Saw it on Dutch Gardens
http://www.dutchgardens.com/Shopping/sell.asp?SC=JKA7005A&ProdGroupID=22703&DeptPGID=19608
looks interesting?
Does this grow in TX Caramel Heuchera
Would love to know the answer because they are gorgeous! One year I did get "Keys to Heaven" and it did not do well in Houston.
Well it's listed in Dave's plant files
Coral Bells, Alumroot, Coralbells, Alum Root 'Amethyst Myst'
Heuchera
but no one from TX seems to have said they grow there.
Maggiemoo???
I'm always surprised when someone thinks I might know something, lol. Thanks for the compliment!
I don't have any personal exerience with Heucheras yet, have some from last year's Dallas swap that I still need to plant. I know that they are generally recommended in our area, but I'm not sure if the different cultivars make a lot of difference. I wish that growers would list not only the hardiness zones, but also the heat indexes. This is hardy to zone 4, I get that - it will survive our very mild winters. The questions is, will our hot summers kill it off?
I think it's worth a try. (We'll let you be the guinea pig, then you can report back to us, lol.)
Maggiemoo! I will guinea pig.. checking it out. I will go to Southern Living/Morovia suppliers and talk to Arbor Gate. The colors out on Daves Plant files make my mouth water.
Just curious, will you be planting this in a container, as a groundcover, border, or what? I need to start getting the old cogs moving for planting plans.
I was thinking ground cover.
It's certainly a pretty color, be sure to share pictures!
did a little research today. it is commonly known as coral bells. Zone is different by specific cultivar. Going to Arbor Gate tomorrow and hope to get a native plant. The colors were great tho!
Anyone have luck with hostas here?
I'm always seeing pictures of beautiful hostas in Houston gardens, but mine always melted before the summer was over. After two yrs, I gave up. I'm sure there will be others with some real experience before long.
The color of the coral bells you posted is sooo great. I don't know if it will do well in Texas heat. I have 3 types of Huechera you might want to try.:
Coral Bells, Alumroot, Coralbells, Alum Root 'Green Spice' (Heuchera americana)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/32374/index.html
'Stormy Seas'
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/32483/index.html
and I think the other one is 'Lady in Red'.
Mine are growing in some morning sun and afternoon filtered shade (no full sun in the afternoon or the leaves will burn). When in total shade, they did not do well.
I have hosta 'So Sweet' which has done very well and is sold each year at Home Depot. It does well in filtered shade under an oak tree (receives brief morning sun). Again, this plants leaves will burn if it receives direct afternoon sun.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2996/index.html
This message was edited Feb 24, 2006 9:49 PM
Thank you thank you.. I think I have some places I might try them. they are so gorgeous... the coral bells.
Hostas are great but I have had NO luck.. but then we are dealing with "me"!
I keep hearing that Hostas don't really do all that well in the Houston area. I had some once that did ok, but nothing to write home about. Possibly I didn't fertilize enough- that was back in my miss spent youth.
:::grin:::: I tried it a while back as well .... They always look so lush in Southern Living! I think it is that our nights don't cool off to refresh the plant. I know impatiens really perk up when the nights cool off.
I'm always amazed that Southern Living considers states as far north as Pennsylvania to be southern! Once I finally looked at the states they considered "southern" it explained a lot about why so many plants they showed didn't work at all for me... or anyone else around here.
You are so right, it's those cool night temps - or lack of them - that can really make a difference in how happy some plants are. (Come to think of it, it makes a difference in how happy I am, too, lol.)
I still consider trying a hosta or two from time to time. I've considered making a hyper-tufa planter with copper embedded in the sides to keep the slugs out. Just don't know if can deal with another failure.
:-)
I know the feeling. I grew up in Southern California and we had smallish slugs- huge snails, but small slugs. These huge long black ones in my yard here gross me out and I thought nothing could be worse. I was wrong, my younger brother sent me photos of Banana slugs he found when he was camping in the pacific northwest- oh man, if one of them ever crawled on me they'd have to put me in straight jacket and put me away!
Maggie, I think SL does that to promote greater circulation. Also, I think most people are enamored with southern gentility and grace, so who wouldn't want to be called a southerner, lol.
Heuchera. a heart breaker for me. I planted the most common one, Palace Purple, inground, part shade, easy access to water, and it progressively got smaller and smaller til on year 4 there was no heuchera. THe strange thing is that Neil Sperry (or is it TAMU?) recommends this plant for texas shady gardens. I can see them doing well in the northern half of the state, but Houston area--not in my experience. I would imagine the fancier ones are even a riskier venture.
I recently found a tablet that I used the first summer I got interested in "real" gardening, notes that I wrote from gardening radio & TV programs. I was looking through it last night, and one note says that Palace Purple Heuchera is good in Houston. Hmmmmm...
Well, another thing I wrote down, from one of the talks I went to at Arbor Gate: "A real gardener will kill a plant at least three times before giving up on it." The woman said her belt had notches all the way around from all the plants she killed, lol.
Thanks for the followup, folks! Raining today, so I will venture to Arbor Gate tomorrow.
Aw, are you letting a little rain keep you away from Arbor Gate? :-)