Heather Quarterly

Volume 33 Number 4 Issue #132 Fall 2010

North American Heather Society

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The heather man Jean Julian ...................................................2

David Small: heather expert, friend, and mentor Barry Sellers ......................................................................4

Memories of David Small Richard Canovan...............................8

A thank you to Anne Small Dee Daneri ................................21

David Small and my introduction to the world of Cape heaths Susan Kay .......................................................................22

Erica umbellata ‘David Small’ Ella May T. Wulff......................11

Heathers associated with David Small and/or Denbeigh Nurseries........................................................................25

2009-2010 Index......................................................................27

Fall 2010HNQ # 132

Heather News, all rights reserved, is published quarterly by the North American Heather Society, a tax exempt organization. The purpose of The Society is the: (1) advancement and study of the botanical genera Andromeda, Calluna, Cassiope, Daboecia, Erica, and Phyllodoce, commonly called heather, and related genera; (2) dissemination of information on heather; and (3) promotion of fellowship among those interested in heather.

NAHS Board of Directors (2009-2010) PRESIDENT Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95410-0673, USA 707-937-3155, Fax 707-964-3114, abreu@mcn.org FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT Stefani McRae-Dickey, 754 Wyatt Lane, Philomath, OR 97370-9022, USA 541-929-7988, mcraedic@peak.org SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT Pat Hoffman, PO Box 305, Swedesboro, NJ 08085-0305, USA 856-467-4711, njgardener15@hotmail.com SECRETARY Joyce Prothero, 281 Cudmore Hts, Saltspring Island, BC V8K 2J7, Canada Phone/Fax 250-537-9215, jprothero@saltspring.com TREASURER John Calhoun, 31100 Country Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 (707) 964-0804, jcalhoun@mcn.org PAST PRESIDENT Ella May Wulff, 2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370-5908, USA 541-929-6272, ewulff@peak.org DIRECTORS

Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95410-0673, USA 707-937-3155, Fax 707-964-3114, abreu@mcn.org Mendocino Coast Heather Society (MCHS) Ramona Bloomingdale, P.O. Box 1136, Gold Beach, OR 97444-1136, USA 541-247-6017, bloom86@msn.com Oregon Heather Society (OHS) Don Jewett, 2655 Virginia Ct., Fortuna, CA 95540, USA 707-725-1394, donjewett@att.net Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire (HERE) Karla Lortz, Shelton, 502 E Haskell Hill Rd., Shelton, WA 98584-8429, USA 360-427-5318, handh@heathsandheathers.com Cascade Heather Society (CHS) Michael Krieger, 4280 Camsusa Rd, Box 19, Malahat, BC V0R 2L0, Canada 250-391-6225, kriegerm@telus.net Vancouver Island Heather Society (VIHS) Mary Matwey, 7 Heights Court, Binghamton, NY 13905, USA 607-723-1418, mmatwey@stny.rr.com Northeast Heather Society (NEHS)

Board Appointments (For details, see inside back cover) Sharon Hardy - Book Librarian Janice Leinwebber - Slide Librarian for United States Stefani McRae-Dickey - Editor, Heather Quarterly Elaine Scott - Slide Librarian for Canada Ella May Wulff - Membership Chair, Storefront Manager

HOw TO gET THE lATEST HEATHER INFORMATIONBROWSE NAHS website – www.northamericanheathersoc.orgREAD Heather Quarterly by NAHS CHS NEWS by CHS Heather Clippings by HERE Heather Drift by VIHS Heather News by MCHS Heather Notes by NEHS Heather & Yon by OHSATTEND Society and Chapter meetings (See The Calendar on page 24)

HOw TO gET PUBlISHED IN HEAtHEr QuArtErlyCONTACT Stefani McRae-Dickey, Editor of Heather Quarterly mcraedic@peak.org 541-929-7988. 754 Wyatt Lane, Philomath,OR 97370-9022OK for ideas and last-minute news.DEADLINES 21st March, June, September, and December

HOw TO PAY MEMBERSHIP DUESMEMBERSHIP BENEFITS include an electronic subscription to the Quarterly, participation in Society meetings and elections; borrowing privileges for book library and slide programs; discounts from Storefront, some nurseries.DUES NAHS: $15/year, $28/2 years, $40/3 years with electronic newsletter. To receive mailed copies of the newsletter add: $11/year in US, $15/year in Canada, $22/year outside of US and Canada Chapter dues can be paid when paying NAHS dues, by adding: CHS $5/year; HERE(1 person), MCHS, OHS, VIHS $10/year; HERE(family), NEHS $15/yearREMIT TO John Calhoun, NAHS Treasurer 31100 Country Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 (707) 964-0804, DETAILS Ella May Wulff, Membership Chair ewulff@peak.org, 541-929-6272, NAHS website 2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370-5908, USA

HOw TO BUY FROM THE STOREFRONTBROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersoc.orgCONTACT Ella May T. Wulff, Storefront Manager, (Address: see above.)

HOw TO BORROw BOOkS FROM THE NAHS lIBRARYWRITE Sharon Hardy, 50 Del Point Drive, Klamath, CA 95548-9331, USA. sharhardy@earthlink.net, 707-482-6755, NAHS website

HOw TO BORROw SlIDE PROgRAMSWRITE Janice Leinwebber (Slide Librarian for members in USA) 8268 S. Gribble Road, Canby, OR 97013, USA hheather@canby.com, 503-263-2428, or NAHS website Elaine Scott (Slide Librarian for members in Canada) 2836 Oceanside Lane, Mill Bay, BC V0R 2P2, CAN. TheScottRogers@aol.com, 250-743-0965, NAHS website

HOw TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE NAHS wEBSITEBROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersoc.orgCONTACT Stefani McRae-Dickey,754 Wyatt Lane, Philomath OR, USA, mcraedic@peak.org 541 929-7988.

