Calluna vulgaris Garden Girls® 'Katja' – 'Katja' Heather

Enhance your fall arrangements with the fiery tones of Garden Girls® 'Katja' Heather. This compact dwarf shrub sets itself apart with an abundance of intense, almost scarlet-red flower buds that sparkle from August right into the first days of winter. Because its flowers remain tightly closed as buds, they hold up exceptionally well against rain, wind, and frost without ever fading. Its scale-like, deep dark green foliage creates a striking contrast that emphasizes the brilliance of its late-season bloom.

Characteristics

• Foliage : Evergreen, scale-like leaves that are very dense and small, displaying a rich dark green tone in every season.
• Flowering : Multitude of bright to dark red flower buds that do not open, preserving their brilliance from late summer into the heart of winter.
• Light : Requires full sun or light partial shade to intensify the color of the buds and maintain a dense habit.
• Habit : Dwarf, compact, spreading, and upright shrub.
• Growth : Slow-growing; forms a very neat and regular bushy structure.
• Soil : Needs acid, poor, well-drained soil that remains consistently cool, ideally enriched with sphagnum peat moss.
• Temperature : Canadian hardiness zone 4.
• Resistances : Highly resistant to severe cold, drying winds, and White-tailed deer browsing.

Use

• Types of use : Enhance your rock gardens, bed borders, acidic mass plantings, or fall arrangements in patio containers.
• Decorative benefits : Maintains a colorful and lively structure during the cooler months when the rest of the garden loses its luster.

Maintenance

• Watering : Keep the soil consistently cool, especially during the establishment period. Water regularly without saturating the soil.
• Fertilization : Apply a mild fertilizer for acid-loving plants in early spring if necessary.
• Pruning : Prune lightly just below the old flowers in early spring to encourage branching.
• Planting : Set the root ball into well-drained acidic soil (a mix of planting soil and peat moss) without burying the crown.
• Winter protection : Cover with a layer of evergreen branches in fall to protect the persistent foliage from frost and wind.