Calluna, the happiest bush

Calluna in flower

La Calluna it is a subshrub that produces a large number of flowers. With a height of about 50cm, you can have it both in the garden and in a pot, together with other plants or alone. It grows with hardly any care, and it is also very resistant.

This precious plant not only has a high ornamental value, but it can also be used as a medicinal plant due to its properties.

Characteristics of the Calluna

Calluna vulgaris plant in flower

Our protagonist is a subshrub native to Europe. North of Africa and America that reaches a height between 30 and 50 centimeters. It is known by the names of heather, heather or calluna. It lives in scrublands and heaths, where it grows on acidophilic soils and exposed to the sun, from sea level to 2600 meters of altitude..

It is characterized by having many upright reddish-brown branches, with small and very numerous green leaves. The flowers are also very small, purple-pink in color. They form a terminal cluster and sprout in spring.

How do you take care of yourself?

Calluna and Erica in garden

If you want to have one or more copies, then we tell you what care it requires:

  • Location: full sun. It does not grow well in semi-shade.
  • Soil or substrate: it must have a low pH (between 4 and 6), and very good drainage to avoid root rot. In pot you can use acidic plant soil mixed with 30% perlite.
  • Irrigation: every 2 or 3 days in summer, and every 5-6 days the rest of the year.
  • Planting or transplanting time: in spring.
  • Subscriber: from spring to summer it is highly recommended to fertilize it with organic fertilizers, such as guano or worm castings.
  • Rusticity: supports frosts down to -7ºC.

Uses of calluna

Calluna flowers

It is a plant that is grown for its ornamental value, but also for its interesting medicinal properties. It is used as an astringent, antiseptic, and sedative. It is also one of the so-called Bach Flowers, natural remedies that treat the emotional origin of diseases; specifically, heather is used to treat self-centeredness.

What's more, the honey that is extracted from the flowers can be consumed smoothly.

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