The Information Page

COVER: Design, Joyce Descloux IMAGE: Erica umbellata ‘David Small’

Fall 2010HNQ # 132 128

Authors, photographers and illustrators submitting work for publication in Heather News implicitly agree that such work may also be published on the NAHS website or in other NAHS eductional materials, and reprinted by NAHS chapters for educational purposes. Any other use will require separate permission from the author, photographer or illustrator.

David SmallDecember 8, 1939 to November 11, 2010

In this issue, we remember and pay tribute to David Small, a great educator, nurseryman, and champion of heather. We have lost a pillar of the heather world and will miss him greatly.

Although I never had the pleasure of meeting David, I felt a connection through The Handy Guide to Heathers, written by Anne and David Small and published by The Heather Society. This book is the go-to resource for heather gardeners from novice to expert. Many of us would never have progressed beyond just a few plants, bought on impulse, to entire beds of heather without this essential guide. That he included anecdotes on the origin of plants and their names gave one the feeling of chatting with a friend. Of course, I added notes and highlighted plants and information so that my copy had become quite personalized and well thumbed when it was stolen. While I mourn its loss, I find the online Handy Guide and DIY site is an excellent substitute.

We are most grateful to David Small for his generosity and his many contributions. Thank you to the many correspondents who shared their remembrances in this memorial issue.

If you would like to send a personal tribute or share an anecdote about David to be published in a future issue of the quarterly, please email it to me by March 4, 2011.

This tribute will be continued in the Winter 2011 issue.

The Editor

By AuthorAllison, Barbara Calluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’ 130:25Burling, Brian Erica x oldenburgensis ‘Ammerland’ 127:11Canovan, Richard Erica x griffithsii ‘Jacqueline’ 128:12Canovan, Richard Heather gardening on clay 125:4 Canovan, Richard Memories of David Small 132:8Canovan, Richard Winter damage to Erica erigena 130:7Daneri, Dee A Thank You to Anne Small 132:21Dickey, Paul Treasurer’s report 129:24Doyle, Judy Remember the name 129:8Gardner, Ben A few random thoughts while weeding 127:01Hardy, Sharon Calluna vulgaris ‘Californian Midge’ 129:11Henson, Irene Calluna vulgaris ‘Winter Chocolate’ 125:7Hoffman, Pat NEHS/NAHS 2009 Conference Report 127:18Johansson, Brita Raising Calluna from seed 125.09 Julian, Jean Hardy heather cultivars originating in North America 125:12Julian, Jean The heather man 132:2Kay, Susan David Small and my introduction to the world of Cape heaths 132:22Knight, Alice In Memoriam: Pauline Croxton 131:21Lewis, Kathy Gardening with Hardy Heathers 126:23Lortz, Karla Reflections on David Small 132:8Mackay, Donald A. M. Deer and heather and the Angels’s Share 130:21Mackay, Donald A. M. Hardiness zones 129:17Mackay, Donald A. M. Naturalized heather in Maine 128:05Mackay, Donald A. M. Searching for Erica tetralix “Rodney Dangerfield” 126:06Mackay, Donald A. M. When heathers brown 131:7Matwey, Mary Heathers for a Zone Five Garden 128:9Nelson, Charles The Heather Society awards honorary membership to

Ella May Thomson Wulff 127:08Nelson, E. Charles Some more about “rair toor sepip”: Irish examples of brier-root

pipes 127:15Plumridge, Rita & David Erica cinerea ‘Vivienne Patricia’ 126:17Schröder, J. The multibracteate forms of true heather 129:4Sellers, Barry A few jottings on tree heaths 128:17Sellers, Barry David Small: heather expert, friend, and mentor 132:4Wilson, David Golden pleasures 131:5Wilson, David More on pruning 127:09Wilson, David A new heather to treasure 129:13Wulff, Ella May T. Daboecia: a pruning experiment 128:02 Wulff, Ella May T. Erica umbellata ‘David Small’ 132:11Wulff, Ella May T. How to prune Calluna vulgaris 127:02Wulff, Ella May T. How to prune Erica carnea 130:5 Wulff, Ella May T. In Memoriam: Edith Davis 126:21Wulff, Ella May T. In Memoriam: George S. “Mac” MacKinnon 131:20Wulff, Ella May T. In Memoriam: Jürgen Schröder 131:19Wulff, Ella May T. An Irishman’s Cuttings 129:20 Wulff, Ella May T. Pruning smarter 131:1 Wulff, Ella May T. Why Prune? 126:03

Ewalt, Susan A special man 132:32Mackay, Donald A. M. David Small: reflections on a giant 132:33David Small: reflections on a giant 132:33132:33Plumridge, David David Small – A Personal Appreciation 132:17 Taylor, Bryan David Small as educator 132:19

Wiksten, Judy David Small, no Pooh-Bah 132:20Wilson, David Long-distance collaboration with David Small 132:16

Wulff, Ella May T. The irreplaceable David Small 132:35

Fall 2010HNQ # 1322 27

The heather man

Jean JulianMatchams, Main Street, Askham Richard, Yorkshire YO23 3PT, Englandjeanjulian@btinternet.com

David Small joined The Heather Society in 1966 at the age of 25, thus adding a breath of youth to the founding members. Many other younger people soon followed; and if he did not initiate their joining, his enthusiasm for heathers certainly encouraged them to stay.

Anne and David originally came from southeast London, an impoverished area of the city. Having married young and just set up home, they could not afford to purchase plants for the garden they had just laid out. David thought that by joining the society, he would get lots of free plants given by other members. He chose The Heather Society because included among alpine plants they had bought was an Erica × darleyensis ‘Darley Dale’, which they had been told was a low maintenance plant. Because they were both working, this suited them well.

In 1967, David attended the annual general meeting of the society in London, where members were wearing sprigs of heather in their buttonholes. The secretary, Constance Macleod, had a different sprig, one of Erica speciosa. David was smitten. He persuaded her to give it to him, and on his return home he immediately propagated it. By now, they had moved to a bungalow with quite a large garden, so in his spare time he produced and sold Cape heaths, a plant quite unknown in the UK at that time.

