Heather
Calluna vulgaris · Ericaceae
A low, dense evergreen with tiny, scale-like leaves and spikes of small pink, purple or white bells in late summer. Many forms have gold or orange foliage that deepens in winter.
- Size
- 16 in tall, 20 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 6
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around heather
The planner designed this bed around heather 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 heather stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Heather × 3, pink
- 2 Sea thrift × 5, white
- 3 Seaside daisy × 13, lavender
- 4 Showy goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 5 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, blue
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 spires. The others are globes, daisies and plumes. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- At the back. At 16 in it is seen over seaside daisy (10 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to showy goldenrod (4 ft) and false sunflower 'Summer Sun' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From late July to mid September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With seaside daisy and false sunflower 'Summer Sun' in late July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of three evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 3 of the 5 groups (60%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height from late May, with 3 kinds out together. The back corners are held by showy goldenrod and false sunflower 'Summer Sun', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. 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 heather goes in a border
At 16 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: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Heather is planted in sweeps, several kinds woven together, with dwarf conifers for height. It needs acid, poor, well-drained soil and cool summers, and should be sheared every spring.
- Carpets of colour on acid, sandy soil
- With dwarf conifers
- Cool, maritime climates
What to plant with heather
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Lowbush blueberry: flowers first, early May to late May, so the spot is never empty; a low mound at the foot of its spires.
- Bearberry: flowers first, early May to late May, so the spot is never empty; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (8 in) to stand in front of it.
- Mugo pine: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; a low mound at the foot of its spires; tall enough (5 ft) to stand behind it.
Questions about heather
Does heather need sun or shade?
Heather grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does heather grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 6. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 6 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 heather flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Late July to mid September |
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 heather 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 20 in (50 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 16 in (40 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many heather 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 a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is heather poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like heather?
Heather comes from Eurasia. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Bog rosemary 'Blue Ice': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers early May to late May, wants wet soil.
- Pink tickseed: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to early September, not evergreen.
- Purple love grass: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; purple, not pink, not evergreen.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat heather?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after heather?
Heather is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Meadow saffron: from mid September to mid October, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does heather look like in winter?
Heather keeps its green and chartreuse leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is heather good for bees and butterflies?
Heather is visited by bees.
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for bees
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 16 in (40 cm) tall, 20 in (50 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September; upright spires; pink, purple, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; green, chartreuse
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 6
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Comes from
- Eurasia
- Attracts
- Bees
- Stands up to
- Deer, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.