Not many plants grown mainly for their foliage grab mass attention in the way showy flowering plants do, but Heuchera and x Heucherella buck the trend. Their varied and vibrant leaf colours could explain this popularity on their own, but their foliage can also be beautifully marbled with pewter, overlaid with a silver sheen, laced with dark veins or prettily ruffled to reveal a contrasting colour on the reverse.
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Tiarellas are deciduous and more subtle plants, but the maroon-patterned green leaves and profusion of frothy flowers share an equal distribution of attractive qualities.
Jump to:
- How to care and grow heuchera and tiarella
- Are heuchera evergreen
- When do heuchera and tiarella flower?
- What to plant with heuchera and tiarella
- How to divide heuchera and tiarella
- When to plant heuchera and tiarella
- Where to plant heuchera and tiarella
- How to care for heuchera and tiarella
- The best heuchera and tiarella plant varieties
- Where to see and buy heuchera and tiarella
What are heuchera and tiarella
Fact file
- What Heuchera is a genus of woody stemmed, evergreen or semi-evergreen perennials in the Saxifragaceae family, made up of around 45 species. Tiarella is a closely related genus of around seven species. x Heucherella plants have been bred by crossing heucheras with Tiarella cordifolia. Heucheras are commonly called coral bells or alum root. Tiarellas are called foam flowers, while heucherellas are known as foamy bells.
- Season Foliage from early spring to late autumn, but can be colourful in winter; flowers, with some exceptions, from spring to midsummer.
- Size Heights shown are for foliage, which varies from 15cm to 50cm. Height including flower spikes varies from around 40cm to 1m.
- Conditions Heucheras and heucherellas need moist but well-drained soil. They do best in light shade although darker leaf colours are more tolerant of sun. Tiarellas need reliably moist soil and some shade.
- Origins Mainly North America and Mexico, with one Tiarella species from East Asia and one Heuchera from Russia.
- Hardiness Hardy throughout most of the UK and suitable for gardens in USDA zones 4a to 9b.
How to care and grow heuchera and tiarella
Are heuchera evergreen?
The colour and patterning changes with the seasons, light levels and temperature, and evergreen leaves mean many are still colourful in winter.
When do heuchera and tiarella flower?
Some cultivars have tall stems of small pink and white flowers that bloom in late spring and early summer. Some cultivars have pretty low key flowers while others have wonderful flowers in shades of red, pink or cream, and all flowers attract plenty of pollinators.
What to plant with heuchera and tiarella
When deciding what to plant them with, you’ll find that even the bolder leaf colours are bright without being brash and combine easily with perennials such as primroses, hellebores or bergenias in spring, geums, hardy geraniums and hostas in summer, and crocosmias or Rudbeckia fulgida later on.
Heucheras with metallic overlays work well in modern schemes, used to edge a border or planted in a group of complementary colours to form a tapestry. Small varieties are perfect for pot growing and some of the taller and more robust cultivars can be combined with ornamental grasses or taller perennials such as foxgloves or Astrantia major.
Although tiarellas also have foliage that looks attractive over many months, their flowering
period and consistent need for shade makes their prospective companions a little more specific. Euphorbias, such as E. oblongata or E. amygdaloides var. robbiae, can work well, as can Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’, primulas and aquilegias, which are also good companions for the shade-loving heucheras and heucherellas.
How to divide heuchera and tiarella
Plants will develop woody stems over time, which makes them look ungainly. The best solution is to dig up the whole plant and remove sections of woody stem with roots attached.
If you want new plants, plant these sections individually in pots of multipurpose compost with added grit, let them grow on and plant them out when they have good root systems. If you don’t want extra plants, you can also lift the whole plant and replant to the level of the crown.
When to plant heuchera and tiarella
Plant Heuchera and x Heucherella in spring or early autumn, in part shade or sun. Plants with darker and brighter leaf colours tend to have better colour in sun while paler colours are better in shade, but there are exceptions. Plant Tiarella in part or full shade. Most garden soil is fine, but don’t plant into heavy soil that’s waterlogged in winter, and don’t let it dry out completely in summer.
Keep the crown of the plant just above the soil level when planting. Water well after planting and keep watering in dry weather until they’re fully established, when they should be more drought tolerant. If growing in pots, use a multipurpose compost with added grit to improve drainage.
Where to plant heuchera and tiarella
Heuchera alone can be grown from seed including seeds you collect from your own plants, though these may look different to the parent. Sow seeds on the surface of a good seed compost in spring, and pot seedlings into individual pots once they’ve germinated. Grow on outdoors during the summer and plant in autumn.
