My heuchera lost their leaves about 2 weeks after i received them. I thought they were dead. i looked at the roots and they are still hard so I am assuming it will be OK. Should I place pot and all in the ground for the winter?
linda
How will you handle your new plugs from the coop??
Linda,
The heuchs I got from the co-ops didn't fare very well. I have a few that look great. I potted all when I received them. After a month, no new growth In fact, a lot of them lost their leaves completely. I re-potted anyway just in case. Nope, tossed them. The ones that were just hanging on, I planted and I'll see how they do. They've been in the ground for a week and are still hanging in there.
I would put them in, just in case. If you're using a plastic pot, slit it down one corner from top to bottom so it has room for expansion. Don't know how frozen you actually get down there, but that's what we do up in this zone. Good luck.
Kelly
I been all over the internet reading about Heuchera and the problems. Since I am not a plant scientist are all that well learned to start off with I have to figure out from many sources before i can make a picture. Some of that stuff is like greek to me. But for what it is worth I have lost about 2/3 of the plants I started with in our Heuchera garden this year. I know that there are several types of Heuchera that were the origin of the hybreds we have today. Although some did not, for the most part those plants had a intolerance to heat and humidity. It is my belief that genes passed down in the parentage can result in how well your plants do in any given setting. I believe the whole story is not known yet on this situation. In m y case the summers can vary. I would not like ot grow a Heuchera like like carmel to a fine looking plant and then see it wiped out in a matter of hours in a hot humid situation.
oz,
I agreee. I think all these hybrids are kinda touchy and you have to have Just the right spot. I almost lost Amber Waves until I found the right spot. Now she's doing great. I'm waiting to see if a few of mine make it to Spring. If not, I won't replace them. The new heuchs are so new, I don't know if anyone knows how well they will do.
I think you are right ozarkian and Garden Geek about matching the type of Heuchera to your climate and as parentage is not always obvious we take a chance. Caramel is a Villosa, these are very tolerant of heat and humidity. I have 5 Caramels, 6 Autumn Bride and 2 Brownies all in the Villosa family. I think Palace Purple has Villosa in the parentage, but on this I'm not sure. The nice thing about Autumn Bride are the lovely maple leaves and autumn white bottle brush blooms.
This message was edited Sep 12, 2006 11:50 AM
Semper---- The summers are getting worse around here. Had several days over 100 and many many on end over 90. When I was looking this looking this stuff up Carmel was one of them I was looking for. Like you say it is Villosa. So I thought well wonder why it was effected. Then I seen something else said it it was a hybred resulting with a cross of what they think was Amber Waves. I went and looked up Amber Waves and they said it was a sport of Whirlwind. Checked that out and found out it was a cross between plants that were Sanguinea and Micracantha. Funny thing is Amber Waves grows real well here. I just have a feeling maybe enough of those genes from the Sanguinea background slipped through to make it tough to grow carmel in my summers.
sem,
Lovely photo. I agree. I was actually not looking for Caramel to do to well up here, but it's gorgeous. Sanguinea's do well too. So far the Dolce's are good, but I think they may be a bit more persnickety in their winter tolerances. Time will tell. Trying to track parentage is worse that tracing a family tree sometimes,,,lol
oz,
I would think Sanguinea would do well for you there? A lot of mine did really well this year. I even got lucky with some and found *their spots* right away. I'm still watching a few though. Like I said, will see if they make the winter up here in the tundra. A couple of them are zone 5,,,but I've never been one to Strictly follow directions,,,or zone parameter's,,,LOL Micro-climates ya know,,,LOL
Kelly----- Sanguinea is a plant that does not tolerate high heat and humidity. I think those genes have carried down thru the family line enough cause it problems in our heat down here. When the last one Stormy Seas went down we had had a couple of days with rain where it would rain then the sun came out and it would jump right up near 90 and it was so humid it was hard to breathing. And down it went.
Ah, I see. Can you tell I haven't done my homework? Seems I need to do a bit more studying when it comes to certain plant families. Then the Dolce's should do well for you?