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Florida Gardening

Heuchera (Coral Bells)

17 years ago

A few weeks ago, I asked if anyone had tried heuchera in the central Florida area, and I thought I would show you what mine has done so far. I put one in the ground...it's pretty piddling looking. I put the the other two in planters, as shown here:

This is my pot of silver, with two kinds of dusty miller, and a silvery & purpley-leaved heuchera (now blooming. It's on a table in the bali hut, and I love how the silvery colors stand out in the shade there.

Close up of the coral bells.

I made another planter in purple & chartreuse, with fountain grass, a nearly black coleus and a chartreuse variety of heuchera. It hasn't bloomed, but the foliage is striking.

So far, I have enjoyed having these in pots, but we'll have to see how far into the heat they last.

Marcia

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Comments (8)

goldenpond
17 years ago
Stunning Marcia! I love the contrast against your white brick also! I see I am not the only garden that has House Hugging leaves,gotta love em!
manature
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, GP! Yeah, for several weeks spring and fall (especially spring), the house, yard and driveway are simply buried under leaves. I can blow them off every day (but I don't, of course! ACK!). Lucky for us we have a huge compost heap and those leaves go right on it. I see my neighbors spending a bloomin' fortune on hefty bags to throw away theirs every week. Next door, they will have 10 or more big bags every single yard trash day. If we didn't already have more than we need, I'd be over there stealing his garbage!

Regarding that white brick...when we moved in, it was painted an awful shade of FBR (fake brick red). I just couldn't live with it. It didn't even look nice with the rest of the grey house. Mark didn't want to lose the color of the "mortar," even though the bricks aren't real, so I hand rolled each and every "brick" with a 3" roller. ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH. Talk about a back breaker! Thank goodness it didn't go all the way around the house! I like the white much better, though, so it was worth it. (Says she, now that she can straighten up from the crouching position again!)

Marcia
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Ok, so I was ALL geared up for somewhat of a challenge and thought "Damn it, I'm gonna doctor this baby back to health!" with serious determination. However, after speaking with a plant pathologist at MSU: With a heavy heart... I returned the pretty heuchera back to the GH. According to the pathologist, it was indeed Heuchera Rust caused by Puccinia heucherae. She also stated that it can also infect the following genera: "Elmera, Lithophragma, Mitella, Saxifraga, Tellima, Tiarella, Tolmiea" And since I have a very nice Tiarella 'sugar and spice' really close to where the coral bells were going, I ultimately didn't want to take the chance. She also said that if I wanted to try to treat the sick plant to make sure I got a fungicide that had active ingredient of "triadimefon, or thiophanate-methyl as these are the most effective" (just FYI in case anyone needs the info). And the GH owner was nice. I told her just to credit my account for when my ordered Christmas Fern comes in and she had no problem doing so. Sadly, I went back to look at all the heuchera in the GH and every one of them had the rust. :( So thank you so much to everyone that responded!!! I know... I'm a newb and shouldn't freak out as much, *blush* but so VERY glad you all are here to help me. So now I gotta find another place to get H. 'marmalade' (or 'caramel'). Any suggestions?
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thx mar .... got to entertain myself.. so may as well entertain you all .. lol ... actually i am very shy at parties ... anyway .. i cant keep track of every poster.. my first inclination is to shy newbies away from chemicals ... i once read the homeowner is the greatest polluter on earth.. using more chemicals per acre.. than a good farmer will use on 100 acres ... if the plant a few bucks.. why go nuclear ??? on the other hand.. as a guy who used to pay $250 for a hosta ... aka a hardcore collector.. i fully understand that there are many others of us ... that work in realm that includes the nuclear option.. but we tend to PROPERLY ID our nemesis's ... work on a preventive basis .. and use all cures properly and according to labeled instruction ... but i still stand by my statement.. that if it is rot.. odds are low for recovery ... but i didnt know about the evil weevil.. hmmmm .. regardless.. something is happening to the roots that is interfering in water movement to the upper plant ... and you wont know.. until you dig it up ... rot has a significant olfactory aroma .... you will now.. when you smell it ... think diaper .. lol .. ken
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maureen155
17 years ago
Marcia -

I really like the pot with the silver foliage. Beautiful. I used to grow coral bells in NY, but never really thought of growing them in a container here. I'll be interested to know how they do when it gets warmer.

Maureen
msmarion
16 years ago
Marcia, I was wondering how your heuchera was doing in the heat and humidity? The one I have potted and in the pool enclosure seems to be doing quite well.
Marion
manature
Original Author
16 years ago
My chocolate one has bitten the dust and the lime green one is about to go, as well. However, the silver one seems to be holding its own. I have hopes that when the weather cools off, it might begin to grow a bit or bloom again. Will let ya know! Glad yours is doing well.

Even my coleus is suffering from the heat right now. Very washed out and lanky. I'm about to cut it all way back.

Marcia
cindeea
16 years ago
Marcia, as always your planter combinations are eye candy! Very pretty. I also love the striking silver combo with the dainty coral flowers complimenting it. You have a keen eye for color, girl!
FlowerLady6
16 years ago
Wonderful color and foliage combos. The coral bells with the velvety silver dusty miller is really something else. Your pictures make me want to get out and work in the gardens but it is just too dang hot and miserable out.

FlowerLady
manature
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Cindee and FlowerLady...of course, if you notice the date of my original post, the pics were taken in March. Things don't look quite the same here right now, and FlowerLady, I'm not spending more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time out there now. It's just tooooo dang hot!!

Marcia

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