Habitat

• native to central and southern Europe
• zone 5

Habit and Form

• a low growing evergreen shrub
• up to 12" tall; twice as wide as tall
• broad spreading or trailing
• becomes irregular in shape with age
• dense and compact
• slow growing

Summer Foliage

• small, needle-like leaves about .2" to .3" long
• color is bright green
• leaf arrangement is whorled to opposite
• leaves have very short petioles
• leaf margins turned under

Autumn Foliage

• evergreen with no fall color

Flowers

• blooms in late winter to early spring (late March to early April)
• individual flowers are small and cylindrical
• flowers borne in one-sided racemes
• color is red to pink for the straight species
• typically showy in bloom

Fruit

• small, ornamentally unimportant capsules

Bark

• not or ornamental importance

Culture

• requires moist, acidic perfectly-drained soils
• soils should be low in fertility and high in organic matter
• full sun to partial shade

Landscape Use

• for rock gardens
• in groupings
• as a groundcover
• for early spring bloom
• filler plant with other ericaceous plants

Liabilities

• need specific site requirements
• cold injury is likely in severe winters
• often killed by overfertilizing in landscapes

ID Features

• needle-like evergreen leaves in whorls
• leaf margins rolled under
• early spring bloom

Propagation

• by seed
• by cuttings

Cultivars/Varieties

There exist many more than 100 cultivars of this plant, few of which are in general commerce. The brief listings below present a brief overview of the diversity available.

'King George' - 12" tall; flowers crimson.

'Springwood Pink' - light pink flower; 8" tall; common in the trade.

'Springwood White' - 8" tall; flowers white; common in the trade.

'Vivelii' - 8" tall; flowers red.

'Winter Beauty' - 5" tall; pink flowers.