Two coral bell plants thriving in my garden, both with fuzzy leaf stems.
Coral Bells or Heuchera are grown primarily for their attractive leaf color and I have a lot of them planted in our yard. They live in mostly partial shade and provide a burst of color in the front of my flower beds. Through the years, I tried many different coral bells and had good luck with purple varieties. However most of the brighter Heucheras in the yellow to peachy color range simply did not do well in my garden. I have a long list of dead Heuchera plants – Amber Waves, Marmalade, Lime Ricky to name a just a few. I just couldn’t understand why so many plants died on my watch and it was very disheartening. The only lighter colored Heuchera that survived in my garden was Caramel and I eventually bought more and more of them.
Last weekend I attended a seminar at the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville and one of the speakers gave a lecture entitled “New and Improved Perennials for 2014”. She asked the audience a simple question – “Who in this audience has planted Lime Ricky and had it die in their garden?”
When half of the audience raised their hands she said, “Well, it’s not your fault, a lot of coral bells don’t like our hot and humid summers and our cold snowy winters. Their parent stock comes originally from areas in the country that are dry and never get very cold. Those plants just don’t thrive in our climate.”
Luckily, she said, some coral bells are native to the Midwest and the descendants of those plants do much better. She told us to look for Heuchera plants in our garden centers that have fuzzy leaf stems, since those plants do well in Midwest. When I got home, I looked over all of the coral bells in our yard that were more than a couple of years old and still doing well. Without exception, they all had fuzzy stems including my favorite Heuchera, Caramel.
Mystery solved, my dead coral bells didn’t like our cold Wisconsin winters and their dying was not my fault!
Planting Information
Heuchera like an open, well-aerated soil with good drainage. Good air movement is also important, so a light open woodland or part-sun spot is perfect.
Unfortunately, coral bells are short-lived unless they are divided every 3-4 years as the crown becomes woody. The best time to divide them is in fall and since they have fibrous roots, this is easy. If the roots aren’t visible, gently lift the plant out of the dirt and cut the roots into separate clumps about four inches wide and plant each clump separately. Remember to dig the hole twice as wide as your ‘new clump’ and deep enough to cover the root ball. Keep the foliage out of the hole as you back fill. After covering up the new plant’s roots, tamp soil firmly and water. Then keep soil moist but not soggy until plants are established. A layer of winter mulch helps protect the Heuchera crowns in the colder end of their range.
This is a really valuable tip.