The lavender heather quickly catches the eye with its red budding leaves and bell-shaped flowers. It is also an excellent bee pasture.
The lavender heather (Pieris) is also known as the lavender bell, which is impressive individually or as a hedge. The evergreen shrubs are easy to care for and can even withstand freezing temperatures. You can find out what proper care looks like and how to plant lavender heather here.
Heather lavender: flower, origin and properties
The lavender heather (Pieris) is a genus of plants with a total of seven different species within the heather family (Ericacea). They come from the Caribbean, East Asia and North America. Two species, namely Pieris floribunda and Pieris japonica, can also grow in our Central European latitudes. With an increase of about ten centimeters per year, shadow bells grow quite slowly. Lavender heathers are evergreen, perennial shrubs that can reach heights of two to four meters. They have nothing to do with lavender. Only the spiral arrangement of the leaves is reminiscent of the lavender plant. The leaves are leathery, entire and lanceolate in shape. Depending on the species, the foliage turns reddish-brown in autumn. In spring, the lavender heather comes into bloom. The bell-shaped flowers are in racemes or panicles and can be white or pink. Due to its shape, the lavender heather is also called the shadow bell. But the lavender heather is not only visually convincing.
Is the lavender heather bee-friendly? Yes, insects also enjoy the decorative plant, which offers plenty of nectar in spring. It is often used as bee pasture by native insects.
The most beautiful lavender heather varieties
Two types of heather lavender can grow in our latitudes. Breeding has also resulted in some lavender heather varieties, which mainly have different sizes. We present the most beautiful ones herebefore.
- Pieris japonica: The Japanese heather has a loose growth habit and forms white flowers. Breeding has resulted in many lavender heather varieties from this species. If it is planted in a tub, its growth will be somewhat restricted and it will remain smaller. In the bed it grows about 2 - 3 meters high and just as wide.
- Pieris floribunda: The American lavender heather, or multi-flowered lavender heather, stays a little smaller than the Japanese lavender heather with a maximum height of 2 meters. It also has white flowers, is densely branched and can be kept in a bucket.
- Pieris japonica 'Carnaval': This cultivar develops white flowers and has green foliage tinged with creamy white at the edges. Growth height: 80 - 100 cm.
- Pieris japonica 'Little Heath': Here too the foliage is colored green and edged in white. Newly sprouting leaves are reddish and give the plant an interesting appearance. The flower color is white. Growth height: 50 - 60 cm.
- Pieris japonica 'Valley Valentine': The flowers of this variety are red and appear a little earlier than the other varieties from mid-March. Growth height: 80 - 150 cm.
- Pieris japonica 'Forest Flame': The name says it all. The leaves emerge bright red and become lighter with age, first pink, later light green. Since this variety is not very frost hardy, it is only suitable for mild locations. Growth height: 70 - 80 cm.
- Pieris japonica 'Mountain Fire': This variety looks Pieris japonica 'Forest Flame ' Quite similar, but slightly more frost hardy. However, the older foliage turns dark green instead of light green. Growth height: 120 - 160 cm.
Planting Pieris: location, time and procedure
Heather Lavender is a bog plant that needs moist, shady locations and acidic soil to grow he althily. Eria plants also include, for example, rhododendron, azalea (Rhododendron spec.), skimmia (Skimmia spec.), cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-ideaea) or bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus, V. corymbosum). The lavender heath prefers locations in partial shade. Too much sun or shade affects the growth and development of the flowers.
You can put the heather lavender in the flower bed or in a bucketplants. The best time to do this is in the fall. Buds can still be created and you can already enjoy the flowers next spring. First, dig a planting hole, noting the space that the growing lavender heather will take up. That can be 2 meters in width. Prepare a bucket of lime-free water and soak the shadowbell root ball. The plant prefers a rather acidic environment and cannot cope with lime. The lavender heather is placed in the planting hole and any gaps are filled with acidic soil. For example, our Plantura organic acidic soil is recommended for this, which comes with an extra low pH value. It is peat-reduced and was specially developed to meet the needs of ericaceous plants.
Tip: Due to its dense growth, the evergreen lavender heather is perfect as a hedge. The planting distance should then be 20 - 50 cm depending on the variety. The hedge should also be in a partially shaded position.
Care for the lavender heather
Caring for lavender heather is quite unproblematic. Adequate water supply is particularly important. Because heather lavender is poisonous, it is best to wear gloves when pruning or transplanting.
Pruning, watering and fertilizing of lavender heather
Pruning lavender heather allows for longer flowering and bushy growth. Always remove the withered flowers above the next pair of leaves so that new flowers can form here again. After the flowering period, dead or unsightly branches should also be cut off. If a shoot is too long, you can cut it off above a thickening, a so-called eye. This will give you an even appearance.
When watering, the water is particularly important. This should be lime-free, so ideally use rainwater or stagnant tap water. You should water it regularly, but only so much that there is no waterlogging. If you keep the heather lavender in the pot, you can remove the excess water and create a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot.