His love of Cape heaths continued, and when his employers (he was a chartered electrical engineer with British Telecom) moved him to their research station near Ipswich, David and Anne started up their nursery business, Denbeigh Heather Nurseries, in the little village of Creeting St. Mary. In their first year, they sold Cape heaths only but the following year expanded to propagate and sell all forms of heather, eventually building it up into a full

2009-2010 Index

No AuthorCascade Heather Society Measuring Party 125:25Heathers associated with David Small and/or Denbeigh Heather Nurseries 132:25In the news [Philadelphia Flower Show] 129:16In the News: Bloedel Reserve 125:11In the news: Heather featured in Fine Gardening magazine 128:08Measuring Party Update 126:25NAHS board meeting minutes, 2008 125:20NAHS Board meeting minutes, 2009 128:23NAHS Donors 126:20, 128:28, 129:28 News from our members 128:22Notes on the cold hardiness of some tree heaths 128:20Nurseries offering NAHS discounts 131:22Spring tips on my heathers 2010 131:15Winter damage reports 130:11Winter damage and survival reports 2009 127:21Year-end financial report: Budget for 2009 125:27

E. Charles Nelson, David Small, and David McClintock in Alto de Campoo, Puerto de Piedrasluengas, Spain, in 1982; propagated by DHN.

‘Valerie Griffiths’ E. × griffithsii: seedling from E. manipuliflora ‘Aldeburgh’ deliberately crossed with E. vagans ‘Valerie Proudley’ by John Griffiths (Garforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire) and raised by John Griffiths in 1983; DHN.

‘Winter Snow’ E. carnea: seedling from ‘Snow Queen’ deliberately crossed with ‘Springwood White’ by Kurt Kramer in 1984; selected by Kramer; named and introduced by the British Heather Growers Association; registered by David Small in 1993.

This list was compiled by Ella May T. Wulff from information in The Heather Society’s database of cultivars.

From E. Charles Nelson, who worked with David on the database:

“Bear in mind that some other plants may have David Small associations that are not explicit in the database, such as E. andevalensis. David acted as the Society when a plant was being named, and such plants are not necessarily signalled in any way. We used ‘introduction’ in the database when there was a clear commercial introduction for cultivars; however, many cultivars merely seeped out without any clear introducer. The same term applies to ‘introduction into cultivation’ for E. andevalensis, as David was the principal person connected with the Spanish collections of 1982.”

Fall 2010HNQ # 132 326

time business. Everyone in Creeting St. Mary knew David, but few knew his proper name. To them, he was “the heather man”.

David joined The Heather Society council in 1978, working his way up to chairman of the technical committee and eventually to chairman and president. He was not really a gardener but, rather, a great plantsman. His knowledge of heathers was second to none, and he travelled the world for the opportunity to see heathers, propagate them and then pass on the knowledge. I remember well climbing hills with him in Majorca, in December when it was snowing steadily, in order to find new varieties of Erica multiflora.

Before becoming a nurseryman, David had quite a stressful job, working in communications research, in particular with silicon chips and computers. He had to work away a lot, and his personality did not lend itself to snatch relaxation when a moment became available; so he, like many others, suffered from high blood pressure, which ultimately brought about the kidney failure that caused his death.

David Small “in the field.” Yachats, Oregon 2002. Photo by Barry Wulff.

‘Edith Godbolt’ C. vulgaris: seedling raised by A. Taylor (Crowborough, Sussex) in 1972; DHN 1975.

‘Egdon Heath’ E. ciliaris: wild-collected on Hartland Moor, Dorset by Miss Joyce Burfitt in 1974; DHN 1979.

‘Formentor’ E. multiflora: wild-collected by Anne and David Small on the Formentor Peninsula, Mallorca, Spain in 1984; DHN.

‘Galicia’ E. mackayana: wild-collected in Galicia, Spain, by David McClintock, E. C. Nelson,and David Small in 1982; DHN 1990.

‘Ghislaine’ Cape heath (Erica) hybrid: rescued from a nursery in Iver Heath, Berkshire, in 1994, possibly raised by Milton Hutchings Ltd, Uxbridge, Middlesex before 1980; DHN 1997 and named after the granddaughter of David and Anne Small.

‘Godrevy’ E. cinerea: wild-collected by David Small at Godrevy Towans, Cornwall in 1972; DHN 1979.

‘Hamlet Green’ C. vulgaris: found by Albert Turner (The Hamlet, Hall Green, Birmingham) in 1972; DHN 1978.

‘Harry Fulcher’ E. cinerea: seedling found by B. G. (Jack) London before 1977 in his garden at Taverham, Norfolk; introduced by Neil Brummage (Heathwoods Nursery, Norfolk) as ‘Eden Valley Improved’ in 1978; re-named at Jack London’s request and registered by David Small in 1981.

‘Ian Cooper’ E. manipuliflora: wild-collected by A. G. Small on Otok Korčula in Croatia in 1978; registered by David Small in 1986.

‘Ice Princess’ E. carnea: seedling from ‘Snow Queen’ deliberately crossed with ‘Springwood White’ by Kurt Kramer in 1984; selected by Kramer; named and introduced by the British Heather Growers Association; registered by David Small in 1993.

‘Jack London’ E. cinerea: seedling found by B. G. (Jack) London of Taverham, Norfolk in 1979; DHN 1987.

‘Jason Attwater’ Erica carnea: wild-collected by David Small on the north shore of Lake Plansee, Austria in 1982; DHN 1995.

‘Jean Julian’ E. × williamsii: wild-collected by Jean Julian at Kynance Cove, The Lizard, Cornwall in 1999; registered by David Small in 2001.

‘Polra’ E. erigena: wild-collected by David Small, Brian Nelson and Charles Nelson in Mulranny, County Mayo, Ireland in 1983; selected by David Small in 2003.

‘Red Carpet’ C. vulgaris: raised by A. Taylor (Crowborough, Sussex); DHN 1975.

