Rather than bring you another post about how fabulous everything looks in the garden, I thought I’d keep it real this week and share one of my garden fails.
It’s called heuchera (or coral bells), and it’s all the rage these days.
If you go to your local garden center you’ll likely see row after row of heucheras in nearly every color of the rainbow.
It’s hard not to be seduced by that amazing variety of foliage color. Especially for someone like me who gardens mostly in shade and tends to choose plants for their foliage rather than their flower. Heuchera do flower, but the flowers aren’t at all showy. They usually send out tall spiky stems with little bitty flowers on them, although there are varieties with flowers that are a bit showier than these …
In fact I often just cut the flower stalks off, much like I do with hosta flowers.
Isn’t this leaf color amazing though?
That variety is called Fire Alarm, and you can see why with that bright red foliage. I planted three of them in the garden near my carriage house last year and the red was perfect there.
But here’s what they look like so far this year.
Yep, pretty sad. Not entirely dead, but really barely there. The third plant is so tiny that I had to add an arrow to the photo just so you could make it out.
I also planted five heuchera in front of my wrought iron bench last year, and here’s how they are looking now …
Also pretty sad.
When I get results like these with a plant I tend to immediately think ‘hmmm, what did I do wrong?’
But in this case, I’m hearing some of my favorite garden youtubers mentioning that heuchera does not reliably come back for them either, especially the newer cultivars. I’ve also read that although they are said to be hardy to zone 4, they really do better in no less than zone 5 (and I’m a 4b).
Heuchera also have a tendency to ‘lift’ over the winter, and you can see that on this one that’s in my front garden …
When that happens you can dig them up and replant them level with the soil, or simply add more soil around the crown. I dug that one up, pruned off some dead bits and replanted it.
Now I just have to wait and see if it will catch up with its neighbors (the plants in the foreground are the same variety of heuchera, just much bigger).
Overall, I’m pretty disappointed with the performance of the heuchera I’ve planted. And honestly, I’ve gotten similar results for several years in a row now, so it’s not just a one-time weather based anomaly.
There is one possible solution to the heuchera problem and that is to treat them like annuals and put them in a pot. I saw lots of them in window boxes when we were in Charleston last year (that pop of bright chartreuse is a heuchera) …
That being said, they are usually priced as perennials and thus make a rather expensive annual. They definitely won’t survive the winter in a pot in our climate. Coleus will give you a very similar look, also comes in a wide variety of foliage colors, and is quite a bit cheaper, so it’s probably a better choice for pots.
However, when you happen to find a bunch of Black Taffeta heuchera in the clearance aisle at Gerten’s for $5 each, well, then it does make sense to treat them as an annual.
So I put them in a couple of my rusty pots along with some Summer Wave torenia.
I also paired one of the heuchera with a hosta that I dug out of the garden for this pot.
These days I’m finding that we have a lot more shade on our deck than we used to, the trees are getting bigger every year! So I’m giving up on trying to grow sun loving annuals in those pots. I’m experimenting this year to see what I can do with more shade, so maybe hosta, heuchera and torenia will be a good combination for that.
Aside from the discount heuchera, I think I’m going to stop throwing my money away on heuchera though.
How about you? Have you had much luck with heuchera? Are you tempted by all of those gorgeous foliage colors? Leave a comment and let me know.
q is for quandie 
So interesting. We have a ton that have been here since last owners (10 years?) and they split and replant great. I bought 2 in different color last year and they look sadder than yours! Was thinking of returning them honestly. Now I’m wondering if it’s a new variety thing like you said. Also 4b, got them at Wagner’s.
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I think this might be another case where the old fashioned, reliable varieties are fool-proof while the fancy new ones just don’t perform as well. If you have the option of returning them, I think I would.
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The heuchera colors are beautiful and as an annual looks good ♡ Thanks for sharing and your gardens are always beautiful ♡
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Thanks so much Diane 🙂
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Well I’m zone 5 here in New England and I ♥ my heuchera that I planted 5 years ago and has faithfully returned fuller and more luxurious with each year. Now I do have some planted elsewhere in the garden where there’s ground cover- this is not performing well at all, but I’m beginning to think that the ground cover may be interfering with the roots of the Heuchera. Well, I hope you find some success, or as you suggest, come up with a new game plan, lol!
