Winter Wanderlust: Recalling The Heather Blossoms of Heidegarten Schneverdingen

The Heidegarten Schneverdingen, located on the hill Höpen, is a patchwork of colorful heather blossoms in the German countryside. From the Centre of Schneverdingen it can be reached on foot (about a 30 minute walk) with lots of sights along the way, as it is directly next to Höpener Heide, a part of Lüneburger Heide, which is famous for it’s diversity of different heather plants.

One of Garden Collage’s themes for February is “Floral Celebration”, so we’re honoring that inspiration point with this short visual flashback to the season of blooms. After visiting Heidegarten we spent the day trekking on sandy paths through a beautiful landscape of mauve heather and distinctive juniper and filigree birches. (It is also possible to rent bikes in Schne verdingen or book a coach tour.) The Heidegarten shows the whole spectrum of the Lüneburger Heide in one area: 150 different kinds of heather plants, junipers, beehives and honeysuckle, and sheep, which are essential for the Lüneburger Heide because they eat the tree sprouts before they can get big enough to disrupt the beautiful mauve fields of flowers.

An old sheep shed transformed to a restaurant and a bunch of benches invite people to rest along the visitor paths. Although the main blooming season is from the end of August into the middle of September, the Heidegarten is open all the year, and even in winter one is apt see a few blooming heather plants pushing up resiliently against the snow.