Jana i v 21, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
The Tree Heaths. 
Several of the Heaths which are natives of the southern 
countries of Europe are hardy in some portions of this country, 
and possibly if thoroughly tried they would be found to 
succeed in many gardens where they are never given the 
opportunity. Several of them are very handsome indeed, and 
even if it were inconvenient to have them of such dimensions 
as they are capable, they could be grown and flowered to per¬ 
fection in much smaller and convenient sizes. 
In mentioning tree Heaths, one immediately thinks of Erica 
arborea, but that is neither the hardiest nor is it by any 
means the most common of its kind in gardens. In the 
southern counties of England and also in the Channel Islands 
one may see very large specimens of it, but that would not 
apply to districts more inland ; indeed, only a few years ago 
we indicated in The Gardening World that it was quite a 
scarce plant and difficult to be procured, E. lusitanica under 
the name of E. codonodes being supplied instead. Those who 
would object to tall Heaths would find it advantageous to 
raise young ones from cuttings or to make layers and thereby 
secure strong plants at once.' Some ripen seeds, and can be 
increased in any quantity by that means. 
As these tree Heaths are deserving of a little trouble in the 
matter of cultivation, it is undesirable to plant them about in 
shrubbery borders, as the soil could be made much more 
suitable for them by using a large quantity of peat or leaf- 
soil mixed with a small quantity of the staple. Where peat 
can readily be procured in the neighbourhood the natural soil 
can be removed to a depth of 2 ft. or 3 ft. and replaced by 
peat of a suitable character. That would at once give the bed 
a degree of permanency and at the same time make it possible 
to grow other peat-loving plants, including the smaller Heaths, 
between and in front of the tree Heaths. 
Some variety can be produced by allowing the taller ones to 
assume their tall, upright habit, pruning them slightly to 
keep them in shape, or tying in the straggling branches if such 
was necessary. They would then afford some shade to the 
smaller subjects, and the two forms in conjunction would break 
the monotony of a flat mass whether of a tall growing or dwarf 
growing species. Indeed, some of the beds that used to be 
filled with summer-flowering subjects might well be replaced 
by a bed or two of Heaths, which would be permanent and re¬ 
quire a veiy little amount of attention from year to year to 
keep them in order. 
We do not imply that Heaths should always be grown i’n this 
form, seeing that a bed of moderate size filled even with one 
of the larger-growing kinds would certainly be effective when 
in bloom. One of the chief points about Heaths, especially 
the early flowering ones, is that they come into bloom at a 
time when flowers out of doors are relatively scarce. They are 
also very durable, whether on the plants or in a cut state, and 
those who are fortunate in having a bed or two of these tall, 
free-growing kinds could obtain a quantity of cut flowers at 
little or no expense whatever. They are so handsome that 
they can be made to serve the purpose of Cape Heaths, which 
require to be grown in pots under glass. 
In many of the southern counties E. lusitanica is now in full 
bloom or approaching that condition, according to the district 
in which it may be grown. In most years this species com¬ 
mences to bloom early in the new year, and further south it 
may be had in bloom at Christmas. The plant is of upright 
growth, in habit not unlike a Juniper at a short distance off, 
but of a darker green colour, veiy fi*eely branched and densely 
clothed with foliage. The flowers are bell-shaped and white, 
with a faint tint of pink, though at a short distance they 
appear to be pure white. 
Of a large clump of this species planted on the rising ground 
,,ear King William’s Temple in Kew Gardens we represent one 
of the plants in full bloom at the end of the first week of 
January. Curiously enough, although the plants are all grown 
together and evidently under identical conditions, many of 
them were only half expanded at that time. This may be due 
to a great extent to situation and the exposure of the ground. 
The situation is on a slope and faces the north. The plants 
53 
towards the upper end of this are more advanced than those 
on the lower half of the slope. This, in all probability, is 
due to the better exposure to sunlight of the plants on the top. 
The wood and flower-buds last autumn would have been more 
advanced or better ripened, as gardeners would say, in the 
autumn, while the sun had yet sufficient power to affect them. 
We may here remind readers that we get veiy little sunshine 
in London or its suburbs during winter, so that temperature 
is more evenly diffused than in summer and autumn, when 
the soil is directly affected by sunlight. 
The above species is a native of Spain and Portugal, and, as 
we previously stated, it is best known in gardens under the 
name of E. codonodes in reference to the bell-shaped flowers. 
The leaves of this Heath are relatively long, and the branches 
produced are of different lengths, so that a plant does not in 
any manner present a stiff appearance, and the foliage also is 
Erica lusitanica : Flowers white. 
of a light green without that sombre aspect so characteristic of 
many cultivated evergreens. 
E. arborea is the species to which the name, the Tiee Heath, 
is most often applied. It is also the species which is most 
likely to assume a tree habit when allowed to develop its 
natural form over a long period of years. Even in some of the 
more favoured parts of this country old tree-like specimens 
vaiy from 12 ft. to 30 ft. in height. Specimens which reach 
a size like this form a very stout main trunk. This is the 
species from which the so-called brier pipes are made. The 
word brier in this instance is a mere corruption of the Fiench 
bruyere, which means Heath. 
The flowers are veiy nearly white, and would be more so 
were it not that the anthers shine through the pale coiolla. 
thus apparently obscuring the purity of the flowers. They ai? 
