettPresident, NAHS

Heather News Electronic, all rights reserved, is published bi-monthly by the North American Heather Society, a tax exempt organization. The purpose of The Society is the: (1) advancement and study of the botanical genera Calluna, Cassiope, Daboecia, Erica, and Phyllodoce, commonly called heather, and related genera; (2) dissemination of information on heather; and (3) promotion of fellowship among those interested in heather.

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Mixed messages

Ella May T. Wulff2299 Wooded Knolls Drive, Philomath, OR 97370 ewulff@peak.org

Sometimes a little neglect can be a good thing for a garden. In my garden, it has produced two wonderful plant combinations that I’d never have thought of myself.

Some longtime members may remember that a number of years ago, I wrote about a pruning experiment on a daboecia that had bloomed mauve, although the plant was supposed to be Daboecia cantabrica ‘Waley’s Red’—definitely not mauve. Because the plant in question was purchased to replace a dead plant within a grouping of ‘Waley’s Red’, I did not want it. Here was the perfect candidate to test my theory that daboecias could survive very severe pruning. If it died, I could plant a real ‘Waley’s Red’ in its place.

In early March, I pruned that interloper to within an inch of its life—literally. Half an inch is probably a more accurate description. Naturally, the plant did not die but went on to produce healthy new growth. Every year, I’d threaten to dig it up, but every year there were more important things to do in the garden.

Fast forward to the last few years, when I’ve had two major surgeries and several illnesses that severely limited my time gardening. Armed with the knowledge that daboecias tolerate severe early spring pruning, I pushed them to the end of the pruning order. For several years, the ‘Waley’s Red’ grouping got only a superficial pruning with the electric hedge trimmer, or none at all. They took full advantage of my benign neglect. The plants became thoroughly intertwined with each other and this summer are blooming in a wonderful mixture of deep magenta and mauve. The combination is so delightful that if I were designing this planting again, I would deliberately mix plants of ‘Waley’s Red’ with those of a mauve cultivar of similar size, perhaps ‘Polifolia’ (which the interloper well may be).

The other plant combination that came out of several years of neglect (OK, more than several) is much more bizarre. Although someone more creative than I am might have thought to mix different colored heather plants—indeed, there are now tri-colored pots of heathers sold commercially—I doubt if anyone would deliberately plant Erica cinerea, known to be very intolerant of alkaline soil, with Lavendula, a genus that tolerates those soils nicely and is often erroneously thought to require them. Nature has no such compunctions.

The flowers of Daboecia cantabrica ‘Waley’s Red’ intermixed with the mauve flowers of an unknown

cultivar. Photo by Ella May Wulff

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There is a decidedly unfinished area of garden by my greenhouse where I’d planted two dwarf lavenders and plunked a trough. Lots of open ground remained, which was initially covered with fir bark mulch. Over the years, the mulch was not replenished. One of the lavenders died, and I don’t know the name of the survivor. (I thought that one plant was purchased as ‘Bressingham Mound’, but I quickly forgot the other’s cultivar name and an internet search didn’t turn up any reference to ‘Bressingham Mound’, although I did learn that Blooms of Bressingham sold a lavender that they called ‘Blue Cushion’). Whatever its name, that survivor produced some seedlings that have, in turn, contributed more seedlings to what is now a beautiful bed of low-growing lavenders, most blue like the originals but also a few with pink or almost white flowers.

To say that this bed was neglected is an understatement. I did try to remember to prune the lavenders immediately after they finished blooming, though one year this pruning was abruptly terminated after I learned the hard way that there was a yellow jacket nest under the lavenders. That interrupted pruning undoubtedly led to more lavender seedlings.

Watering of this area was sporadic at best, when I remembered to water the trough and the two pairs of planted hiking boots moved to the “free space” near it when they got crowded out of the heather garden. The whole bed got a thorough sprinkling once every few weeks, if it was lucky. And did I mention that where I garden, two months or more can pass each summer without measurable rain?

Nevertheless, the lavenders thrived and the trough plants somehow survived, and two years ago, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spied bright red flowers intermixed with lavender blue in the part of the bed nearest the trough and boots (hence getting the most consistent watering). Those red flowers were on a plant of Erica cinerea!

