The Mediterranean White Winter Heath, otherwise known as the Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ or Blue Eryngo ‘Blue Cap’, Flat Sea Holly ‘Blue Cap’, Eryngium ‘Blue Cap’, Sea Holly ‘Blue Cap’, False Sea Holly ‘ Blue Cap’, Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its dark green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Mediterranean White Winter Heath is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Mediterranean White Winter Heath Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Mediterranean White Winter Heath can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Mediterranean White Winter Heath needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
- Light: Keep your Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Mediterranean White Winter Heath in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Mediterranean White Winter Heath is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath belongs to the Apiaceae family, the genus Eryngium and the species Planum, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ (ER-ee-kuh dar-lee-EN-sis).
As with other Eryngium’s, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Mediterranean White Winter Heath is a plant native to the E. Central Europe to Mongolia and W. Himalaya.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Mediterranean White Winter Heath. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 12 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 5a, 5b, 6b, 6a, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of Mediterranean White Winter Heath are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ can grow up to 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) in 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Mediterranean White Winter Heath a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful mounding shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 18″ – 24″ (45cm – 60cm) free so the Mediterranean White Winter Heath can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat irregular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Mediterranean White Winter Heath in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Mediterranean White Winter Heath since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Mediterranean White Winter Heath requires soil with sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the summer (early, mid, late).
Flowers
You can expect your Mediterranean White Winter Heath to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its long bloom season, flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Mediterranean White Winter Heath produces some beautiful pink, or blue flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Mediterranean White Winter Heath have a beautiful dark green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Mediterranean White Winter Heath is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for salt, dry soil, drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Mediterranean White Winter Heath? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Erica X Darleyensis ‘Mediterranean White’ owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, coastal garden, and in prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Mediterranean White Winter Heath’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, others use it for landscaping in a mass planting, ground cover, container, border, cutting garden, erosion control, or a rock garden.
Companion Plants
Mediterranean White Winter Heath’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Camellia, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Azalea will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Mediterranean White Winter Heath to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