‘Spanish Lime’ E. arborea: wild-collected foliage color sport on E. arborea found by

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David Small: heather expert, friend, and mentor

Barry Sellers8 Croft Rd., Norbury, London SW16 3NF, Englandsellersbarry@aol.com

I was looking through my old correspondence the other day and found a letter from David Small dated March 1978, clearly a reply to my earlier letter to David. That was 32 years ago. How time flies! Our correspondence was about Cape heaths and germination by fire. I had obtained my first Cape heath in the 1970s, a yellow-flowered Erica pageana from Hillier’s nurseries near my parents’ home in Hampshire, UK. The then-secretary of The Heather Society, Constance MacLeod (I had been a member since 1974), put me in touch with David because of his interest in Cape heaths. In a further letter the same month, he introduced me to another Cape heath grower, Phil Joyner, who also was located near my parents. In those early years, I obtained rooted cuttings by mail order from David’s Denbeigh Heather Nurseries. I first visited David’s nursery in the 1980s. I was amazed to see so many Cape heaths being grown as cuttings. Talking with David at that time was a real inspiration. His knowledge and enthusiasm for heathers and The Heather Society were infectious.

Meeting up with David and his wife Anne at Heather Society events and conferences was a pleasure. He was always on hand to assist with identification of a plant, and nothing seemed too much trouble for him. He was a very generous and kind man in every way.

David encouraged me to join the governing council of The Heather Society when he was its chairman. It brought me into contact with a huge “family” of heather enthusiasts, none more enthusiastic than David himself.

It was a fitting tribute for him to be elected president of The Heather Society in 2000 following the death of its previous president, David McClintock: for the enormous amount of time

Heathers associated with David Small and/or Denbeigh Heather Nurseries Denbeigh Heather Nurseries was established by David and Anne Small in Tonbridge, Kent, England in 1972 and operated in Creeting St. Mary, Suffolk

from 1975 until they ceased trading publicly at the end of 1999.

Unless otherwise noted, localities given here are in England. C. = Calluna. E. = Erica. DHN + date = a cultivar introduced by Denbeigh Heather Nurseries in the

year given.

‘African Fanfare’ Cape heath (Erica) hybrid: of uncertain and unknown origin, grown in Europe and Australasia under various names. Registered by David Small for The Heather Society in 2002.

‘Albert’s Gold’ E. arborea: sport on ‘Alpina’ found by Albert S. Turner (Birmingham) in 1971; DHN 1975.

‘Aldeburgh’ E. manipuliflora: collected from the hedge of Talltrees, Aldeburgh, Suffolk by David Small; DHN 1976.

‘Altadena’ E. carnea: seedling found by Alan Taylor in his aunt’s garden (Altadena, Crowborough, Sussex) by 1973; DHN 1975.

‘Anne Small’ E. umbellata: seedling raised from seeds collected in Spain from a white-flowering plant by Maria Isabel Fraga Vila and sent to DHN for germination.

‘Bell’s Extra Special’ E. carnea: seedling from open-pollinated ‘Myretoun Ruby’ raised by Kurt Kramer (Edewecht-Süddorf, Germany) in 1984; selected by Kurt Kramer in 1992; DHN 1993. Trade designation: E. carnea WHISKY.

‘Brockhill’ E. × veitchii: seedling said to have originated at Veitch’s Nursery near Brockhill, Devon; named by David McClintock in 1994; DHN.

‘Caleb Threlkeld’ C. vulgaris: wild-collected in 1977 at Bridge of Allen, County Clare, Ireland by E. C. Nelson; DCN 1983.

‘Clare Carpet’ C. vulgaris: wild-collected in 1977 at Bridge of Allen, County Clare, Ireland by E. C. Nelson; DCN 1983.

‘Crowborough Beacon’ C. vulgaris: seedling found by A. Taylor (Crowborough, Sussex) about 1971; DHN 1975.

‘David Small’ E. umbellata: wild-collected in northern Spain by David McClintock, David Small, and E. C. Nelson in 1982; named after David Small, Chairman of The Heather Society (1992–2000), to mark his outstanding contribution to the work of the society and his endeavours in propagating and promoting heathers.

‘Delta’ E. tetralix: found by A. Taylor in his garden (Crowborough, Sussex) in 1970; DHN 1976.

Fall 2010HNQ # 132 524

and energy he devoted to the Society, for his leadership, and for his wealth and depth of knowledge of heathers. I was amazed at his knowledge of all the species and cultivars and his eye for being able to readily identify a cultivar when others were still looking puzzled.

The two Heather Society trips to South Africa came about as a result of his passion and enthusiasm for Cape heaths and the interest of a number of members. It is a real privilege to have travelled with him on these two trips. They would not have taken place without his energy and motivation to make them happen. His organisational skills working with Ted Oliver in South Africa brought about two sensational trips to various parts of the Western Cape Province to see the delights of well over 100 species of Erica growing in their natural habitat.

During the first THS expedition to South

Africa, 1999, David Small holds precious cuttings

of E. bergiana selected for propagation, Barry Sellers

and Ted Oliver examine other plants, and David Edge makes

notes. Photo by Barry Wulff.

Editor’s Acknowledgments and Credits

Manuscripts: Richard Canovan, Dee Daneri, Jean Julian,

Susan Kay, Barry Sellers, Ella May Wulff

Other written contributions: Stefani McRae-Dickey

Cover photo: Barry Wulff

Other photos: credits noted in captions

Proofreading: Ella May Wulff

Printing and distribution: Paul Dickey, Stefani McRae-

Dickey, OSU Printing & Mailing Services

instead of a photograph in a book.

I write of David, but we must not forget the part Anne played in the excursions and the collection of material. They were a team in the exploration of the Cape heath world, and the opening of this world to me will never be forgotten. I owe an enormous debt to both of them.

Thank you, David, for first taking me to the larger part of the ericaceous world, 6,000 miles away from Ireland.