Erica cinerea is notorious as the heather most difficult to establish. Give it too much water, and it dies. Give it too little water, and it dies. Here was a very happy little cinerea, thriving in what

most heather growers would consider far less than ideal conditions. My challenge was to keep it thriving.

As a longtime orchid grower, I can tell you that one of the most difficult things to do when an orchid finally flowers is to resist giving it more water—a sure way to kill it. The sight of these unexpected E. cinerea flowers prompted the same incorrect response. What I needed to do was to keep doing what I had done all along that allowed the seedling to survive and thrive. So, no extra water, just the same sporadic “water when I remember to do it” regimen.

But what about pruning? Lavenders need annual pruning just as callunas do to keep them from getting straggly and eventually unattractive. With lavenders, ideal pruning time is immediately after the flowers go by, or at least before the next flush of growth begins later in the summer. However, after our winters started producing extreme cold events, I’d decided to play it safe and prune my cinereas only in spring, leaving the spent flower stems as winter protection for the plants.

Surprise! Red flowers of Erica cinerea appeared among the lavenders in 2016. Photo by Ella May Wulff

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Because the heather was so thoroughly intermixed with the lavender, the only way to prune the lavender without cutting back the heather was to do it painstakingly by hand, stem by individual stem. Fortunately, because the seedling was still small, this task wasn’t too onerous in its first or second year. This year, the area of intermixture is considerably larger and my tolerance for picky-picky has grown smaller. What to do? A heather friend to whom I recently posed this question gave the practical reply that I should just go ahead and prune the entire lavender bed with the electric hedge trimmer. After all, some commercial heather growers cut back their cinereas after flowering to improve the appearance of the plants, and with some cultivars, this even promotes a second flush of bloom. Maybe my volunteer will turn out to be one of these repeat bloomers.

Is my new E. cinerea worth registering and intro-ducing? Probably not. There are already several cultivars of the same shade of nearly red. One of those may even be the pollen parent of this seedling, for both E. cinerea ‘Mrs Ford’ and E. cinerea ‘Coccinia’ are in my garden. The most likely candidates for seed parent are nearby ‘Pink Ice’, the closest to the lavenders, or ‘Neptune’, just across the path a little further away. It is hard to tell the new heather’s growth habit with its being so thoroughly mixed in with the laven-ders, but it appears to be different from that of the unique ‘Pink Ice’. I vote for ‘Neptune’, though the flowers of that cultivar are larger. We’ll never know, but speculation is fun.

With all the time I’ve devoted to the careful design of several heather gardens, it is enlightening to realize that two of the most charming effects in my garden were entirely fortuitous, the results not of my careful planning but of my not doing anything. If Mother Nature always bats last, in this case she has hit a couple of home runs.

The lavender/cinerea mixture in 2018. Photo by Ella May Wulff.

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Something about me

Don Jewett2655 Virginia Court, Fortuna, CA 95540 donjewett@att.netPhotos by Chris House and Tony Gonsalves

I was born and still live in Humboldt Co., CA, the heart of California’s Redwood Coast. When I grew up, I thought redwood trees grew everywhere but that you could only get apple cider from a three-generation,100-year-old local family business by the name of Clendenen. If you are ever in Fortuna, CA during cider season, late Aug. through Jan., look them up for a glass of cider. It’s a trip you won’t regret.

I’ve lived in Fortuna for about 25 years now. It’s where many of the best things in my life have occurred. It’s where I met my wife, Sheri (together 21 years, married 15). It’s where in 1998 I started my business, Don’s

Lawns and Gardens. This year is its 20-year anniversary.

Fortuna is where 23 years ago I became a founding member of the Rotary Club of Fortuna Sunrise. We meet on Wednesday mornings at 6:45 AM, hence the term Sunrise in our club name. I am a past-president of that group. My membership in Rotary has been a truly wonderful part of my life.

Fortuna is where Sheri and I built our house 14 years ago. After the house was built, we started on the garden. Of course, gardens take longer to build than houses. Often gardens are the task of a lifetime.

Many parts of the yard are settled now. The front yard is heather garden, beautiful and always changing with its parade of foliage colors and flowers. What I call the middle garden has a mixed border that is 50 feet long and 14 feet deep. It has three separate seating areas plus other accessories.

