Plant of the Week
Coral Bells
If you’re looking for a low growing evergreen perennial with an assortment of great foliage colors and flowers as well, then look no further than the Coral Bells! Heuchera, or commonly known as Coral Bells are primarily grown for their wonderful assortment of foliage colors, but they have some pretty nice flowers as well. Coral bells love the sun, but will grow in partial shade, range in heights from 8 to 24 inches, and their flowers are on airy spikes that rise about the foliage. Coral Bells are probably one of the easiest perennials to grow. And how about all those foliage colors? Let me give you a few examples:
Peach Melba – peach toned foliage
Midnight Rose – near black foliage with speckled pink flecks
Georgia Peach – peachy red leaves with red veining
Frosted Violet – pink violet leaves with darker veins
Purple Petticoat – dark purple ruffled foliage
Dolce Blackcurrent – bold purple leaves with silver accents
Cream de Menthe – dark grey silver edged leaves with purple veining
Green Spice – green leaves / heavy silvering – accented with rust red veins
Caramel -caramel colored foliage
Plum Pudding -glossy silvery purple foliage
Can Can – serrated silver leaves with ruffled edges and purple veining
Obsidian – dark burgundy glossy texture
Snow Angel -variegated light green creamy mottled leaves
Citronelle – one big mound of lime green leaves
Now these are just a few of the many different types of Coral Bells you’ll find! And remember – they’re an evergreen perennial so you get that great foliage color year round. By the way, Coral Bells not only do an excellent job in the ground, they also do an excellent job in containers! Say it – “HEUCHERA!”
MORE SUMMER BLOOMING PERENNIALS! You can’t beat planting perennials for colors that keep coming back year after year. So today, let’s look at a few more perennials for you to consider for your landscape, that flower mid to late summer.
Echinacea – commonly known as Purple Coneflower, has gone beyond purple. Today there are many colors available including white, orange, yellow and yes, purple.
Russian Sage – great silvery foliage, this perennial has been flowering since early summer with its wonderful lavender blue flowers.
Joe Pye Weed – here’s a bold grower for the perennial garden, and just starting to show its bold clusters of pink flowers.
Crocosmia – wonderful upright strapping foliage topped by those outstanding brilliant orange red flowers. Now that’ll brighten up the landscape!
Missouri Primrose – an all summer bloomer with its clusters of four petaled canary yellow flowers that open in the evening and begin to fade the next day.
Bellflower – a low grower with its light green foliage covered with dark blue bell shaped flowers.
Baby’s Breath – been around forever, now showing with its huge sprays of small white flowers, commonly used in floral arrangements.
Caryopteris – actually a woody perennial and two of my favorites would be the variegated selection called Snow Fairy, and of course, Dark Knight with its wonderful late summer lavender blue flowers that not only look great, but smell great as well.
NOTE: These are all available right now for your planting pleasure!
[Frisbeetarianism - The belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there.]
Tags: coral bells, heuchera
