shrinking plant and....

I have a huechera called Amber, I think. Anyway, yellow leaves. It shrinks each year and I'm afraid I'll lose it this year. I checked out the PlantsFiles which says it needs a sweeter soil so I will have to add lime. But what sort of fertilizer should I use and how often?
I would also like to know which coral bell is the most floriforous or has the longest bloom time. I saw one listed called Magic Wand but the photo was such an extreme close-up that I couldn't tell comparative size.
Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Woodspirt1
I'll bet that is Amber Waves. That one is hard to grow. Not sure what your weather is like but when it's a bit warmer you might want to dig that up and look for root grubs. I have had some on a few of mine. The plant just seens to slowly fade.

I have saved some by cutting the section of root off invected and rooting what is left. They are easy to see small fat white grubs and your plant will have no roots. One time I was weeding and ran my hand over a plant and it just came right out of the soil.

I have used slugo plus to control the grubs when replanting. If you find them you might want to ask at your local nusery what to use.

Heuchera do not like much fertilizer.
I like Vivid. It is green leaved but the flowers are Wow! Bright red and last for weeks. It is very easy to grow. Some of the newer ones I am haveing trouble with. They just never seem to thrive. However, some are in there first year. We will see this spring.
I liked this book Heucheras and Heucherellas by Dan Heims and Grahame Ware.
Hope this helps.

Not one of the peach colored ones ever do well for me and they're in four different gardens.

The easiest to grow have been Purple Petticoats, Palace Purple, Obsidian and Citronelle. There are two others but my brain is frozen from all the Maine snow. They're both dark - one seems (from memory) to have Velvet in the name. I don't fertilize any of them but I do give them some compost - not a lot.

We have low phosphates in our soil and it is very acid. Should I amend that?

I don't fertilize either. Never really thought about it quite honestly.

Funny you mention the peach colored ones as difficult. I have more problems with them too. Last I knew, my Christa was doing ok, but I suppose that could be a matter of time as well.

I would look at the Villosas.

It is funny when we consider how we tend the clematises, Carolyn.

My feeling is that the plants do get compost, some more than others, and I don't have the time or energy to tend to the needs of 5,000 plants.

Arlene

You are absolutely right. I baby my clems and yet when it comes to my heucheras, tiarellas or scads of other plants - I water, but that is it.

I definitely dont' have the time nor the inclination to baby all my plants, but I wonder how my rhodies and azaleas would do with a little bit of acid fertilizer from time to time.....

When we think of it generally we will make the rounds with the Holly-Tone for the plants you mentioned as well as all acid lovers, like the Japanese irises. Unless a garden is a balcony garden or small areas around a patio, I can't see how anyone can keep up with weeding, mulching, and fussing over every plant. It's enough to do our favorite plants.

I thought nearly everyone on the east coast had acidic soil but i guess I'm wrong. My soil up in the Appalachians is very acidic.

I don't know if we have acidic soil, but we compost a lot with coffee grounds, among other things.

Glad I popped in here.
I was going to order Amber Wvs. I have Caramel that wont stop and as Pirl said I have luck with the same.
Looking around to see how they do in other's gardens.
Deer ate the top leaves of all my heucheras. I hope they sprout newbies for this year.

We had deer prints through the snow in every garden and yet they didn't touch the heuchera.

If they eat just the leaves, the plant will survive. If they eat the crown it's just not good news.

I will photo,see what you think

Here is a colage.
Its been a week since I checked these Plum Puddings.
Caramel is still under snow.
I was amazed to see what I think are new leaves. The plants might have a strange shape but at least they are still living.

Hurray for the new leaves.

Heuchera need dividing on a regular basis and if they don't get it they get bare bottoms and appear dead in the center but that's the signal to divide.

These are 2 years old. I am sure the deer ate them. They pawed thru 10 inches of snow to get at the caramel.

You know how I feel about the deer. The only good ones are the dead ones.

YUHH

We always say "May Heaven bless and keep the deer FAR away from us."

There are a few with missing leaves, but the crowns are all intact. We've got lots of work ahead to divide and repot.

Can you all also tell me which huechera have the most blooms and how long they bloom? Although I like some foliage plants, my husband like lots of blooms that really give a show. I know I am asking a lot but it would be nice to accomodate him with this.

