Winter heath 'Kramer's Red'
Erica x darleyensis 'Kramer's Rote' ·
A dense, bronze-green mound covered in magenta-red bells from January to April, whatever the weather.
- Size
- 14 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid January to mid April
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around winter heath 'Kramer's Red'
The planner designed this bed around winter heath 'Kramer's Red' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why winter heath 'Kramer's Red' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Winter heath 'Kramer's Red' × 3, pink
- 2 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 6, blue
- 3 Heath aster 'Snow Flurry' × 8, white
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, daisies and globes. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 15 weeks. From mid January to mid April.
- Opens the season. In all that time nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 6 groups (67%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and white to calm things between them. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 53% of the visual weight and the right half 47%.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 6 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where winter heath 'Kramer's Red' goes in a border
At 14 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
The longest-flowering and most lime-tolerant of the winter heaths, and good for early bees. Shear it lightly after flowering. It needs drainage and resents humid heat.
- Winter colour
- Evergreen groundcover in sun
- Early nectar for bees
What to plant with winter heath 'Kramer's Red'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Heather: carries the spot on into mid September; spires rising out of its mound.
- Juniper 'Blue Star': its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
- Mugo pine: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (5 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about winter heath 'Kramer's Red'
Does winter heath 'Kramer's Red' need sun or shade?
Winter heath 'Kramer's Red' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does winter heath 'Kramer's Red' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does winter heath 'Kramer's Red' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid January to mid April. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Mid January to mid April |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Early January to mid April |
| Zone 7 | Early January to early April |
| Zone 8 | Early January to late March |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should winter heath 'Kramer's Red' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 14 in (35 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many winter heath 'Kramer's Red' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like winter heath 'Kramer's Red'?
Winter heath 'Kramer's Red' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Lingonberry: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 6 in shorter, flowers late May to mid June.
- Creeping phlox 'Candy Stripe': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 9 in shorter, flowers mid April to mid May.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after winter heath 'Kramer's Red'?
Winter heath 'Kramer's Red' is over by mid April. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bugleweed: from early May to late May, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Creeping phlox: from mid April to mid May, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Grape hyacinth: from mid April to early May, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does winter heath 'Kramer's Red' look like in winter?
Winter heath 'Kramer's Red' keeps its dark green and bronze leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone. It is grown for winter colour as well.
More Erica
- Winter heath Erica carnea
In these guides
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- The first flowers of spring
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 14 in (35 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid January to mid April; hanging bells; pink, red
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green, bronze
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.