Heucheras – Their Cultivation And

Heucheras ©Rob Mort /HPS Library – their cultivation and use Gareth Batts

H. americana ‘ Harry Hay’

eucheras, commonly yellow (Heuchera ‘Electra’), Cultivation H called Coral Bells, red/brown (H. ‘Cherry Cola’) Heucheras grow best are a must for any keen through to black (H. ‘Black in moist, well-drained soil; horticulturist’s garden. Taffeta’). Heucheras are native they don’t tolerate long Evergreen or semi-evergreen to North America and were first periods of drought or being herbaceous perennials, they introduced to the UK in 1882. waterlogged. They grow well are useful as a foil to other They belong to the Saxifragaceae in both partial shade and full plants and can brighten up family, which includes many sun. They can also be grown the garden on gloomy winter popular plants from the in full shade if the soil is kept days. A range of foliage colours delicate alpine Saxifraga nivalis moist, and not allowed to dry is available, from golden to large-leaved bergenias. out.

Flowers provide muted colour ©Tricia Fraser /HPS Library /HPS Library Fraser ©Tricia ©HPS Conservation Scheme ©HPS Conservation Scheme ©Janet Norman /HPS Library

H. villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ H. ‘Rachel’ H. ‘Brownfinch’

53 A wide range of foliage colour the risk of reversion. When I’m buying plants I always look for good deals. It’s worth looking out for heucheras on the bargain stand as they are easy to divide and, within a few months, you can have a number of smaller plants ©HPS Conservation scheme grown from your original stock plant. I have found that a 1L pot of Heuchera can make on average 3 divisions producing three healthy plants for the garden within a season. The best time to divide H. ‘Brownfinch’ heucheras is early spring. I tend to do this in March, just before the plant starts to put on growth. It’s not advisable to divide the plants in the ©Gareth Batts summer because water loss is much more rapid when they

©Ken Mines/HPS Library ©Ken Mines/HPS Library are producing flowers and new leaves, coupled with increased temperatures and less rain. The latest I would advise you to divide them would be early H. ‘Venus’ May, because it is still cool enough at night to slow down water loss, giving the plant a fighting chance to survive. Whether buying heucheras or growing them at home it is worth looking out for pests. Unfortunately heucheras are susceptible to vine weevils:

©Helen Cullens /HPS©Helen Library Cullens the adult weevil eats the leaves, but this isn’t usually as damaging to the plant as the white grubs which eat the H. Crème Brûlée H. ‘Amber Waves’ roots and the base of the plant, causing it to die. Often the Heucheras can also be soil is free draining and kept first sign of vine weevils is the grown in containers. I make moist. leaves beginning to wilt and sure that the container is wide Propagation is then starting to rot. To check enough for the plant to spread straightforward, either with for vine weevils before you out, so I get a few years out of seed or by division. I prefer buy, gently lift the plant out of the display before it outgrows division as the new plants the pot to look for any grubs in the pot. Again, make sure the will be true to type, without the soil, and examine the

54 base of the plant and the leaves In most areas of the southern for any damage; if there are no and south-eastern UK signs of grubs or damage it is they can give instant and likely the plant will thrive. continuous colour, and when ©Gareth Batts If you suspect vine weevil dead-headed correctly they is attacking the heucheras can flower a number of in your garden you could times throughout the year. consider using a biological In more northern parts of control – nematodes. Follow country they may die down the manufacture’s instructions in winter; however, I know carefully regarding the places in North Wales and necessary temperature, and southern Scotland where in H. ‘Chocolate Ruffles’ apply the solution before the recent mild winters they are grubs become too big for the still in leaf in mid-December. microscopic parasite to work They are hardy plants which best. can withstand typical British winters, and tolerate long Use in garden design spells of hot weather more

It is hard to find a effectively than other bedding ©Ken Mines /HPS Library herbaceous border that has plants. Also heucheras form not at least one cultivar of clumps, making weed control Heuchera within it. With somewhat easier than smaller their heart-shaped lobed seasonal bedding. leaves, available in a wide Another reason for H. ‘Purple Petticoats’ variety of colours, it is hard to many large gardens and resist them. They are grown local authorities changing primarily for their foliage as, over to more permanent compared to their leaves, the bedding schemes is the cost flowers are generally small and of maintenance. Twice a year pale in colour. The boldness traditional bedding plants have of the leaf colour outshines to be dug up and disposed the flowers, however with the of, the bed dug over and

©Trevor Walton /HPS Library Walton ©Trevor vertical flower-spikes heucheras all weeds removed. During make a two-tier contribution summer months watering will to the structure of the border. be needed. With perennial Over the last few years I’ve planting, of which heucheras seen in large parks and gardens are a good example, the bed H. ‘Crimson Curls’ a shift from the use of winter/ is dug once and as the plants summer temporary bedding mature they cover the soil, plants to more permanent suppressing most weeds

structural plants. Rather and minimising the loss of ©Gareth Batts than the traditional violas, moisture in the soil. petunias, wallflowers, salvias For flower-power, a and marigolds, which can be notable cultivar is H. expensive to buy or grow and ‘Chocolate Ruffles’ with pale to maintain, they are slowly pink flowers. The top surfaces changing over to perennial, all- of the leaves are purple, but year-round planting, which of the undersides are like dark course includes heucheras. chocolate in colour. H. ‘Mocha’

55 Contrast and verticals in the border

H. ‘Blackberry Jam’ with Stipa H. ‘Silver Scrolls’ tenuissima

On a recent trip to RHS The most recent RHS and green marbled foliage, the Wisley I noticed that heucheras trials of heucheras ran from underside of its leaves reddish seemed to have been used 1999 to 2001, assessing more purple. to entice you to the borders. than 200 cultivars from many In summary, heucheras are The majority of the species I countries, the majority hardy a great garden plant which can saw had purple foliage. In one throughout the British Isles. add that extra bit of colour to border the dark purple leaves Plants which were given both private and large public of H. ‘Obsidian’ contrasted the Award of Garden Merit gardens during the darkest, well with the light green leaves include early-flowering dullest days of winter. They of roses. In another border H. ‘Magic Wand’, which has require little maintenance, H. ‘Mocha’, which has a lighter glossy green foliage and are easy to propagate and an purple leaf, was used to great small magenta flowers, and excellent alternative to annual advantage in front of a clump H. ‘Smokey Rose’, which bedding plants, so invaluable in of rudbeckias. has a mixture of red, silver the border.

Gareth Batts is a lecturer in horticulture at Hadlow College in Kent. He had worked in a number of garden centres and most recently as a gardener at a large private school before venturing into Further Education to grow on the next generation of gardeners.