Cassiope

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Cassiope are rare and choice alpine plants. Their delightful bell shaped flowers cover them in springtime. Some can bloom again in the fall as well. They are found on the north side of the mountain peaks in our native Cascade range here. Cassiope roots need protection from the hot afternoon sun. Good drainage is essential. We have no trouble growing them here at sea level in our maritime climate. The places where they have done the best for us are in morning sun exposure. Those placed in the afternoon sun never do as well as they get too hot at the root ball. We do not know to what zone they are hardy to, but suspect they are quite hardy. It takes a few years to get a saleable plant as they grow slowly at first. Since they are more expensive for us to produce, their cost is higher than typical heather. Gallons are several years old. Requires acid soil. Stay tuned - many more cultivars to come in the future.

Cultivar	Flower Color	Time of Bloom	Height and Width in approx. 4 yrs	Foliage	Winter Foliage	Comments
Cassiope proatrate	white bells	Mar-May	2” x 8”	medium green		Unknown which one this is, but it is unique as it is so flat
Badenoch	white bells	Mar-May	6” x 10”	medium green
Bearsden *	white bells	Mar-May	6" x 10"	medium green		reliable bloomer C. lycopodioides x C. fastigiata
Edinburgh *	white bells	Mar-May	upright 8" x 12"	bright green		vigorous, takes heat better, blooms well C.fastigiata x C. tetragona v. saximontana
Gracilis *	white bells	Mar-May	upright 8-10" x 12"	medium green		tall, vigorous C. mertensiana (we think)
lycopodioides *	white bells with red stems	Mar-May	4" x 10" prostrate	medium green		native
lycopodioides var. globularis	white bells with red stems	Mar-May	4" x 10" prostrate	medium green		native
Jim Lever *	white bells	Mar-May	2” x 4” prostrate	medium green		very rare, tiny slow growing
mertensiana * from Mt. Joseph, Oregon	white bells with red stems	Mar-May	8" x 10" prostrate	medium green		this one collected by Mona van Krieken at Mt. Joseph, Oregon
Muirhead	white bells	Mar-May	4-6” x 12”	silver green		wardii cross
Randall Cooke	white bells larger flowers	April-May	upright 6” x 10”	medium green		C. fastigiata x C. lycopodioides
selaginoides f. nana	white bells	April-May	1” x 4-6”	gray green		rare
Stormbird *	white bells	April-May	dense prostrate 4” x 8”	dark green		C selaginoides x C. lycopodioides prolific bloomer, does better in afternoon sun than others.
tetragona	whte	April-May	bushy 4-6” x 10”	medium green		handsome good grower, does better in afternoon sun than others