Heather - Dying?
Heather Michaels
Posts: 328
Hi everyone,
Some advice please. I bought a couple of Heather plants about 6-8 weeks ago which I repotted when I got them home and positioned them where I thought they would do well, to be sure they were in the right place before I ground planted them. They were doing very well indeed until a week ago. Before I could actually ground plant them, along came the rain and its barely stopped since so the plants are still in the pots. But I've noticed that the flowers seem to be dying off and everything is turning brown. I'm assuming that they shouldn't turn brown? Have they got wet feet from so much rain? If its a weather issue, if I can get it in the ground will it recover of is it too far gone already. Pics follow. But they make the whole plant look healthier than it does in the flesh! First two pics are of the worst affected, third one is the second plant but that doesn't look so bad as the other one.
Thanks, as always for your help and advice, Heather
Posts
they do not like clay soil or being to wet although if you go up on the Quantocks where heather grows naturally,it is not clay soil but a light red soil.they are hard to get going but the flowers will die and you cut those off lightly and next year they will flower.Although they need watering at frist to settle them in dont over do it.
Thank you. They're in compost right now as they're in the pots but my soil here is sandy and quite stony so if I get them in the ground they should get the drainage they need. I bought them because the tag said they flower over autumn and winter and I'm desperate for some winter colour so if they're dying off already they're not going to be so colourful as I thought when I need them to be
Will try cutting some of the flowers down and getting them in the ground (will need to do it under a brolly which I was trying to avoid!) and see how they go. And I know the rain won't kill me and I'm not allergic to it but Yuk to doing anything out there in this much water!