Don at a H.E.R.E. event.

Heathers line the front walk to the Jewett House (left front visible). More heathers line the Jewett’s driveway (right front of house visible).

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In 2016, shortly after we finished the hardscape in the middle garden, the California Gardens Clubs, Inc. awarded us, much to our surprise, with a “Landscape Design Commendation”. They award only one or two of these commendations a year. Sheri and I thought this was pretty nice, especially since we figured the garden was only around 50% complete at that time.

The vegetable garden has been a long-established part of the yard and is located in the southern corner of our lot. This year we are focusing on the area directly behind the house on the west side of the yard. This is a rather narrow strip of ground. There we are working on three distinct areas: a small Asian inspired garden, our enclosed deck (done) and a pergola with seating area and flower border. Then will come the “studio”, which will really just be a he/she shed. It will be a place to hang out and read or get rid of the grandkids.

Last but not least, we will develop the secret garden. Right now it is our catch-all spot because, guess what, it is out of sight. The secret garden is enclosed by a block wall that runs east/west and serves two purposes. The first purpose is to separate the secret garden from the middle garden. Just like the interior walls of a house create the rooms of the house, the block wall is instrumental in creating these two rooms in our garden. We faced the middle garden side of the block wall with cultured stone to relieve it of what would otherwise be a very utilitarian appearance. It works quite well.

The second purpose of the block wall is to create a microclimate in the secret garden. The south facing side of the block wall both absorbs and reflects heat back into the secret garden space. The wall’s orientation also blocks the prevailing north/northwesterly winds. Together, the block wall and the other associated fencing raise the temperature in the secret garden by two to four degrees Fahrenheit, which is immediately apparent when a person steps into this area. When the sun goes down, the block wall radiates the heat it absorbs during the day back into the garden, creating a comfortable place to sit in the evening and a frost free zone to keep tender succulents such as

Don’s outstanding garden design warrants a garden tour.

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Aeonium and Echeveria in the winter.

In 2002, another wonderful thing that happened in my life was that I joined the Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire (H.E.R.E.). I was a worker bee in putting together the 2004 NAHS conference that was so successful. At the end of that conference, I became the H.E.R.E president. I was president from 2004 to 2008. I have since then been vice-president and on the board of directors.

When I started Don’s Lawns and Gardens, I wanted to be a garden “expert”. In my earlier college days, my major was forestry. What really attracted me to forestry was the biology of the plants (trees). It was then that I discovered that I really liked plants. When I started my business, I took classes in horticulture at the local community college, and I also became a California Master Gardener. I started reading gardening books voraciously.

At the time, the information I was most interested in knowing about was border design: how to set plants together in time and space so as to create something beautiful, fun and interesting to look at through the course of the year, hopefully without creating a mountain of work for yourself or depleting your pocket book, although there will always be some work and expense. Border design is a subset of garden knowledge included within the larger set of knowledge known as garden design. Garden design is about how to organize the space within your boundaries but outside the walls of your house.

Because I don’t have an artist’s eye, knowledge about border design has come slowly to me. But also, most of the books I was reading were about garden design, not border design, so that didn’t help.

In both cases, border design and garden design, I kept waiting for the light to go “on”. I kept waiting for that “ah-ha” moment of clarification to happen when I would say to myself, “Oh, I finally understand.” I kept reading and studying and reading some more. I thought I might be a lost cause. Finally, about a year and a half ago I had my “ah-ha” moment about garden design. I call it the “sweet spot” method of garden design. It’s about how to create comfortable and enchanting outdoor areas for you to be in your garden.

Perhaps I will give you the ideas and principles of this design method in upcoming issues of HNE. (Tell me I don’t know how to create a good teaser.)

Now you know something about me!

Partially hidden behind the heathers, the unexpected juxtaposition of a succulent garden adds a touch of whimsy.

Cleverly painted, stacked and planted pots in the Jewett garden.

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Officer profile: NAHS Treasurer

Well, where to begin

Maria Krenek7430 Myrtle Avenue, Eureka, CA 95501 glenmarheather@yahoo.com

I have an addiction to learning that takes me in many directions (often at the same time). My interest in gardens, gardening and plants and, of course, plant people presents me with many temptations to participate in a wide variety of activities that include my heather nursery, local garden clubs and plant societies, farmers markets, and the Master Gardener program. Garden design is a favorite activity that allows my creativity to flow. I try to live by the philosophy of DO NO HARM in all things, including the garden and nursery.

