Heuchera (Coral Bells)

Heuchera, also called Coral Bells, are by far one of my favorite plants for shade gardens. Not only are they beautiful plants but in my garden (where deer and rabbits roam) have been very pest free. They don’t require much water to maintain once they are established and will pretty much take care of themselves.

The only real maintenance that is necessary for heucheras is a dividing about every 3 years to re-invigorate the plant. Sometimes the center will die back and all the gardener needs to do is divide it and replant one of the divisions where the original plant was. The really cool thing is you end up with more free plants!

If you would like to make more coral bells you can try growing heuchera from seed or take a heuchera cutting.

Here are a few of the heucheras we have in our garden:

Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’

One of my favorites among favorites Heuchera ‘Silver Scrolls’ sports a silvery variegation. Zones 4-8

Heuchera ‘Dale’s Strain’

‘Dale’s Strain’ will change color in the winter to a more caramel-burgundy-brown shade. In the spring it comes back all green with a whitish variegated sheen on the leaves. Zones 4-7

Heuchera ‘Midnight Rose’

This is one of our newest additions. It’s a sport of the popular ‘Obsidian’ Heuchera and has tiny purple specks all over the leaves. A very cool one! Zones 4-9

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Heuchera ‘Mocha’

Mocha is fairly ordinary in appearance with dark color leaves. It makes a good contrast with the green colored heucheras like ‘Dale’s Strain’. Zones 4-9

Heuchera ‘Mystic Angel’

I bought ‘Mystic Angel’ while searching for ‘Silver Scrolls’ because I thought it looked similar. There’s a bit more green in the leaves but has some very nicely colored veining. Zones 4-9

Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’

‘Palace Purple’ seems to be the plant that started it all. It was one of the first heucheras bred and many current cultivars descended from this variety. It is one heuchera that will come true from seed and I’ve grown several ‘Palace Purple’ plants from seed I collected in the late summer and fall. Other heucheras may not come true from seed but some interesting variations might be found if you decide to try it. Zones 3-9

Heucheras make great companion plants to hostas!

Heuchera ‘Southern Comfort’

‘Southern Comfort’ heuchera is a good option for areas that get more sunlight. It does pretty good in our southern home garden in the sun! This heuchera has an orange shade on the top side of the leaves with purple on the under side. It’s a beautiful choice that has flourished in our garden with very little special care.