Coral Bells: A Perennial Whose Foliage is Brighter Than Its Flowers

A visit to my grandmother's house when I was a child was always a floral adventure. During the spring, a field of golden California poppies would bloom in the vacant lot next door and, come summer, the long driveway leading to her house would be lined with pink blooming coral bells.

Coral bells, also known as Heuchera, have come a long way in the ensuing decades. This perennial flower used to be known for their green clumps of heart-shaped leaves with flowers -- almost always pink -- blooming atop slender stems. The flowers weren't particularly pretty and the plant was sort of drab. I can still remember the delicate stems nodding in the wind, but my biggest wonderment was how the plants grew in the rock-hard ground next to the hot concrete driveway.

Well, today's coral bells aren't like those of my grandmother's. Today, heucera hybrids are an entirely new generation with an explosion of stunning new foliage and flower forms. In fact, coral bells may be one of the few perennials grown more for their colorful foliage than their flowers. Hybrid foliage heucheras are just as apt to have bronze, red, maroon and silvery-green leaves as regular green.

The slender, elongated stalks are still tipped with airy sprays of small, nodding bells over the course of summer. Flowers aren't just pink anymore either. Today, they include red, carmine, coral, crimson, green and white. Still, even when abundant, the flowers of these new hybrids often are less showy than their leaves, which are their crowning glory for much of the year.

While coral bells often are used as border plants the way my grandmother planted them along her driveway, they can also be planted en masse. Their bright leaves are beautifully foiled by the likes of artemesia or stachys and other perennials with silver-tipped foliage. Ornamental grasses, especially the blue-leaved Helictotrichon sempervirens, are especially effective with the pink-flowered forms.

Coral bells can be planted almost anytime in most of California, but fall, in particular, is a great time since established plants can be divided. If you know a friend or neighbor who has them in their garden, suggest dividing them and taking a few clumps for yourself. Remove the woody, central core of older plants and replant the smaller chunks that fall away during the process. You can plant them by seed or as already-started transplants come spring time. Seeds of heuchera can be ordered through many of the large mail-order seed companies like Burpee, Park and Grimes. Some of the more exotic hybrid varieties include: "Purple Palace," "Chocolate Ruffles," "Snowstorm" and "Montrose Ruby."

While the coral bells of my grandmother's day would grow and bloom int he hottest areas, one concession with most new hybrids is heat tolerance. Because these hybrids often owe their distinctive foliage patterning to native woodland species, they prefer light or partial shade. In full sun, they'll often get brown or scorched leaves during the hottest weather.

They'll do best where ferns, camellias or impatiens grow. Plants require consistently moist, humus-rich and slightly acid soils to look their best. Most form foot-high mounds threaded in season with numerous 14 to 18-inch flower stalks.

If you want to grow an old-fashioned plant that's been modernized, try coral bells.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terra Nova Nurseries has a story on The New Heucheras at: www.terranovanurseries.com

Perennials with colorful foliage -- that includes coral bells -- are included on two sites: www.penpages is part of Penn State University's College of Agricultural Services. Horticultural and Home Pest News also has an article at: www.ipm.iastate.edu That is part of Iowa State University.