Ginger Ale - This Plant's Got Fizz!

Hi, all!

I just had to start this thread about Heuchera 'Ginger Ale' because I am so fond of it!

It's in my new heuchera garden and now, at the height of summer, it gets about 4 hours of shade, between 1 and 5 PM. Here it is in sun and in shade.

I don't know the parentage of this hybrid; it's too new to be in Heims & Ware; but it has hairy stems and still has not bloomed this year, so I suspect Heuchera villosa is in there somewhere, in which case medinac should love it.

Who else has it and how are you finding it to grow in your garden(s)?

Potagere

Lovely! I have to admit it hasn't fared that well in our gardens but I'm not giving up yet! The best thing about 'Ginger Ale' is the flowers - they're so unique - almost lemon yellow :)

I didn't know that, about the flowers.
When does yours bloom?
I can hardly wait!

Blooms early here, around the end of April or first of May, I forget :)

Guess I'm wrong about the heritage then! I got this one in March and it has not bloomed! Maybe still too young?

Very pretty! I passed one up a couple of weeks ago...still kicking myself....but it was a very, very small and weak looking plant. I wanted to rescue it so badly though. I really like the colors and looks of the one you have growing in the shade.

GayLynn

Hey, GayLynn.

Not to confuse; that is the same plant, photoed in sun and in shade.

Oh, okay, I understand now. No wonder all the leaves are in the same position on both of the plants. Tee Hee.

I love this one!!!! It's just about my favorite Heuchera!

Debbie

You just can't beat the variety of colors in Ginger Ale! It seems to be very happy in 4 hours of shade. Thank you for posting its growing conditions, that will help the rest of us determine the best places for them in our gardens.

Potagere - Two questions, do all the villosa have white flowers? I'm curious to know why you think you may be wrong about Ginger Ale not being of villosa heritage?

Picked up Beaujolais the other night at Home Depot while they were $4.99. Now, if I could only find Christa and Oncore for such a deal, it would be a dream come true!

medinac: I don't know of any villosas that don't have white flowers, but that does not mean there are not some out there. Also, as the hybridization moves further away from villosa, I suppose other olors would appear. I'm not sure what would be the dominant color genes. Yellow is such a unique color that I wouldn't want to guess how it arose.
Normally, villosas don't bloom until mid-to late summer, even until September! So, if rcn48's 'Ginger Ale' bloomed in April/May, it's probably not a villosa.

I planted three Ginger Ale in late May this spring. Two of them took off growing but the third got down to one leaf before finding the will to survive. It had me concerned before it turned around. I'm glad I haven't missed the blooms this year.

These are the two healthy ones with Butterfly Weed above them.

I'm no expert but Ginger Ale doesn't have the "hairy" stems or leaves that I usually associate with the villosas?

~ gk1153: those are pretty! Won't they be something when they grow up.

~ rcn48: I just went back out in the garden and double-checked, and my Ginre Ale has very hairy stems, like Marmalade and Peach Flambee, not smooth stems like Siver Scrolls or Midnight Rose.
H. micrantha also has hairy stems.

Here is my Ginger Ale. First, I planted it on the 'sunny' side of my back garden. This spot gets some shade, but also the hot afternoon sun. After about a week, all three heucheras looked like they were going to give up the ghost:

(Peach Flambe lower left, Black Beauty, and Ginger Ale upper right)

Now here it is a few weeks after I moved it to a shadier spot:

Jeannie63
What are those little yellow blooms shown in your last GingerAle pic?

LOL those are dropped flowers from my Purple Leaf Loosestrife 'Firecracker'! The Firecracker gets about 3 feet tall, and provides nice shade for my heucheras :)

The Ginger Ales are so pretty. I'm holding off on new heuchs until next year (IF I can) because I've had several go belly up this year. Too depressing! (I think Potagere has the genuine green thumb thing going.)