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Article from the Boston Globe

Heather Bedding

A Cape Cod Nursery specializes in beautiful plants that thrive in the toughest conditions

By Laura Sharpe

Across a sunny hill and dale near the wind-swept dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Truro, MA, Rock Spray Nursery's greenhouses are lush with the foliage of hundreds of heather and heath plants. Soft greens and grays and bright reds and yellows carpet an open greenhouse. On  the highest part of the acreage, are greenhouses packed with heather and heath of all varieties.

Each October, Rock Spray's staff begin taking the more than 100,000 cuttings that will flourish into the inventory in about 18 months. They won't finish cuttings until March.

Although not indigeneous to the United States, heath and heather are uniquely suited to a seaside climate. They thrive in undernourished soil, need little water and are unaffected by both drought and insects. They need lots of sun and well drained soil, making them perfect for slopes.

Rock Spray now cultivates almost 100 varieties of heath and heather, which is marketed through their catalog and garden shop on nearby Depot Road. Rock Spray also sells plants wholesale to landscapers, nursery-men and large gardening suppliers.

Heath and heather differ primarily in their leaves: heathers are small and scalelike; heaths are more like needles. Also, heather (calluna) is primarily summer blooming while heath (erica) varieties may bloom in all seasons. Each has varieties or cultivars with flowers of many colors, from mauve and pink to white. Several heath varieties bloom even in the drear of winter.

To Heritage Plantation horticulturist Jeanie Gillis' mind, that's when heath is at its prettiest. Al-though they are lovely all year, they are especially striking "When nothing else is blooming," says Gillis.

Heather and heath are valued particularly for their foliage which is colorful year-round. Neither plant gets very large; the biggest variety is about 30 inches high at maturity. Each variety has its own habit - upright or bushy, spreading or compact, for instance. They may be planted in spring and fall.

The only human intervention the plants require is an annual pruning in their youth and yearly mulching. Pruning,  promotes new growth and should be done early in the spring.

At Heritage Plantation, where the Northeast Heather Society planted and now maintains a hillside garden, volunteers arrive in the spring to prune the more than 200 plants. They come with electric hedge shears, says Gillis. "The job is done in an hour."

Gillis planted heath and heather varieties in her own yard. "They're a nice understory plant," she says. "They're good for getting from the grass to the rhododendrons and azaleas."

As any Emily Bronte fan knows, heather and heath are at home in the moors of England and Scotland. "They're as common there as petunias are here" and Americans are just learning about heathers, the term usually applied to both heather and heath.

Rock Spray's catalog (2006 edition came out this winter) is a primer on the plants and their care. Buyers can choose individual plants or ask for a collection of any kind. Recommended use is in foundation plantings and perennial beds and borders, although perennials need more feeding than heathers. The larger cultivars do well in wild gardens.

Rock Spray's garden shop on Depot Road is stocked with a wide variety of homegrown plants, including annuals, perennials and herbs, and some unusual roses and shrubs from other growers.