Peter Dowdall: Winter-flowering heather adds life to every garden

Year after year, this plant earns its keep. Right now, it's in full colour, glowing against the dark, wet soil and bark, asking for nothing more than to be left alone

Heathers earn their keep in the garden, according to Peter Dowdall, and right now are in full colour. File pictures

It's been so wet for so long that it’s been hard to even think about gardens and gardening, never mind head out into one. Days have blurred into one another under a grey sky which seems to me to have been more oppressive than ever before, this year.

Even the most committed gardeners among us have probably found themselves admiring plants from indoors, looking out through a rain-spattered window rather than pulling on the boots again.