Heucherellas Question

Discuss and share pictures of plants in the genus Heuchera and the hybrid genus Heucherella, commonly known as coral bells and foamy bells.
Aud
Posts: 655
Joined: Aug 29, 2002 8:00 pm
USDA Zone: zone 6
Location: Pennsylvania

Heucherellas Question

Post by Aud »

My question is how many people are having survival success with the new Heucherellas?

I have a order sitting here as a matter of fact while I debate if I should spend the money for a plant that may not survive. I have stopped spending anything over 5 bucs for Heucheras because they are iffy at best if they will survive. I am having better luck with the Heucheras now that I have found a spot in the garden they seem to like. I am thinking of branching out to the Heucherellas.

I have done a search and it appears a pennsylvania trial garden have tested this new plant and are saying that they are not viable unless grown under ideal condition in a greenhouse or Washington area. I think the article is about 2 years old so improvements might have been made. It seems Terra Nova is pumping them out like eye candy for the big bucks without any thought if they are really as hardy as their tag is saying.
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Chris_W
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Re: Heucherellas Question

Post by Chris_W »

Hi Aud,

The Heucherellas are hardy as far as cold goes, but like Heucheras, they do need really good drainage for survival, especially over the winter and spring. With Heuchera I'm having the best results, actually fantastic results, simply growing them all in containers. My soil is way too heavy and we water way too often. I do have a few spots with really good drainage but I need those areas for other plants.

Heucherellas are a cross between Heuchera and Tiarella and most references say to grow them more like Heuchera in a sunny, well-drained spot with the crowns a little above the soil. However here I'm having better results growing them more like Tiarellas in really well-drained, woodland soil with the crowns covered lightly, and growing them very dry. The only issue I'm seeing is that they really don't send out that many roots and tend to grow nice dense crowns but with little root growth, where in containers they grow a lot more roots for me. Again, that might be because of our irrigation out in the hosta area, though we keep the tiarellas and heucherellas separated from the hostas so they aren't directly watered ever.

One big issue I have is with many growers using elle plugs to propagate the heuchera, heucherella and tiarella. These are paper plugs that are made out of a material much like landscape fabric. Those plugs hold way too much moisture, restrict root growth and can lead to crown rot after they are planted in the ground. We had a batch of Heucherella with those paper plugs that appeared to grow fine out in the ground, looked really nice, but when I dug them found that they had grown new roots above that plug but everything within and below it had rootted away over the winter. If we had watered them normally, like most people would in their gardens, then I'm sure they would have completely rotted away. Now I am avoiding buying anything like this that comes in a paper plug and if I do get any I make sure I remove all the paper.

Maybe your garden doesn't drain well enough for growing these? If so, I'd think about trying some in containers. We use a coarse, well-draining, soilless container mix and both the heuchera and heucherella are growing great now. Otherwise try growing Heucherella in the driest, best draining part of the dappled shade garden. But don't try too hard if you don't really have that sort of spot. They are definitely picky, and I find that some gardens are perfect for them and others are not...
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Aud
Posts: 655
Joined: Aug 29, 2002 8:00 pm
USDA Zone: zone 6
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Heucherellas Question

Post by Aud »

Thanks Chris,

I have found a good spot for the Huech. I discovered a spot that was once a gravel patio area that had years of leaves broken down overtime that turned to soil. I did not know it was once a gravel area until I put the shovel in and started planting this area.
I am now growing herc with no death. :D So I am going to put all Heucheras and Heucherellas in that area. So this should work.
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