I have both and I really like both of them. Though if you want really purple color, Midnight Rose is better. It maintains that deep purple (with pink spots) thru out the growing season. AM does change colors slightly from Spring, to Summer and Fall. Also, AM is a wider plant for me. I've had both for a few years. Both have made it thru the winters (AM-4, MR-3) really well. MR gets 6 hrs of sun and AM gets about 5.

Kat

Big fan of heuchera here, but I'm sorry I don't have either AM or MR. I've had 'Palace Purple' and 'Splendens' thrive for 5+ years in the shade of my kwanzan cherry tree -- 'Palace Purple' might work really well for you in that environment. The new 'Obsidian' is pretty cool-looking too. I added 'Amber Waves' last year and it came back beautifully this spring as well. I order from Bluestone every year, and the new heucheras they are offering this spring look stunning. Just don't have room to put any at this point!

Midnight rose is the most beautiful of the two but Am. Mist is the stronger grower for me.

mao

I have eight Amethyst Mists planted in a circle bed around a pedestal with a mixed container of burgundy and lavender foliage and flowers. The heucheras have got to be eight years old and they look great. They have been thru the worst of winters more than once.

I did dig them up last year and bury them deeper in fresh soil and all coral bells love having that done every few years. The AMs are the strongest growers of any heucheras I've had.

This color works perfectly for me but I think the bed you are designing needs a sold deep burgundy, which AM is not. It has a silvery "mist" over it--very pretty but not the intense contrast you are probably looking for. The bed sounds quite striking.

Just my two cents, but you can't beat 'Rave On' for flower power. Obsidian is an outstanding really dark one.

Thank you all, very much, for your feedback. It was just what I was looking for.

Ginny, you are absolutely right about the color and the silvery "mist" over the Amethyst Mist. Here is where the color on computer monitors can screw you up, lol.

I bought both of these because on the computer, the MR looked a tad too dark, and the AM looked like a beautiful, reddish-purple leaf. As soon as I opened the box, I could see that silvery tone to the AM, and I was immediately disappointed. The funny thing is, today when I was looking at the plants, that silvery tone didn't look so... silvery, lol.

So, maybe if the consensus is that AM is the better performer, we'll go with it, although I slightly prefer the Midnight Rose after all. I know my friend liked AM better from the on-line photos, but who knows what her computer monitor showed, lol. I guess either way we'll be happy.

By the way, I think I read somewhere that both of these heucheras were improvements over Obsidian, which looked very dark to me. Maybe I should have gotten one of those too...

Ginny, this bed is a foundation planting, and it is in half shade, against a fairly dark blue house, which is why we are going with the light green. The spireas are already planted and look really nice against the house. I wish my friend would let me post a picture (I could have gotten some great ideas from everyone here too!) but she is not comfortable with me doing that, and I can understand that.

By the way, I think I feel a heuchera addiction coming on. I have some Palace Purple which I winter-sowed a few years ago, and last year received some winter-sown heucheras from a fellow GWer. Usually, I love them for their foliage and could care less about the flowers, but the ones this person gave me have beautiful pink flowers that have been blooming forever. And they were evergreen over the winter. What more can you ask?

I just bought a Silver Scrolls (drool) and I'm trying not to look at any others!

Thank you all!
:)
Dee
P.S. Hey, if my friend picks AM, I guess I get to keep MR! Actually, I get a heuchera out of this no matter what she picks! Nice perk - hadn't thought of that, lol!

You could try Sparkling Burgundy from Garden Crossings. They sell beautiful, large healthy plants. I bought a couple from them this year and they are gorgeous! A nice purple, wine color. Here's a pic of when I planted it this May:

{{gwi:229613}}

This sounds like a beautiful garden, Dee. Any you are right--you can't go wrong. If your friend doesn't like AM, you can split the Midnight Rose and replace it in the wink of an eye.

I have Amethyst Mist and I was just noticing yesterday that it is so pretty. Even though the soil is too heavy where it is at the moment it still looks pretty good. I think I will lift it in the fall and give it something better to grow in. I just bought Midnight Rose as a plug and added it to a container for the season. I really love those leaves and hope it performs once it gets in the garden.

Gee, Kentstar, I say I feel a heuchera addiction coming on and you show me a photo of yet another beautiful heuchera! That will help me resist, lol! I am going to go check out Garden Crossings and this Sparkling Burgundy - I love the dark color of the smaller leaves underneath. Is this new growth or older?

Unfortunately (for me) my friend didn't really make a decision between AM and MR. I think she liked MR better than she thought she would, but it looks like I will be making the decision. I hate making decisions, lol. But I am leaning toward AM. I do think she likes it better, and the consensus seems to be that this is a strong grower. And I think AM might be a tad easier to find.

Now as long as Sparkling Burgundy doesn't make my decision even harder, I think I'm set.

Thanks for your help, everyone!
:)
Dee

Kenstar, I have several different kinds of heucheras, but I'm not thrilled about Sparkling Burgundy. It starts out with nice early color, but then fades. It's rather dull over Summer and it has never gotten that good color back in the Fall. I've had it 4 yrs now. It's a good grower, has gotten thru some pretty cold winters (down to minus 12), it just doesn't have the color I thought it would.

Kat