“I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills.” –
Heaths and heathers are coming into their own at this time of the year, and while I’ve never grown them, I see them here and there, and anything slightly green or flowering is a glorious sight. Like the hellebores, they are early bloomers, with foliage that is often evergreen – unfortunately when it’s not, they can look a little ragged and bedraggled, which is largely why I have avoided them in our own garden.
That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them in others, and on a recent stroll in Boston I came upon these beauties, defying the current winter-throwback cold spell and bravely blooming in the face of all the ill wind.