Erica cerinthoides, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South

Africa.Photo by Barry Wulff.

Fall 2010HNQ # 132 236

Of special note were the visits to the Kogelberg, Table Mountain, and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town. For me, they were the visits of a lifetime, thanks to David and the opportunities he brought about. These trips were both very successful and much appreciated by all who participated.

David gave me great encouragement in my early days of experimenting with cross-pollinating species of Erica. In the 1990s, I had experimented with crossing E. erigena with E. lusitanica. David Small came to visit my garden in London with David McClintock to see the results of one of my experiments, as I was certain that I had created a new hybrid. David Small agreed that the cross appeared to have been achieved. He invited me to bring some stems in flower up to Denbeigh to scan and compare with the parent species. This I did and brought along cuttings material, too. Through David’s scans comparing the anthers of the parent plants and those of the putative hybrid, we could see that it truly was a hybrid (now officially named E. lusitanica × erigena ‘Lucy Gena’). David was successful in rooting the cuttings material.

A few years, later my hybrid plant suddenly died. As I had no rooted cuttings, I was very thankful that David still had plants of the hybrid. With the onset of David’s illness during recent years, David Edge took over most of David Small’s Cape heaths collection and with it the one surviving plant of my hybrid. David Edge took fresh cutting material to bulk up a number of David Small’s plants. My thanks must go to both David Small and David Edge for the survival of ‘Lucy Gena’.

During the last 10 years, I often drove to David’s nursery at the weekend to give him seedlings of Cape heaths that I had grown from seed. I was happy to help add to the more than 100 species of Erica in the Cape heaths collection. In return, David would give me a few rooted cuttings of Cape heaths that I did not have in my own collection. I helped out in the nursery on a number of my visits, often transplanting cuttings into pots or transplanting small plants into larger pots. This I enjoyed immensely. The hospitality

there first. At each stop, he would descend from the bus with camera already clicking, followed closely by Anne, notebook in hand to record every shot he took. This regimen lasted almost two weeks, during which David was able to collect about 150 specimens, for which he had obtained South African export permits (now extremely difficult to obtain).

His passion then extended to growing on the cuttings, which came to form a huge collection of Cape heaths, these being housed in a wonderful state-of-the-art polytunnel. The survivors of this collection are now in the care of our current THS chairman, David Edge, who was along on that African adventure.

David Small was always available on the phone to discuss my problems with heathers. Whatever solution he advised for me, I would try it out; and nearly every time, it worked and solved the problem. What to do with the soil? How to improve the strike rate of cuttings? Advice on pruning? There was never a question that he could not answer.

He was also very generous with the Cape heaths that he had grown. I still have some in my garden that have managed to survive. As I write, a couple are in flower, though partially covered in snow. Looking at them brings back the memories of hopping on and off the bus in Africa to view yet another prize Erica and seeing David’s face light up as another plant was discovered, becoming a reality

Ted Oliver and David Small on the slope of Table Mountain at

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa,

1999. Photo by Barry Wulff.

Fall 2010HNQ # 132 722

provided by David and Anne on those occasions was wonderful, especially sitting around the dining table chatting about all things heathers, as well as partaking in Anne’s sumptuous meals.

I miss David very much, as do so many.

David Small potting up cuttings in his Cape heaths tunnel. Photo by Ted Oliver.

“In a small garden, heathers can, with advantage, occupy the greater part of the space. With careful planning, a new heather garden can give a colorful display in three to four years, requires little maintenance, and will last 15 to 25 years or longer.” David Small

Gardening with Hardy Heathers, 2008

Thank you Anne, for your strength and support of David. As David devoted his retirement to The Heather Society, you devoted your life to him, making possible all that he did. I will never be able to separate the two of you as a team. David’s devotion to everyone may have reached a point where it could never satiate our needs. While we will celebrate this great friend and mentor as a legend in our heather world, we will also remember with gratitude the woman who was that lady behind the great man. Thank you, Anne.

David Small and my introduction to the world of Cape heaths

Susan KayLettergesh, East Renvyle, County Galway, Ireland susiek@gofree.indigo.ie

Without my having met David Small in 1995, I wonder where life would have taken me. Because of David, I spend most of my time trying to grow heathers and visiting South Africa and other countries in search of Erica plants. As it did for many others, the enthusiasm that David radiated caught my imagination and opened up a whole new world of heathers.

David was the driving force behind the first visit of The Heather Society to South Africa. We were all introduced to the magic of Cape heaths in Dublin at the 1995 conference organised by Dr. Charles Nelson, when Dr. E. G. H. Oliver brought with him more than 130 species in flower. David was very keen to take a group of THS members to see the plants in their native habitat. It took four years for the tour to happen, but his dream (and ours) came true when ten of us joined him for a heather intensive tour of the Western Cape Province, made possible through the guidance of Ted Oliver.

We were not allowed to laze around the hotel pool each morning but would, instead, board our coach, with David always in

Fall 2010HNQ # 132

Memories of David Small

Richard Canovan10 Queenborough, Toothill, Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 8DU, Englandrichard_canovan@360.com

My first memory of David is from the 1988 Heather Society (THS) conference in Gregynog Hall, University of Wales.

This was The Heather Society’s jubilee, commemorating its first 25 years. So large was the attendance (78 according to the Year Book report) that some of us had to be accommodated in the cottage and a few more in a nearby B&B on a farm. David and Anne Small, two others, and I were in the latter. They made me feel very welcome. The 1989 Conference at Houghall, Durham was to have an even larger attendance of over 90 members. Those were the days.

In the early 1990s, conferences hardly ever failed to have a presentation by David about exciting new cultivars, often from Kurt Kramer. These were invariably followed by a sale of rooted cuttings, from which I have derived much pleasure. In 1991, David negotiated for the Society a bargain for the conference at the Butterfly Hotel in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, offering tremendous accommodation and a great programme.

