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Which Heuchera cultivars are working for you?

11 years ago

The green industry is rushing lots of Heuchera to market. I've run into more failures than successes.

My short list of favorites...

Heuchera americana 'Green Spice'

Heuchera brizoides 'Plum Pudding'

Heuchera x villosa 'Autumn Bride'

Heuchera x villosa 'Berry Smoothie'

Heuchera x villosa 'Georgia Peach'

Heuchera x villosa 'Georgia Plum'

Heuchera x villosa 'Caramel'

Heuchera x villosa 'Pistache'

It appears the dark-leaf cultivars benefit from a little bit more sun. Which Heuchera are doing well in your yard?

Comments (26)

  • 11 years ago

    Autumn bride does the best for me! It does great in sun or shade. It blooms in the fall, nice! Generally speaking I have found in my gardens that anything that blooms in the fall has heathier looking foliage all season than perennials that bloom earlier and this is no exception.

    Sherry

  • 11 years ago

    Yes, I love this one, too! It's a workhorse and looks great spring, summer and fall. Another Heuchera near and dear to my heart is Heuchera x villosa 'Pistache'. It stands up well to heat, humidity and even full sun.


  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Sherry, your comment about late-blooming and healthier foliage prompted a thought and an observation.

    For perennials in general, not excluding HEUCHERAS, (for some reason, annoying automatic caps appear that I cannot correct) once they bloom, if scapes are allowed to set seed...all the energy of the plant goes into seed production.

    I put myself in a plant's frame of mind...similar to a hen-and-chick for example. Once a chick flowers, it dies...knowing it sent forth potential seeds ensuring continuity. I can't think of any other at the moment that expires once it flowers. As humans we "flower" (bear children) also but our body readjusts afterward ... a period of time different for each of us). I like to think that perennials react the same way after undergoing flowering. In spring, the cycle repeats itself.

    For that reason alone (foliage under-performing after flowering), I break off a lot of my flower scapes when flowers are spent, but before setting seed. This has also sometimes resulted in a new flush of growth mid-season, depending on the cultivar, not to mention that the foliage remains reasonably fresh looking.

    Because I do have the time and am still able, I enjoy snapping off spent flower stalks off the heucheras. (No caps!) I get to admire them, one at a time...they like to be touched or so I keep telling myself ;-).

    If I was to be particular, I would say that the darker/darkest heucheras, which get a lot of sun exposure, do the best for me in my garden. A few honourable mentions:

    • 'Blackout' out-performs the most with half day sun - sun-up to about 1:30.
    • 'Palace Purple' remains same size in full-sun but a trouper
    • 'Georgia Peach' is resplendent in morning sun!
  • 11 years ago

    I have to add something I forgot but deserves its own space. I believe our plants "talk" to us. When they have a problem, they try to get our attention by providing "clues". Sometimes we clue in immediately, sometimes we don't depending how busy our lives are or how preoccupied we are with a worry or such.

    Thank goodness that for the most part, most plants are resilient enough to hang in there...to give us time to recognize a problem and attend to their needs... would you not agree?

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Definitely agree! My dark leafed heuchera seem to do best in my yard with dappled or morning sun. The ones I have in afternoon sun never look as good. I probably am not watering them enough. The heuchera in dappled or morning sun have never needed supplemental watering. They seem to thrive no matter how much or little rain they get. Just thinking about this makes me think I should relocate the ones in the afternoon sun.

    Jo, you got me thinking too.....looks like a new plan for me..........

    Sherry

  • 11 years ago

    Georgia Peach is showcased in its own pot. It rewards me for my efforts by being big and beautiful yearly. Since a small purple ornamental plum tree was removed last year, I am getting a lot of sunburn on my heuchies, particularly Midas Gold and Gold Zebra. Little Cuties Frost, Sugar Berry, Peppermint, and Sweet Tart were doing OK, although the greens got a bit sunburned. Marmalade is doing beautifully, it is a real dazzler.

