Question
Hello Tom!

I received a beautiful Italian Heather plant for Mother's Day & need some help with planting & caring for it in my zone.  Honestly, I've killed every plant I ever had & don't want to do that again!  I believe I live in zone 6 (zip 42431) & need to know where & how to plant it.  I'd like to have it outside, but I don't think it would survive the winter here.  So, I'm sure I'll need to keep it in a pot rather than putting it in the ground so I can bring it in for the winter.  I live in a middle, ground level apartment so I only have a front & back yard.  The front yard faces East & is mostly shaded by large trees.  The back yard faces West with very little shade.

Please help me before I kill yet another plant!  Thank you!

Answer
Hi April,
Thanx for your question.  Yes, you are in Zone 6 but the Italian Heather will not overwinter successfully.  I have posted several items on this plant in the past.  You can use our FIND feature at the top right hand corner of the screen to save you some time in case we've already discussed.  In any case, here is my response.

The Italian Heather, Erica ventricosa is a specialty plant, grown in cool greenhouses for Mother's Day, birthdays, Easter, etc.  It is not meant to live for more than a couple months.  You will have to treat it as a house plant because it will not survive Zone 5 winters.  The plant is native to the mountains of South Africa and is not frost tolerant.  It requires a somewhat acidic soil, moist but not soggy soil conditions and sunlight but must be protected from hot afternoon sun.  Here is more information at the link below.

I hope this helps.
Tom

http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantefg/ericaventricosa.htm