In 1992, at the Dundee conference, David was elected Chairman. Membership was now falling, but he was full of hope. We then had a reception at which a plaque was presented to Bell’s (the whisky distiller) for maintaining the stunning Cherrybank Gardens at

David and Anne Small in 1988, at The Heather Society confernce in Wales. Photo

by David Plumridge.

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A thank you to Anne Small

Dee Daneri11 Pinecrest, Fortuna, CA 95540; deedaneri@aol.com

Most of us can easily recall the time it took between our first expression of interest in heaths and heather and our knowledge of David Small. For me, it was just six months from learning of these wonderful plants to finding myself parked in front of the Smalls’ house in Creeting St. Mary, England. It was 1993.

David and Anne welcomed me like royalty. They insisted that I be their house guest, arranged for me to be David McClintock’s guest at the Wisley Flower Show two days later, took me to a local garden club meeting, wined me and dined me, then sent me away with the first heather collection to come to California for an upcoming botanical garden.

They both seemed to be working in many directions, with a synergism of teamwork that I will never forget. At first glimpse, the hoop-houses in the Small garden seemed to be a myriad of confusion. But not so fast. David had a very sophisticated database system, even by today’s standards, showing location, quantity, accession date, and more, for every plant in this huge collection. During the daytime, the Small kitchen turned into a plant collection sorting area, as the couple zipped from cutting bed to cutting bed, as if there were neon signs pointing to what they wanted. The computer system was monitored and labels were created. Then, as if a time capsule had suddenly burst, I was back in Fortuna, sorting the new collection that would spread across Northern California.

By 1994, I was repeating the drill, only this time at least able to keep up with the spirit and the urgency with which David worked and Anne kept pace. David was there leading, showing, and always sharing. I can remember taking 110% from David Small, but I can remember no opportunity to return the gift of his time.

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their headquarters in Perth.

One of many examples of David’s generosity was his giving me, in 1994, a plant of Erica × darleyensis ‘Erecta’ because he did not have left for sale the Erica erigena cultivars I had sought. I still have the original plant and have propagated it, and it is one my best winter bloomers. I treasure it, because this cultivar is rare. I ordered many plants from his Denbeigh Heather Nurseries, often after having received David’s careful advice as to which plants would be suitable for my situations.

In July 1996, David held a cuttings session at Denbeigh. Members were invited to bring along samples to root if they wished, an offer I took up as I had a promising sport on a Dalmatian plant. This was to become Erica manipuliflora ‘Toothill Mustard’.

The First International Heather Conference, held in Elmshorn, Germany in 2000, was a great event. David arranged an outstanding post-conference tour of German and Dutch heather nurseries. This involved meticulous planning and was typical of David’s attention to detail and catering for everybody’s needs.

At the separate annual general meeting of THS in Buxton in September 2000, David stood down as chairman. I still remember some of the group going to a pub for lunch before dispersing. His chairmanship ended on as high a note as it began. But I specifically recall his explaining how on earth a heath as outstanding as Erica mackayana ‘Shining Light’ could possibly be losing its Award of Garden Merit. [It apparently was not considered sufficiently “available within the UK” by the powers-that-be in the Royal Horticultural Society – as if availability had anything to do with merit!] David wrote up the full awards list for the autumn 2002 Bulletin of The Heather Society. This was later excerpted in the winter 2003 issue of Heather News Quarterly under the title “Awards of Garden Merit: The RHS giveth, taketh away”.

Of course, as president of The Heather Society after retiring from its chairmanship, David continued to be ever present in heather

weather extremes, and I shall be interested to see if the additional attention to drainage improves their chance of surviving future cold spells.

Baker, H.A. and E. G. H. Oliver. 1967. Ericas in Southern Africa. Cape Town: Purnell.

Bulletin of The Heather Society 5 (18): 4 (1999).

Hall, Allen. 2002. The hardiness of some of the less familiar heathers in the English Midlands. Yearbook of The Heather Society 2002: 37–42.

McClintock, David. 1983. Inter Hispanicum Ericaceum. Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (1): 33–40.

Metheny, Dorothy. 1991. Hardy Heather Species. Seaside, Oregon: Frontier Publishing.

Nelson, E. Charles. 1999. Erica umbellata in Norfolk. Yearbook of The Heather Society 1999:10.

Nelson, E. Charles. (Forthcoming 2011). Hardy Heathers from the Northern Hemisphere. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew-Botanical Magazine Monograph. University of Chicago Press.

Nelson, E. C. and D. J. Small. 2000. International Register of Heather Names. Creeting St. Mary: The Heather Society.

Yearbook of The Heather Society 2000: 108.

Erica nana is one of the more cold-tolerant species recommended as

suitable for pot culture by David Small. Photo by Barry Wulff.

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affairs, whether this involved THS council meetings or his opening of the THS franchise to obtain an even wider range of plants for members. But my most enduring memory of David will be that, until his illness, I felt free to call him and chat about any aspect of heathers, the heather society, or other matters. He was always graciously available to help others.

Perhaps the single greatest contribution by David - and Anne - must, if measured in terms of how others and I have used it, be The Heather Society’s Handy Guide to Heathers. An invaluable source of information on cultivars, suppliers, and national collections, the three editions of the Handy Guide required a tremendous amount of work to compile, not to mention maintain, the information contained therein. I eagerly bought each of the three editions and have longed for a fourth edition that, alas, was not to be. That Karla Lortz should be considering publishing a similar guide in the United States is testimony to how widely the Handy Guide was treasured by all those with an interest in heathers.

The last time I met David was, sadly, at the funeral service for Arnold Stow, near Amersham in November 2009. He appeared to be in much better health then than he had been for several years, which makes his subsequent deterioration so much more tragic.

David’s philosophy was best summed up for me by his outline, published in the autumn 1994 Bulletin, of the 25th Annual Conference, to be held in Ireland in 1995. “Please do not think that you need to be an expert on heathers to attend Conference. Many that attend are not and would be the first to say how much they enjoy the event”. Never must that spirit of openness and welcome be lost!

temperature in Jan. did not rise above 3°C (37.4°F) and reached as low as -12.5°C (9.5°F). However, here E. umbellata was unharmed.