Shadowbells do not require many nutrients. Nevertheless, you should occasionally fertilize potted plants in particular so that the flowers and foliage continue to grow luxuriantly. For example, our Plantura organic hydrangea fertilizer, which contains all the important nutrients and also has an acidifying effect, is suitable for lavender heaths in pots.It is best to use the fertilizer when planting, repotting and maintenance fertilization so that the lavender heather always feels good. With lavender heather in the bed, it is sufficient if you spread some leaf or needle litter on the ground around the plant. This layer of mulch returns nutrients to the soil and also helps with freezing temperatures.
Heather with lavender: what to do?
It is quite normal for lavender heath to become bare with increasing age and size. Less leaves and flowers are formed inside the shrub and the lavender heather appears bare. Then a cut can help. Pruning is best after flowering in early summer. Cut off the bare branches at the base and trim the remaining shoots 1 to 2 cm above the next flower. The shadow bell will now sprout again.
Yellow leaves on the lavender heather: what to do?
The lavender heather can also attract pests or diseases. This often manifests itself in a discoloration of the foliage. If the lavender heather gets yellow leaves, this can have the following causes:
- Root rot: mainly caused by waterlogging. This occurs when excess water cannot run off. Reduce watering and ensure drainage, e.g. through a drainage layer, especially for potted plants.
- Net bug (Stephanitis): an infestation is initially expressed by a selective discoloration of the leaves. Here the bugs suck the leaves. Later they turn completely yellow. Larvae and eggs are mainly found on the underside of leaves. If you find an infestation, remove all infected leaves immediately, preferably by April. Our Plantura vermin-free neem also helps against net bugs. It is obtained from the seeds of the neem tree and can simply be sprayed on the affected plant.
- Chlorocalcification: Yellow leaves are often a sign of chlorosis, as lavender heaths are very sensitive to it. Make sure that the lavender heather is in acidic soil and that no lime is added via the fertilizer.
- Nutrient deficiency: A lack of iron, magnesium or nitrogen can also lead to discoloration of the leaves. Iron deficiency is also caused, among other things, by lime or too high a soilpH value caused because this inhibits iron absorption. Here, too, the right substrate and the right fertilizer are crucial. If necessary, repot the heather lavender and plant them in a pot with acidic soil.
Propagation
If you want to propagate lavender heather, you can use both cuttings and layering.
For propagation via cuttings, the best time is after the flowering period. This is also the best time for pruning. You can then use the cut off material for the propagation of cuttings.
- Use shoots that are not yet fully lignified but are already beginning to turn brown
- Cut off these shoots at an angle with a sharp cutting tool or simply snap them off. More roots can be formed on a larger cutting or demolition area. The cutting should be about 8 cm long.
- Remove the tip and halve larger leaves. The base is injured with a 1-2 cm incision to encourage rooting.
- As lavender heather cuttings have difficulty rooting, rooting hormones should also be used: roll the base of the cuttings in it.
- Fill a container with loose potting soil, such as our Plantura Organic Herb & Seed Soil. To ensure that the young plants develop sufficient roots, our organic soil is specially equipped with a smaller amount of nutrients. This stimulates the plants to develop their roots vigorously. Mix the substrate with more sand or perlite as the soil needs to be extra well-drained for the lavender heather.
- Insert the shoots halfway into the substrate and then moisten until saturated.
- For rooting to occur, the temperature should be between 12 and 15 °C.
- Keep the soil moist without waterlogging until new leaves have grown. This can take between 6 and 8 weeks.
- Now you can repot the seedlings in acidic soil.
Propagation via planters is best done in spring. To do this, dig a small hollow in the ground next to the mother plant. It should be about 15 cm deep. If the substrate is not already acidic at this point, put a little acidic soil in the hole to improve the conditions for the sinker. Find a one or two year old shoot on theLavender heather mother plant. This shoot is bent down from the mother plant and fixed with soil in the adjacent hollow. The tip of the shoot should protrude about 30 cm from the ground. Now weigh the whole thing down with stones or wire so that the shoot stays securely in the ground. The substrate must be kept moist until autumn so that the shoot forms roots and can be separated. The lavender heather that emerged from the sinker can now be transplanted.
Is the lavender heather hardy?
With the exception of the 'Forest Flame' variety, the lavender heather is very hardy and does not require frost protection. However, there can occasionally be problems with frost drought if the shallow-rooted lavender heather can no longer absorb water from the frozen ground. If the lavender heather is not in a semi-shady place anyway, you can shade the plant in winter so that less water is released through transpiration. However, watering more does not help the plant, since the water in the ground would freeze again.
Potted plants should be protected in the root area with a jute bag, as the substrate in the pot freezes through more quickly.
Are shadowbells poisonous?
Because heather lavender is poisonous, it should never be eaten. Otherwise, it can lead to gastrointestinal problems or, in the case of larger quantities, even shortness of breath. Contact of the plant sap with the skin can also lead to irritation. Therefore, to be on the safe side, wear gloves when handling the shadow bell. The shadow bell is also poisonous for pets.
Another ericaceous plant that goes well with heather lavender is the azalea. We show you how to plant and overwinter the azalea.