Yellow heath shines brightly between mountains and marshes
The yellow of sunshine as winter turns to spring. That's how the Dwarf Heath, Erica nana, just one of the heaths only found in the Cape region of South Africa, has been described.
With 770 species, southern Africa has 90% of the world's ericas, or heaths. Europe, well known for its heaths and heathers, has only 21 species.
This low-growing shrub is considered one of the showiest and maybe yellowest. The flowers start yellow-green but in full bloom they turn the whole bush bright yellow.
I need to now make a confession. The lovely yellow flowers at the top of this post are a hybrid, with Erica nana one of the parents. So if you can't climb the 'high slopes of the Hottentots Holland Mountains' or crawl among the 'cracks and crevices above Kogel Bay' you can at least appreciate some of the attributes of the Dwarf Erica in your garden.
I saw and photographed it in the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden, in Bettys Bay, an hour's drive south-east of …
With 770 species, southern Africa has 90% of the world's ericas, or heaths. Europe, well known for its heaths and heathers, has only 21 species.
This low-growing shrub is considered one of the showiest and maybe yellowest. The flowers start yellow-green but in full bloom they turn the whole bush bright yellow.
I need to now make a confession. The lovely yellow flowers at the top of this post are a hybrid, with Erica nana one of the parents. So if you can't climb the 'high slopes of the Hottentots Holland Mountains' or crawl among the 'cracks and crevices above Kogel Bay' you can at least appreciate some of the attributes of the Dwarf Erica in your garden.
I saw and photographed it in the Harold Porter National Botanical Garden, in Bettys Bay, an hour's drive south-east of …
