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Journal 2006

05/14.2006 - I'm a little late getting started this spring. Actually, I've been avoiding the heather garden this spring because it just looked too depressing to take on. Upon closer inspection, yes, I did lose a number of plants, and several more are seriously compromised. Altogether, I pulled up 10 carcases, and 9 others are on the questionable list. Many are just 'sort of' hanging in there, but some of those are showing signs of recovery from transplant shock. A few that nearly totally wiped out are recovering from branches that were buried under soil at planting. A single rather healthy sprout may save the entire plant!

Here's the analysis -

key:

/ = dead
? = questionable
! = very happy.

Calluna Vulgaris
(13 varieties)
Alice Knight [30] (1)
Allegretto [12] (1)?
Blazeaway [27] (1)
Braeriach [21] (1)
Bray Head [20] (1) !
County Wicklow [6] (1) !
Firefly [18] (1)?
Foxii Nana [2] (2) ?!
Naturpark [26] (1)
Red Fred [24] (1) !
Robert Chapman [36] (1)
Silver Cloud [10] (1) !
Spring Torch [15] (1) !
Wickwar Flame [35] (1)

Tree Heath
Erica arborea var. alpina [13] (1) /
Erica carnea
(22 varieties - 2 each of most)
Adrienne Duncan [22] (2)?
Bell's Extra Special [5] (2) ?!
Aurea [31] (2) /
Beoley Pink [9] (2)
December Red [17] (2)
Golden Starlet [19] (2) /?
Jennifer Anne
John Pook [4] (2) ?
King George [16] (2)
Myretoun Ruby [8] (2) /!
Nathalie [7] (2) /
Pink Mist [33] (2)
Pink Spangles [28] (2)
Pirbright Rose [3] (2)
Porter's Red [32] (2) //
Prince of Wales [29] (2) ?
R.B. Cooke [34] (2)
Robert Jan [14] (2) !
Rosalie [25] (2)
Schneekuppe [11] (2) /
Vivellii [23] (2) ?!
Winterfreude [1] (4) / ??!

I may have gotten a touch of fungus. The Foxii Nana growing in full sun just suddenly turned a funny shad of brown, the branches got all spongy and fell off. There are still a few green scales present, but it's not looking happy. The other one I treated with sulphur early in the season and it did well. I'm thinking I'm going to treat the entire bed with sulphur this summer and fall. Most of the things I lost were very late summer and autumn losses. Spring torch was a spectacular plant last fall. Today, there's almost nothing left.

So, now that everything is trimmed up, dead stuff removed, and the ground raked up, it doesn't look as bad as I had feared. We're still a couple of years away from realizing my vision, but we're more or less still on track.

Learnings from the past year include -

 

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