Oh Priya — I’m SO happy for you! I remember when this happened to me. I looked outside one Winter day and saw what I swore looked like flowers but it couldn’t be in the Winter?!? I went outside and was so surprised and thrilled! I did the same thing: bought more! LOL Thanks so much for letting me know! And enjoy the Winter into Spring gorgeous color!

Thanks Steve! As you can probably tell, I adore this little shrub! The ones that are planted in full Sun do well, but some of them seem a bit tired and the color almost blanched a bit when we get those awful Little Egg hot and humid days. I don’t think the clay bothers them as much as the intense sun. I have three planted underneath a River Birch tree where they get some shade and they seem happier than the three I have in our center bed in full Sun. I also think it takes them a few years to get established where they can better handle the hot spells. I’m not familiar with red clay, so not sure if it is similar to the lovely (not) clay soil we have here. If you were to plant them, give them shade during the hottest part of sunny days, which is usually the afternoons. (However, the best blooming comes from full sun.) And make sure they get enough water during their first two years while they get established. The best way to know if these are happy is how they look in the Winter when in bloom. If blooms are average, they might need more care. If the blooms are vibrant, they are happy.

I’m a SC transplant after 74 years in Atlantic County, so I know exactly what your growing conditions are in Little Egg.
Would love to add some of these in my gardens down here in the Upstate (Greenville County). Do you think they would do well
in our red clay & rather intense summer heat?

Thanks so much Joy! I love showing photos of every season because that’s what I wish I would see more of when I’m interested in plants and shrubs. Yes, after I planted our first two, I ended up stocking up on these the following Spring! I wish all the different heath and heather varieties that exist were widely available in the US. I’d end up trying so many more. So glad you subscribed to my YouTube channel — I’ve only begun doing garden videos but am enjoying it and glad you are too!

Thanks Elizabeth! Yes, that’s one of the reasons I love sharing year-round photos because if you just see one “pretty” picture of a plant or shrub, there’s really no idea what it will look like at other times of the year. Glad this helped you! And glad you’re adding some Winter interest in your garden. You’ll love it! (Keep me posted too!)

Oh Barbara — there’s nothing like it to light up the Winter garden!