Other Names:  Spring Heath, Snow Heath, Winter Heath

Description:

An excellent groundcover with pink-violet tubular flowers in late winter and deep green needle-like foliage, ideal for poor soils, also great for massing in the garden; requires organic highly acidic soil, full sun and absolutely no standing water

Ornamental Features

Myretoun Ruby Heath is blanketed in stunning spikes of pink bell-shaped flowers with violet overtones rising above the foliage from late winter to early spring. It has dark green evergreen foliage which emerges light green in spring. The tiny needles remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Myretoun Ruby Heath is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a ground-hugging habit of growth. 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 only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Myretoun Ruby Heath is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Myretoun Ruby Heath will grow to be only 5 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 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 only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.