Kalmia latifolia 'MITTERNACHT'

Honestly, we are nuts about kalmias – mountain laurels. Not very well known, these mid-sized shrubs deserve more attention as they belong to the most beautiful as well as hardy flowering evergreen shrubs of our climate. They come from south-eastern USA and the Asian mountains where they grow under taller trees. There are many cultivars combining all sorts of red, pink and burgundy shades with white, all of them beautiful, all of them very hardy. The best display is when half of the bloom cluster is still in buds which usually have a different colour than the flowers themselves.

Mitternacht means midnight and it is a new, fantastic mountain laurel variety from Germany, bred by one the biggest kalmia enthusiasts Karl-Heinz Hübbers. In 1987 he managed to cross-pollinate 2 well-known varieties Olympic Wedding and Goodrich which resulted in a gorgeous plant with the deepest flower colour registered so far. The flowers are very dark burgundy red, almost black with light grey-white margins just like the flower buds. When they start blooming they make an interesting image of a midnight sky with reversed colours where the stars (flowers) are dark and the surroundings (unopened buds) are light. The evergreen leaves are narrowly lanceolate, leathery, dark green, partly glossy. It grows upright at moderate growth rate, making a shrub of 1.5-1.8m tall and wide in maturity.

Mitternacht was first introduced in 2007 and has been a sought-after item ever since. The availability is always low at the beginning and becomes better with time as the growers manage to reproduce more and more plants.

For a happy life it MUST HAVE acidic soil (add plenty of peat). Do not dig a deep hole but a wide one. Plant it in light, well drained soil that has to be well mulched to keep the surface roots moist at all times. Full sun is best for profuse flowering. Well-established plants can be fertilized with water-soluble fertilizers for ericaceous plants, or with slow-release fertilizers that are recommended also for newly transplanted material because they will not burn the delicate surface roots. Fully hardy to -34°C (USDA zone 4). It is suitable for growing in outdoor pots.

Last update 28-12-2012