Heuchera

Heuchera

Colorful Coral Bells for the Shade Garden

By Published August 07, 2014 Updated June 07, 2022

Welcome to Plant Delights Nursery at Juniper Level Botanic Gardens. We are a private research and display botanic garden located near Raleigh, North Carolina (USDA Hardiness Zone 7b). Our retail mail order division allows us to make the best perennials from our trials available to gardeners around the world, some of which were developed here, some from our plant explorations, and others from breeders around the world. Between 1988 and 2010, Plant Delights Nursery introduced over 500 new perennial plants to US horticulture. In 2002, we were honored to be recognized by the American Horticulture Society for our lifetime of work in commercial horticulture. This image gallery is but a sampling of the great perennial plants available for gardeners around the world. We do not carry all plants pictured at any one time, but since our mission is to educate and inspire, we hope these images and the linked articles below will expand your garden horizons and interest. You will find an array of other interesting information and fascinating perennials throughout our website...thank you for taking time to visit.

Coral bells have suddenly become cool! With the discovery of Heuchera 'Palace Purple', followed by Heuchera 'Montrose Ruby'breeders have started to pay attention to this group and today there are dozens of brightly colored Heuchera cultivars on the market. Every year breeders like Terra Nova release a handful of new cultivars to the wholesale market. We evaluate them all in our Raleigh NC garden and offer the best and toughest coral bells to you.

Coral bells come in a wide variety of leaf colors including green, chartreuse, yellow, peach, pinkish-red, copper and purple, often with attractively patterned leaf veins. Some coral bells (e.g., Miracle) have leaves that change color with the seasons and provide a rotating color palette as the year progresses. Coral bells were originally grown for their flowers, which are great butterfly attractors and great in a flower arrangement. In addition to the dozens of leaf color forms, the newest coral bells offer unique leaf forms with frilly edges and other nice textural treats.

Southern gardeners should focus on Coral bells with Heuchera villosa in their bloodline, as that species is the best at tolerating our heat and humidity. Here at Plant Delights, we have trialed most of the new Heuchera varieties on the market and we only sell those that have proven themselves in our humid Raleigh, NC garden. Heuchera plants are best in the open woodland garden, but will tolerate a fair amount of morning sun provided they are sited in a well-drained soil that doesn't hold too much moisture.

Heucheras look great planted in mass. Try edging a bed or filling a border with all one color (like Citronelle) or try mixing several contrasting Heuchera selections in artistic patterns in a technicolor group planting (like Paris, Frosted Violet, and Georgia Peach). You can also grow heuchera in combination with other woodland plants such as carex, phlox and tricyrtis.
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