HEUCHERA. Alum root. North America, Mexico. Tightly clumping perennials with round, scalloped or lobed basal leaves. The blooming stems are more or less erect and carry airy clusters of tiny bell shaped blossoms, white to deep red in color. I am pleased to see a new wave of interest in these plants, coupled with some serious effort on the part of various growers and hybridizers in reselecting for patterned leaves, showier flowers and other features. Sun near the coast, part shade inland, reasonably well drained soil, moderate to little watering when established. Watch for mealybug! Hardiness varies.

Canyon Series. A number of years ago, at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the late Dara Emery began to cross H. sanguinea, the coral bells of Arizona, with some of our small mountain natives of the H. rubescens complex (see below). Within a short time, his work produced dozens of beautiful hybrids which combined the dense, small hummocks of the natives with flower colors ranging from white to deep, rosy pink. All have smaller flowers than H. sanguinea, but usually many more of them. The first round of introductions included four selections, all with closely packed, deep green leaves and 6-12" flower stems. We still offer three. ‘Blushing Bells’ has pale pink blossoms, bleaching to nearly white in hot weather. ‘Canyon Delight’ offers an incredible wealth of rose-colored flowers, while those of ‘Canyon Pink’ are bright pink, with lighter centers. After a quiescent period of several years, the Garden released a new round of selections, including perhaps the showiest to date. ‘Canyon Duet’ is my personal favorite. The plant is as dense and small-leaved as those of the high mountain natives, with dozens of flowering stems per plant. The flowers give a glittering impression with their combination of intense dark rose and white. ‘Canyon Melody’ is similar, with flowers not as dark. ‘Canyon Chimes’ has uniformly bright pink flowers. 0^oF. or below.

‘Dark Delight’. This was received years ago from friend Bill Baker as “sp. /Mexico” and offered as such for several years. However, having compared it to a large number of seedlings of ‘Palace Purple’, I think it is superior and deserves a cultivar name. The selection belongs to either H. americana or a closely related species. It forms tight clumps, with rosettes of broadly lobed, nearly flat leaves often over 3" across. They are more distinctly bicolored than those of ‘Palace Purple’, greener above and showing a lovely satiny sheen. Small pink-tinged blossoms are borne on dark red 1’ stems in summer. 10^oF or less.

‘Genevieve’. A beautiful hybrid by the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, involving H. sanguinea and H. maxima (below). It has 2-3" leaves attractively marbled with grey and carries showers of deep pink white-centered blossoms on 2’ to 2½’ stems from spring to fall. 15^oF or less.

maxima. Island alum root. This is a native of our Channel Islands and one parent of the Rancho Santa Ana hybrids. It has large, long-stalked leaves of dark green with lighter marbling. Its intricately branched clusters of white to light pink flowers rise 1½’ to 3’ above the foliage. Probably 15^oF.

micrantha. The species itself is a common native, usually found on shady cliffs and roadbanks and distinguished by its sharply lobed leaves and exceptionally tiny, slender-stalked blossoms. Our own selection from the wild, ‘Painted Lady’, has leaves beautifully painted with purple and silver-grey and heavily tinted overall with plum purple in winter. The flower stems are purplish red, while the blossoms are white. ‘Martha Roderick’, one of several horticultural treasures from Mrs. Roderick’s garden, is a robust plant with more typical, bright green leaves and tall stems bearing hundreds of rose pink blossoms. 10^oF or less.

‘Opal’. Another of the Rancho Santa Ana hybrids, derived from H. maxima and H. sanguinea. It has large medium green leaves, 2’ stems and pink buds opening into nearly white flowers. 15^oF or less.

‘Palace Purple’. This seed strain was originally listed under H. americana, but more recently as H. micrantha. More likely, it began as a garden volunteer of unknown parentage. Plants of this strain form broad clumps, useful in groups for small-scale ground cover. The leaves are up to 3" broad, wavy-edged, dark and red-tinged above and reddish purple beneath. The 1-2’ blooming stems are also red-tinged and bear sprays of tiny, greenish white blossoms. In winter the plants turn solidly plum-purple. We have made some interesting reselections from this strain and may attach names to one or more of them soon. Probably 0^oF or less.

rubescens complex. There are several similar species in this group. At various times we will have limited quantities of H. elegans, H. hirsutissima and H. rubescens itself. All are matting plants with small, dark green leaves and short (under 1’) stems of white to pink flowers. All are delicate in appearance and pretty plants for the rock garden. 0^oF or less.

sanguinea. Coral bells. This popular species from Arizona is distinguished by tightly packed clumps of bright green leaves, often patterned with white, and a wealth of normally pink to red blossoms presented on 1-2’ stems in spring. ‘Firefly’ has relatively short (1’) stems of rose-red blossoms. ‘Angel’s Pink’ is larger and outstandingly floriferous. The flowers are bright pink, patterned with white (our thanks to Angel Guerzon). ‘White Cloud’ is a seed strain remarkable for its vigor, abundance of flowers and cream-white flower color; it also shows attractive copper and orange shades in the foliage in fall.

‘Santa Ana Cardinal’. Another Rancho Santa Ana hybrid combining H. maxima and H. sanguinea. It has large dark, shiny leaves, stems up to 3’ high and a profusion of large rose-red blossoms. 15^oF. or less.

‘Wendy’. The last of our current trio from Rancho Santa Ana, featuring the same parentage as ‘Opal’ and ‘Santa Ana Cardinal’. It has large light green leaves and stems about 2’ tall carrying hundreds of light, rather fleshy pink blossoms.