Calluna, Firefly Heather
Calluna vulgaris 'Firefly'
Height: 18 inches
Spread: 25 inches
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 5a
Other Names: Scotch Heather, Ling Heather
Description:
A variety with light purple bell-shaped flowers and interesting reddish leaves, makes a great colorful groundcover, flowers throughout summer; very particular about growing conditions, needs acidic organic soil, water in winter
Ornamental Features
Calluna, Firefly Heather features tiny spikes of violet bell-shaped flowers at the ends of the branches from mid summer to mid fall. It has attractive scarlet evergreen foliage. The needles are highly ornamental and turn orange in the fall, which persists throughout the winter.
Landscape Attributes
Calluna, Firefly Heather is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which should be used to full effect.
This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. It is a good choice for attracting bees to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Calluna, Firefly Heather is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Groundcover
Planting & Growing
Calluna, Firefly Heather will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 25 inches. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.
This shrub should be grown in a location with partial shade and which is shaded from the hot afternoon sun. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have sandy, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
