Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls Lena - Heather

Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls® 'Lena' is a summer heather with fine and elegant dark green evergreen foliage. From late summer, closed pink-violet flower buds appear on the stems. This unique flowering remains unpollinated. The buds stay on the stems for 3 months, unaffected by bad weather. Plant this heather in a rock garden, at the edge of a bed, planted en masse, or in a nice pot on a patio. It should only be grown in well-drained acidic soil or substrate.

Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls® 'Lena' belongs to the Ericaceae family. Its ancestor, the common heather, is the only species of the genus Calluna. In its natural habitat, it is the dominant vegetation of barren heathlands in the cold regions of the United Kingdom and Northern Europe. 'Lena' is an evergreen shrub that forms a small, bushy, upright and compact plant, reaching about 60cm (24in) in height and 50cm (20in) in width after 5 years of cultivation. Decorative all year round thanks to its beautiful evergreen foliage, this cultivar blooms from late August until October-November. Its nectar contains a high sugar content, making this honey-bearing plant invaluable in beekeeping. Heather honey is characterised by its gelatinous texture and dark colour.

The Garden Girls 'Lena' summer heather is a light and refined plant, which thrives in any acidic, moist to dry soil, in full sun or partial shade. It brings elegance to wild areas of the garden as well as to weekend or low-maintenance gardens. Stunning when planted en masse with other species and varieties, it pairs well with dwarf asters in autumn and small grasses, in a rock garden, on a bank, or in an informal border. In an ericaceous bed, it can be planted at the base of witch hazels, pieris, or Skimmia japonica. Plant it in pots and containers on a patio or balcony to create autumnal floral compositions with small perennials and bulbs.

Calluna vulgaris can withstand moderate grazing. It represents an important source of food for sheep and deer when snow covers the vegetation. It is capable of regenerating after a fire. In the past, this plant was considered magical and used in white magic rituals; it was attributed protective powers, as in the Breton heaths, where it is said to ward off ghostly spirits. Calluna is also an ingredient of gruit, an aromatic composition used in brewing beer before the use of hops in the Middle Ages. Its flowering tops have been used in herbal medicine for a very long time, as they are reputed to "dissolve stones in the bladder".