Surrey GU23 6QB

Gardens to visit

use companion planting with silver-grey Yucca rostrata, underneath pencil cypress ‘Swane’s

Gold’, against the blue of globe artichokes and with grasses such as Stipa gigantea and S. tenuissima

to give movement against their rigid form.’

Garden designer Helen Thomas uses heathers in her Surrey home garden as a response to a love of the natural landscape. They carpet a contoured sloping backdrop to a circular alfresco dining space. ‘I wanted to create a lava flow of heathers to drip down the garden around the patio, which looks at its best in late summer. In winter they also provide a welcome splash of colour and are a vital source of nectar for the bees,’ Helen explains. ‘Our acid, sandy loam is a perfect medium for heathers. They are very long-lived plants and also very tough and resilient,’ she adds.

The varieties Helen has used demonstrate how effective a mix of different types, colours and textures can be, providing foliage and flower interest with a carpet that changes through the seasons. Erica carnea f. alba ‘Golden Starlet’ provides white flowers in late autumn to spring, and also creates a wide mat of lime-green foliage, which turns bright gold in summer. Another winter white flower choice is Erica carnea f. alba

‘Springwood White’, useful for trailing over walls, and which is accompanied by the deep pinks of

Erica carnea ‘Lohse’s Rubinfeuer’. For a little more height, Helen uses purple-flowering Erica x

darleyensis ‘J.W. Porter’, as well as spring-flowering tree heather Erica arborea ‘Estrella Gold’, named for its bright yellow young foliage. Through spring to autumn Daboecia cantabrica’s upright flowers lend interest, followed by magenta summerflowering Erica cinerea f. aureifolia ‘Summer

Gold’ and Erica cinerea ‘ C.D. Eason’, and then shell-pink Calluna vulgaris ‘H.E. Beale’ for autumn. ‘I have planted Erica carnea gracilis in planters en masse, which look lovely in autumn,’ Helen adds. ‘They are not hardy though so need protection through the winter. This is a useful way to grow heathers if you don’t have acid soil.’

RHS WISLEY, Extensive heather garden, with National Collection of Erica. Open daily, pre-book. Adult £14.95, child £7.45.

Tel: 01483 224234; rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley HOLEHIRD GARDENS, Lakeland garden for all seasons, with National Collection of Daboecias. Open daily. Entry by donation.

Tel: 01539 446008; holehirdgardens.org.uk NATIONAL TRUST NYMANS,