My biggest Heucheras give the most blooms. So, if you are buying, expect to buy larger plants. Trying to recall, I think there is a stem per head. If you like blooms that give a show, choose pink or deep pink and avoid white blooms. Once you own Heucheras, you will probably decide that you cannot decide on a favorite. Blooms or not, they can put on quite a lovely display en masse.

Heucheras are a double bonus. The flowers last quite a while, probably 2-4 weeks, and depending on the plants you choose, and the foliage can be very colorful.

In the grand scheme of things, perennials and annuals are considerably different. Perennials tend to bloom only once each year, some for a day, some for a week, some a bit longer. There are many annuals that are in bloom for most of the summer and into the fall till the first frost. You need to decide on your needs, i.e., border plants, cottage garden, etc., and well as the amount of sun/shade that is available.

The best thing about perennials is that they don't need much care. My perennials flower all summer long: Beginning with tulips, daffodils, then peonies, lilies and dahlias, and we supplement with pansies, petunias, nasturtiums. It all depends on how much planting area you have, how much time you are willing to invest and how much cash you are willing to invest.

I live on a steep slope on a mountain side. There was just barely room to put a driveway, a house and a place to park. We bought it for a rental unit, but due to my husband's 2 heart attacks, we had to downsize,sold our big house and paid off this one.
He spent most of a year building terraces and I have a rock garden, too. But alas, due to all the trees, some quite large, we have little sun except the last 2 terraces and even my roses won't thrive there.
So, since we both like flowering plants but have to buy shade-tolerant plants, huecheras are important but we are still looking for the name of a variety that does bloom nicely, even for just awhile.

Snow Angel does not have shiny foliage, but I think the flowers are accurate:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lpstatile.com/picts/Heuchera_snow_angel_field.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lpstatile.com/Heuchera_Snow_Angel.htm&h=300&w=300&sz=118&tbnid=qpZM8tzq143sAM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=116&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dheuchera%2Bsnow%2Bangel%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=heuchera+snow+angel&hl=en&usg=__hIjJTIXq0Gmvlts1ke7T1PoYTFc=&sa=X&ei=U5SiTaXQHZCy0QGFq6WcBQ&ved=0CDYQ9QEwBw

One of my favorites is Marmalade. I cannot remember what the flowers look like, but the foliage is a wonderful display:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.greatgardenplants.com/files/GGPimages/product/300/HEUMR1Q.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greatgardenplants.com/index.php%3FpageId%3D241&usg=__LGvhFU85gs0HBV78kwxdNlYpqeQ=&h=225&w=300&sz=34&hl=en&start=5&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=UpmzIdkuAbU4IM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=116&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dheuchera%2Bmarmalade%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divns&ei=ApWiTeaIIYKa0QGN0I2EBQ

Heucheras have a long tap root, so you need to plan on a reasonable depth which you probably have with a terrace, but not with an alpine garden (where I have large boulders coming up, the depth of soil is shallow).

You may need to start a new thread to get additional input. I'm sure there are some terrific ideas out there.

That seems to "fit the ticket." Now I have to find one. Thanks so much

Woodspirt
'Vivid' is a really nice flowered one.
The leaves are just green but the flowers are a nice red or fushia. Grows well too.

Thanks, I have that on my "want list." I dug up Amber Waves and it was alive, so I potted it to see if it would come back.
Thanks to everyone for helping me.

Woodspirit I have found that the Razberry Ice has darker pink flowers and i like to cut some and bring inside. That seems to get it to send up new flowers and prolong the bloom time. Mine are in a semi shade raised planter and do well with dappled sun so could do well for you too. I stop cutting flowers towards the fall to allow the plant to go dormant.
You will have fun with these plants they are very versatile and will do well in a lot of settings including pots.
Ann

cool! I'll check them out.

I had one last year before it succumbed to the drought that had the brightest red blooms "Ruby Bells" I believe was the name. It was one of the prettiest heucheras I've seen. I will definitely get another one when I come across it.

Doug

Doug
Try Garden Harvest Supply under Perennials. Reasonable size & price.

http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/ProductCart/pc/home.asp

Thanks fleur guy, they have a very good selection and prices to boot.

Doug