  • 11 years ago

    Basically a couple of the lime colored ones (names fail me) seem happy but I'm taking notes on all the info! Glad I stumbled onto the Heuchera Forum!


  • 11 years ago

    The most gorgeous heuchera I have ever grown or seen is 'Old La Rochette', Green foliage and pink blossoms that last at least two months. Sounds ordinary but I promise you that it is not, robust, healthy and genuinely beautiful, surpassing the newer varieties without a skip in the beat. 'Old La Rochette' is happiest in part sun/part shade, but can tolerate a bit more of each. I have divided it and planted it in several different garden beds and it simply thrives. This plant is one of the highlights of the season where ever it grows. Digging Dog was the last nursery I saw carrying it, and they did not, last year. I hope someone else picks up this superb cultivar. It would be a shame if it disappeared.

  • 11 years ago

    I have a Heuchra that a neighbor gave me 20 years ago. I've never been able to identify it and I've not seen it in the nurseries. I'm wondering if it's the cultivar you describe. Sounds very similar. Can you post a picture? I don't have a good one to share.

  • 11 years ago

    Dolce Blackcurrant is one of my loveliest Heuchera. It gets bigger every year and seems to do well with quite a bit of sun. I have just checked on Fire Alarm and I'm not sure he made it. Last year was the first year and it was outstanding so I am hoping it will pull through.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Dark works best for me too. Palace Purple, Frosted Violet, Sugar Berry and Silver Scrolls to name a few. Of the bright colored ones, Circus is doing best. I think I lost my 2 year old Sweet Tart heuchera this winter. I may replace them, I haven't decided yet. I may have them in a bad place - my sister's Sweet Tart, that I bought for her, came through fine.

  • 11 years ago

    I love plants. I see neat ones in the catalogs and then buy several of them....and then don't take very good care of them after that. That being said.... Hats off to low-maintenance and vigorous "Obsidian" and "Caramel". For some reason they like me, even when I don't take care of them the way that I should. I highly recommend both of them.





























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  • 11 years ago

    Lime Marmalade

  • 11 years ago

    Junkie: I just purchased Amethyst Myst and I hope it looks as nice as yours. Yours is a stunner! Thanks for posting the pic.

  • 11 years ago

    CatkinZ8a - that's a gorgeous picture you posted! All your plants look so lovely....very happy and healthy!

  • 11 years ago

    So far I'm doing really well with "Caramel" on my patio.

  • 11 years ago

    Catkin: I'm curious as to what those pink flowers are in your pic...they are lovely.

  • 11 years ago

    These purple ones are working for me, especially the one on the right.


  • 11 years ago

    Serendipity, I am guessing those pink flowers might be rhododendrons?

  • 11 years ago

    Thanks Hosta. I have a few different heucheras but I noticed that my dark ones are not coming back as well as my light coloured ones. Maybe I should try moving them to get more sun, although they are in partial sun/shade now.

  • 11 years ago

    I've got Redstone Falls and Plum Pudding, both in partial sun/shade. The Redstone is doing great, despite getting buried in snow last year (doesn't usually snow in our area). The Plum Pudding...verdict is still out, planted 6 this spring (same variety, same source, planted in same bed) and only 3 are still alive. But those 3 look to be doing fairly well...

  • 10 years ago

    Heuchera maxima I believe are native to California. They are doing really well in the yard (and spreading) despite the drought and our benign neglect. Part sun/shade.

    The darker ones (Amethyst Mist?) are surviving but not thriving. Full sun.

  • 5 years ago

    Yes, I know this is an old thread, but:

    My beautiful Heuchera CARAMEL looks like they disappeared this year when I replaced my black much with brown mulch. I think that I need to replace Caramel with yellow heuchera. I see that there are several yellows. Which one is the healthiest, hardiest, easiest?

  • 5 years ago

    Caramel continues to be a good performer for me. On the other hand, the purple colored ones in my 2015 response to this thread are long gone. I don’t buy heucheras like I used to.

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