Hall reports from his own garden that after a very mild early winter (no frost before Christmas), there was a long cold spell in January with several snowy days and two weeks when daytime temperatures stayed close to freezing and the ground remained frozen, though night temperatures were “not excessively low, perhaps down to -5°C (23°F) and there were no strong winds. February was also cold with many frosty nights.” After this winter, his plants of E. umbellata, an unnamed pink clone (not ‘David Small’) and the white clone now named ‘Anne Small’ suffered no damage and flowered beautifully in May–June.

Dorothy Metheny (1991) describes the species as of “questionable hardiness”. In 25 years, she lost nine plants “mostly to one freeze or another” and suggests that E. umbellata is best planted only where one can guarantee that the temperature does not drop below about 20°F (-12°C).

Charles Nelson (forthcoming 2011) believes that the secret of success in growing E. umbellata is excellent drainage. “[W]hen grown in water-retentive soils, E. umbellata is not so tolerant of cold.” My own experience of growing ‘David Small’ may bear this out. The plant lost before the December cold spell was the one growing on the steeper slope, so it was probably a victim of the summer heat. The remaining plants were on only a slight incline, and it is quite possible that insufficiently amended soil over the clay base of the berm contributed to the severity of winter damage through standing water at their roots, rather than the cold per se.

Am I going to acquire more plants of ‘David Small’? Undoubtedly. The cultivar is so outstanding that it is well worth trying again. This time when I plant them, I shall take special care to provide them with excellent drainage, as I now am doing with E. cinerea, by amending their soil not only with sand and organic matter but also with quarter-ten sharp gravel. We are quite likely to have more

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Erica umbellata ‘David Small’

Ella May T. Wulff2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370 ewulff@peak.org

Why am I so fond of Erica umbellata ‘David Small’, other than its cultivar name reminding me of a special man? First, because E. umbellata is a “bridge species”. That is, it bridges the gap between the end of the winter/spring blooming season and the beginning of the summer season. Erica umbellata has a shorter period of bloom than do most other heathers, usually about four weeks in my garden; but when ‘David Small’ is blooming (from May into early June in western Oregon), few other heathers are. Some of the tree heaths flower into June, and a few of the long-season summer bloomers, such as E. cinerea and E. tetralix and its hybrids, begin to open their flowers then, but the main show of the former is usually earlier and of the latter slightly later. When ‘David Small’ is in full bloom, covered with so many flowers that they hide the foliage, it outshines all others.

A second valuable asset of ‘David Small’ is its color. No shrinking violet this, its vibrant flowers demand attention. Although flower color within E. umbellata can vary from white through rosy purple, the official color description of ‘David Small’ in the International Register of Heather Names (Nelson and Small 2000) is “vivid amethyst” (H1 on The Heather Society Colour Chart), to which Charles Nelson added “to heliotrope (H12)” in his Kew monograph on the European heathers (forthcoming June 2011). I’d call it hot pink or screaming magenta. This would probably not be a good cultivar to plant next to a red-flowered rhododendron that blooms at the same time, nor to interplant with red tulips. It does, however, harmonize well with those few other heathers in my garden whose bloom seasons overlap its season.

The third reason I particularly appreciate Erica umbellata ‘David Small’ can be ascertained only by viewing the flowers close up. Unlike other European heathers, whose flowers are either spherical or, more commonly, longer than wide, E. umbellata

actually froze to a depth of several inches, something that rarely happens here. Worse, this cold spell arrived after a relatively warm fall that had not encouraged plants to enter winter dormancy. Plants already weakened by the summer heat now faced another challenge.

In the spring of 2010, the only damage apparent in the surviving two plants of ‘David Small’ was dead branches in the center of each, where freezing had split the stems. I pruned these out and assumed that later light pruning around the edges of the holes would encourage the plants to make new branches and eventually fill the holes. In May, the plants bloomed so well that only someone standing directly above the plants would notice the central holes.

Alas, that was their last fling. The plants began a steady decline throughout the growing season, and by autumn 2010, they looked pathetic. ‘David Small’ was not the only cultivar to suffer this slow decline in my garden. Some plants of E. erigena that had only a few dead patches in spring had much larger dead spots by fall. A few Calluna plants died completely. At our local garden center, many herbaceous perennials that had looked fine in spring turned “toes up” by summer. It was an odd year, indeed.

As of early January 2011, one plant of ‘David Small’ has a few branches with green leaves. Whether it can recover this spring will be anyone’s guess.

Erica umbellata is considered winter hardy to USDA Hardiness Zone 8, and reports from British heather growers substantiate this claim. Allen Hall (2002) reported on his own experiences growing the species in the English Midlands and in the same article recapitulated earlier winter survival reports from other gardeners. E.g., Albert Julian had reported that the Yorkshire winter of 1981-1982 had the lowest recorded temperatures of the century, going down to -16.9°C (1.5°F) on one occasion. That winter, all E. umbellata plants growing at Harlow Carr garden were killed.

In 1980, Bert Jones reported that in his Somerset garden, the

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‘David Small’ has a fused corolla a little wider than long. The corollas are slightly flattened balls (in botanical language, the corolla shape is “depressed globose” – see drawing #1 by Henry Bolus pictured on page xlvii in Baker and Oliver 1967), with their dark colored anthers protruding from the pinched together corolla lips as tiny tufts on the top of each ball (the flowers generally face upward or outward, not downward).

However, not all plants of E. umbellata have corollas of this shape. There is wide variation within the species. Some plants have slightly elongated corollas, some have the anthers included within the corolla or barely protruding from it, and there is one variant lacking anthers completely, several plants of which McClintock (1983) observed in Galicia, where ‘David Small’ originated. Despite flower shape and color variations, all are borne in terminal inflorescences of two to eight flowers, with their pedicels preading out from each branch tip like the spokes of an umbrella, hence the specific name umbellata.