How to care for heuchera and tiarella
Heuchera and x Heucherella are prone to rust, seen as brown spots on the surface and small, rust-coloured pustules on the underside of leaves. This is worst in wet summers. Cut away all the affected foliage and avoid wetting foliage if you are watering the plant.
Good air flow around plants can help so avoid overcrowding plants. Vine-weevil grubs can be a problem for plants grown in pots as they eat the roots. If plants suddenly look wilted, check the compost for small, white, C-shaped grubs. Remove affected plants, wash the roots and re-plant into fresh compost. Treat the compost with biological-control nematodes in spring and autumn.
The best heuchera and tiarella plant varieties
Heuchera Shimmer (= ‘Tnheushi’)
A compact and neat plant that could line a border edge or be grown in a pot. This shade lover produces a profusion of large, pink flowers held just above the mound of green leaves with silvery overlay. Height and spread: 15cm x 30cm. RHS H6†.
Heuchera ‘Thomas’
A spectacular plant producing a profusion of elegant, 90cm spikes of large flowers from May to July. Popular with bees, the flowers are also good for cutting. Handsome foliage is reliably evergreen. 35cm x 50cm. AGM. RHS H6.
x Heucherella ‘Solar Power’
Pale-yellow or lime-green leaves with variable red markings clothe lightly cascading stems. Leaves can be scorched by sun. The tiarella-like flowers are white. 25cm x 35cm. RHS H6, USDA 4a-9b.
Tiarella ‘Emerald Ellie’
Forms rounded mounds of lime-green leaves with variable amounts of deep-red markings. The pretty white flowers last from spring to summer. Once established, copes well with dry soil. 30cm x 40cm. AGM*. RHS H5.
Heuchera ‘Red Lightning’
A long-flowering plant with white blooms in spring and summer, but foliage is the real star. Red veins spread to almost cover yellow leaves in cool weather, retreating to an intricate tracing when warmer. 30cm x 35cm. RHS H6.
x Heucherella ‘Hopscotch’
Glossy, dark-orange leaves, with darker markings tracing the veins in spring, turn green in summer, when white flowers appear. They turn back to deep orange-red in autumn and winter. 30cm x 40cm. RHS H6, USDA 4a-9b.
x Heucherella ‘Redstone Falls’
Trailing cultivar with long leafy stems in shades of rich orange and red with a silvery sheen. Reliably evergreen with starry white flowers from spring to midsummer. 30cm x 90cm. RHS H6.
Heuchera ‘Strawberries and Cream’
Has ruffled leaves with attractive cream and green variegation. A profusion of strawberry-pink blooms appear on short stems from May to July. Best grown in light shade. 30cm x 35cm. AGM. RHS H6.
Heuchera ‘Pink Panther’
Leaves of glowing, metallic pink, maturing to deep raspberry pink with dark veining, make a stunning display in a container. Suited to any aspect, colour may be best in part shade. Summer flowers are small and pink. 30cm x 45cm.
Tiarella Raspberry Sundae (= ‘Gosund’)
Grows well in a moist and shady place. Neat mounds of green foliage are covered by short, flowering stems in spring. Pink buds open to pale-pink flowers, soon fading to white. 25cm x 30cm. AGM. RHS H6.
Heuchera ‘Coralberry’
Suited to sun or shade, its lobed leaves are reddish- pink with a fetching silver sheen and form dense, tidy mounds. Summer flowers are small and white, held on loose stems and are loved by bees. 40cm x 40cm. RHS H6.
Heuchera Alfie (= ‘Gofie’)
The ruffled, rich chocolate-coloured foliage forms a neat mound and makes a great backdrop to the pink and white summer flowers. It is best in some shade though can tolerate sun if the soil is kept moist. 25cm x 45cm. RHS H6.
Heuchera ‘Black Forest Cake’
A compact plant that holds its cherry-red blooms from May to June on short stems in perfect proportion to the foliage. These create a very striking combination with the superb deep chocolate-purple leaves. 20cm x 30cm.
Where to see and buy
- Heucheraholics Boldre Nurseries Southampton Road, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 8ND Tel: 01590 670581, heucheraholics.co.uk
- Plantagogo Jubilee Cottage Nursery Snape Lane, Englesea Brook, nr Crewe, Cheshire CW25QN, Tel: 01270820335, plantagogo.com