About 25+ years ago, news of a new type of plant, “the heather”, surfaced here in Humboldt County. Joining a study group that rather quickly evolved into HERE (Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire) began my exposure to and experience with heaths and heathers. My interest grew to include developing a small nursery (Glenmar Heather Nursery) devoted entirely to heaths and heathers. I continue to have and work the nursery on my home property in an operation suited to one person. I practice and share my experience and knowledge with fellow enthusiasts at the local farmers markets and with private clients. Sometimes I am permitted to share my enthusiasm for heaths and heathers through lectures and workshops. I propagate my own stock and sell and design with the many species and varieties I have been able to collect over time.

I have had a brilliant time travelling and attending special gatherings of other enthusiasts (and not just of heaths and heathers), learning from the many

others I have been fortunate to meet along the way. I am very active in local garden groups, plant societies and other related activities. In addition to my heather passion, I am passionate about daffodils and became an American Daffodil Society judge. I am constantly seeking out new learning opportunities. Some of these educational opportunities led me to structured results like becoming a Master Gardener. These activities allow even more avenues to learn and serve that drive my

Maria Krenek leads a cuttings workshop. Photo by Tony Gonsalves.

A hundred thousand welcomes (and quite a few heathers) greet visitors to the Krenek

house. Photo by Maria Krenek.

HERE members gather in front of Erica erigena by the dog kennel at Glenmar Heather

Nursery. Photo by June Walsh.

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everyday interests and actions. Always being somewhere with something to do with plants is best for me and keeps me out of most kinds of trouble. Any activity that brings the joy of learning, doing and sharing can find a place on my agenda.

Because this is my way, I am willing to work toward making these things possible for others. This involves joining clubs, associations and societies and doing the work needed to bring opportunities for others to learn, gather and do.

Maria KrenekNAHS Treasurer

Planting session at the Humboldt Botanical Garden. Photo by June Walsh.

In the news

It is with great sorrow that we report the tragic deaths on February 10th of prominent British bota-nists Rachel and Rodney Saunders, proprietors of Silverhill Seeds in South Africa. The Saunders were among the very few commercial sources for seeds of South African plants, including Cape heaths, and were on a seed collecting expedition in KwaZulu-Natal province “when they were last confirmed alive in mid-February” according to a June 15th report in theguardian.com. The body of Rodney Saunders was found a week after his disappearance but that of Rachel was not discov-ered until June. According to the BBC, South African police have arrested several suspects in their alleged kidnapping and murder by Islamic extremists.

Several NAHS members have ordered and successfully germinated seeds of Cape heaths from the Saunders. Their deaths leave a huge gap in the South African botanical world. They will be greatly missed.

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Calendar July/August 2018

July 20–22 NEHS miniconference and parlour show, Milton, DE. Details at www.northeastheathersociety.org

Aug. 11 OHS meeting Canby/Silverton, OR. Info: Ella May Wulff, ewulff@peak.org

Sept. 12 VIHS meeting, Mill Bay, B. C. Info: Earl Jenstad, earljenstad@live.com

Oct. 6 OHS Garden University presentation, Oregon Garden. Info: Ella May Wulff

Oct. 13 VIHS joint event with rhododendron society, Mill Bay, B. C. Info: Earl Jenstad

Oct. 27 HERE meeting Eureka/Arcata area. Info: Chris House, chrisalis@suddenlink.net

Nov. 14 VIHS Annual general meeting, Mill Bay, B. C. Info: Earl Jenstad

Dec. 12 VIHS Annual Christmas lunch. Info: Earl Jenstad

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North American Heather SocietyElla May Wulff, Membership Chair2299 Wooded Knolls DrivePhilomath, OR 97370-5908

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Heather News ElectronicJuly/August 2018

From the president.............................................................................................................1

Mixed messages, Ella May Wulff.......................................................................................2

Something about me, Don Jewett..............................................................................................5

Well, where to begin, Maria Krenek.................................................................................8

In the news..........................................................................................................................9

Calendar...........................................................................................................................10