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I think a new game plan is definitely in order for me, but for now we’ll see how the discounted heuchera do over next winter. I don’t feel terribly optimistic about it though.
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Hi Quandie, Thank you for this post! I am in southern Maine, and my coral bells from last year look awful too, but I thought it was because I had them in a spot that was too wet. I just built up a small rock enclosure for them, and added two more! Probably a mistake, now that I’ve read your post. I wonder if mulching them over the winter would help…? We shall see! Love your newsletter. Kim
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I have read that mulching them over the winter will help. I may try that this year as well. Fingers crossed!
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I had no luck in one area but moved them to a morning sun/shade area under my maple and they seem to have wintered over and still medium sized. I bought two more the other day and I’ll see how they do. I love your garden photos and posts.
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Thanks Janice! And I wish you the best of luck with your heuchera 🙂
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I have only had luck with what I would call the older variety of heuchera. I bought a beautiful red one last year and it never showed up this spring. A rusty colored one I planted several years ago is basically the same size it was when I planted it. They are so pretty paired with hostas in containers though.
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Well, I’d say even one that stays the same size is a good result. Mine have all come back significantly smaller than they were when planted 😦
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I’m in 6B so the heuchera has been no problem here. At least it hasn’t been with the older variety of Purple Palace. However, this year I planted two new varieties – WildBerry and Stainless Steel. Based on your findings. I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on them.
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I’ve had pretty good luck with Purple Palace as well. Keep me posted on how those two newer varieties perform for you in 6B, I’ll be curious to hear if they do better there.
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I’m in your zone and they never even come back for me. I’ve turned to coleus now, goes insanely big in my pots and in my yard where I need color.
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Yep, I agree, coleus is a much better choice for colorful foliage in our zone!
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We have wild coral bells here in western Oregon. They are quite prolific, but unfortunately I’ve only seen them in green. Other than that they are quite pretty, and as I said, prolific.
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I have heard that there is a wild version that is considered slightly invasive, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one though. After a quick online search, it looks like they don’t grow here in Minnesota. Maybe we should take the hint from the wild ones 😉
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My heuchera looked like it was dead in May and I contemplated pulling it out. Then 2 weeks of horrific heat, one with heavy rain and its growing Gang busters again. In fact too much so I trimmed it back. We are now getting a week of mild weather and sunshine. My astibles gave birth over the winter and I have 3 for the price e of one, bonus. With all this climate and roller coaster whether its changing how I plan my garden.
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I learned that you should divide astilbes every 3 to 4 years to encourage lots of blooms from watching Gardener’s World. So I divided mine this spring, replanted most and then gave one to the neighbor. Mine won’t bloom until mid-July at the earliest but I’m hoping for a fabulous show!
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They have been Corel bells since the first time I was introduced to them in my 90 year old neighbors garden. I say get a plant from someone who has had them for years and I bet it will thrive. There is nothing prettier than a big bunch of coral bell in bloom. I love the wild looking delicate flower!
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That is the best advice Ruth! You’re so right. I keep trying these fancy new cultivars that just don’t perform as well as the old-fashioned varieties. Take my lilac hedge for example. The fancy, pretty ones don’t do well at all, while the old ‘common’ lilac is already 10′ tall. But the flowers are so much prettier on the new varieties, and I’ve also found that they are more readily available to purchase. I purchased two more a couple of weeks ago at Fleet Farm. I hadn’t been finding the ‘common’ version anywhere (however, I did find it later at Gertens, if anyone is looking).
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If it makes you feel better I am in Massachusetts and I have tried for years to grow these unsuccessfully I have surrendered and will just admire them when someone else can grow them. I have a couple of times had them come back once but never twice
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I’m with you Kim, I surrender!
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I planted a purplish heuchera last summer – mine did not survive the winter either.
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Such a bummer! Clearly we are all having a similar experience 😦
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I haven’t done well with th
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