On 21 July 1982 during a field trip to Spain, David McClintock, David Small, and Charles Nelson took cuttings of selected variants of Erica umbellata at Cabo Vilano, La Coruña, Galicia (Yearbook of The Heather Society 2000). The collection locality is in the extreme northwestern part of Spain, an exposed coastal site. According to Charles Nelson (personal communication), David Small took the cuttings home in his portable propagator (some already rooted!) to Denbeigh Heather Nurseries and then sent half of them on to National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin (Ireland, where Nelson was then working). If the collection was a random selection, as at Cabo Vilano, and the cuttings were also divided up randomly, then Denbeigh Heather Nurseries and NBG may have had different stock. “It was quite by chance that the plant I had obtained somehow, on moving to Outwell [England], was good and worth naming: to be honest, I do not know if David himself

Erica umbellata flower.

Drawn by Dorothy Metheny.

I was usually too busy with other garden chores to think about pruning the umbellatas. I think I probably pruned them only twice in about eight years, and that only lightly for shaping. They tend to be rather compact bushes and looked fine without the yearly pruning that is a necessity for callunas and beneficial to most other heathers.

You may have noticed that I refer to my plants of ‘David Small’ in the past tense. Western Oregon experienced a dreadful hot spell during the summer of 2009, with several successive daytime highs exceeding 100° F (38°C). Nearby Corvallis reached 107° F (41.6°C) on July 28. Several of my heathers reacted noticeably to the heat, most notably cultivars of E. carnea. The umbellatas appeared to be all right, but by autumn, the lowest plant – on the steepest part of the slope – was failing and soon expired. I didn’t worry too much about that, because the two upper plants looked fine. They would probably grow wide enough eventually to occupy its space.

In early December, the weather had another go at the garden, this time with record nighttime lows for a week and a half. The soil

Plants of ‘David Small’ in the Wulffs’ Oregon garden bloomed profusely in May 2010 around central holes left by stems that had split after a week and a half of

nights below 10° F in December 2009. Photo by Barry Wulff.

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gave it to me or whether it came from NBG Glasnevin.”

At Outwell, on the Norfolk/Cambridgeshire border, Nelson grew the plant of E. umbellata later to be named ‘David Small’ in an old ceramic sink filled with peat and in 1999 wrote a brief article about it for The Heather Society Yearbook, with accompanying photograph. “It has survived temperatures well below 0°C, and does not appear to be affected by the cold, dry winds which are a characteristic of our region.” Despite his giving it more benign neglect than special care, it flourished and bloomed profusely every May. Charles wrote to me shortly after David Small’s death in November 2010, “That plant is long since dead – it did survive another 3 years [after the article was written], but I suspect it is a short-lived species in gardens and probably doesn’t like pruning. That plant was never pruned.” In his Kew monograph, Charles reports that the plant in the sink grew “outdoors, unprotected . . . for more than 10 years.”

During The Heather Society’s annual general conference in September of 1999 (see report in the autumn 1999 Bulletin of The Heather Society), THS President David McClintock presented David and Anne Small with certificates stating that two E. umbellata plants collected some years earlier had been deemed worthy of naming: the white plant was named ‘Anne Small’ and the pink one ‘David Small’. The rare white cultivar named for Anne Small had been raised by the Smalls at Denbeigh Heather Nurseries from seed sent from Spain. To my knowledge and great regret, ‘Anne Small’ is unavailable in North America. If it is even half as beautiful and interesting as ‘David Small’, it is well worth having.

The plant named for David was the one from the McClintock/Small/Nelson 1982 expedition growing in Charles Nelson’s sink. The official registration certificate (#159) of this cultivar states that the plant was named after David Small, Chairman of The Heather Society (1992–2000), to mark his outstanding contribution to the work of The Heather Society and his endeavours in propagating and promoting heathers.

I do not remember exactly when I planted ‘David Small’ in my garden, but within a few years of planting, my three plants of ‘David Small’ had grown large enough to command attention when they bloomed. (By 2009, they were just under a foot high but about 20 inches wide.) I was delighted to find that our native deer were not in the least interested in them, although they had been planted close to the deer trail and the deer regularly sampled flowers of the adjacent Daboecia ‘Silverwells’.

Like Charles’s plant, my plants of ‘David Small’ received little attention. They were planted in the greatly amended soil that covers our Philomath clay, on the slightly shaded side of a berm, on a definite slope, and well mulched with chopped hemlock bark. When I ran soaker hoses along the berm to provide water during our summer droughts, I made certain that all three plants were located downhill of a hose, because the part of Galicia where ‘David Small’ was collected has rain almost all year and generally cooler summers than Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Unlike Erica arborea, a native of regions that experience dry, hot summers, these plants would not survive without a drink now and then.

I rarely got around to pruning ‘David Small’, mainly because of the odd blooming season. By the time it had finished flowering,

By spring 2008, the plants of Erica umbellata ‘David Small’ in the Wulff garden, rarely pruned, were touching each other and loaded with flowers.

Photo by Barry Wulff.

Continued page 16

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Calluna ‘Caleb Threlkeld’, collected

by Charles Nelson and introduced by Denbeigh

Heather Nurseries, makes excellent

groundcover for a steep slope.

Calluna ‘Clare Carpet’, another fine groundcover heather, with beautiful foliage texture, was collected inches away from ‘Caleb Threlkeld’ and also

introduced by Denbeigh Heather Nurseries.

Some Heather Associated with David Small

The flowers of Erica umbellata ‘David Small’ resemble tiny,

bright pink balls.

Photos by Barry Wulff.Cape heaths recommended by David Small

for pot culture

Above: Erica versicolor growing above Tradouws Pass, Western Cape Province.

Above right: E. regia pot-grown at Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town.

Erica blandfordia, growing in the Bainskloof Pass, W. C. P.

Erica vestita, growing on Jonaskop, W.C. P.