Heather

[Tilly2]

Will heather grow in a south facing dry patch of my garden?

They have some lovely, colourful ones in Lidl at the moment and I thought they would add a bit of Autumnal colour to my patio.

[ubasses]

All I can say is they grow very well in my south facing front garden which gets very dry. I have found though anything I have bought from anywhere other than a garden centre never seems to be very good.

[Tilly2]

Thank you ubasses. Does it matter what type of soil you have?

[carrust]

It grows on moorland, so I would think it likes acid soil.

[Tilly2]

Thanks, rusty. I thought so. I'll have to put some ericaceous compost in the soil, I think.

[Chipchopper]

I agree with Carrust, If your soil is acidic, then they should do well.
Otherwise you can grow them in pots with ericacious compost.

Some that are offered for sale have been artificially died in bright colors.

[Tilly2]

Really, Chip? So the colour won't last then?

[Chipchopper]

Spot on! and you can spell ericaceous as well!

[Chipchopper]

Not sure how long it takes them to fade, Tilly.

[Tilly2]

The ones in Lidl are only £1.50 each. That's very cheap isn't it? I was going to get ten. I think I'll give them a go.

[pastafreak]

In my limited experience,plants from Lidl...both houseplants and garden...last very well. Go ahead and buy them!

[boxtops]

Tilly, be careful with what you buy - I've seen the ones in Aldi (which are no doubt similar to Lidl) and some of them are definitely artificially coloured, so the colour won't last. The only ones which are authenic are the white, pale pink and purple (which are heather's natural colours).

[Tilly2]

I was only going to buy the white, pale pink and purple ones anyway, boxy. They have to blend in with my garden colour scheme. :-)

[boxtops]

Well, there you go then - when you said "colourful" I thought you might have been looking at the yellow, red and blue versions!

[pastafreak]

"yellow,red and blue" sounds all wrong...