Heuchera, Alum Root, Alumroot, Coral Bells, Coralbells 'Palace Purple'

I have had this plant for over 5 years and it still looks beautiful in almost full shade (under a dense maple tree). It spreads nicely an...Read Mored looks divine amongst the carex and fringed bleeding heart.

zone 5 - first heuchera I ever got when it first became popular..have divided it many times and have it in many spots - both part sun/pt ...Read Moreshade/shade doing great in all - didn't like the full sun, got parched looking. In Aug, they all now have huge sprays of the tiny white flowers -the bees have returned and loving them - also have a few that sprung up from their seeds

I planted 'Palace Purple' about 2 years ago when I moved into this house and I'm very pleased with how it's growing.

There...Read More are 2 black chokeberry shrubs (youngsters at about 3 feet tall), and a very large purple coneflower and penstemon on the south side of this plant. It gets maybe an hour or two of direct sun but otherwise is in mostly (but not heavy) shade (lots of indirect sunshine). As the shrubs get taller and wider, I'll see if I will need to move Palace Purple.

Growing well, survives my zone 4 winters so far. It always has a lot of snow cover over it, so is insulated well.

The soil was worked deeply - excellent drainage - and had been used as a burn pit in a previous life. The plants all seem to like it -- must be the wood ash.

I don't give it any special attention -- it's pretty much on its own. I did, of course, water it occasionally when it was a baby, but didn't use any fertilizer or amendments.

The flowers are very insignificant, but the leaves are a gorgeous shiny, deep burgundy/purple. Lovely.

Reading over the previous comments about this plant, and growing it in two locations as I do (Wisconsin & Nebraska), I would have to say ...Read Morethat it does MUCH better in Wisconsin. I think it does not like unrelieved hot weather - it can stand the days as long as the nights are cool. It also likes morning sun more than afternoon sun. In hot afternoon sun, even in Wisconsin the leaves become more copper colored than plum colored. Where it is growing in morning sun, it is looking great in Wisconsin, even tho we've had a couple weeks in the '90's in this 2011 heat record setting year, because our nights are cool.

Have to agree with those that say it just slowly disappears.

This summer has been especially hard. They are in dappled sh...Read Moreade but the leaves are still scorched and drooping. Going to dig all 8 plants and put them in a galvanized tub in an attempt to save them. I love the look but they are very difficult to maintain.

I have several Palace Purple Coralbells that have done wonderful and thrived in morning sun/afternoon shade. They provide an excellent c...Read Moreolor to complement any landscape and the hummingbirds love the delicate flowers. These are low maintenance plants for the most part. I am rating it neutral solely because I have had three or four just slowly die and disappear. My mother and neighbors have as well. No real signs of struggle; they just shrink in overall size down to just the root system.

They grow rather well in my sandy South Jersey soil. Deer seem to leave them alone, but groundhogs love them (and pulmonaria and purple c...Read Moreoneflower). I bought some more to replace what the neighborhood groundhog destroyed, but I planted them in a part of my property that the critter doesn't visit. I love these plants; they are gorgeous and add such a fabulous contrast.

Palace Purple was the first type of heuchera I planted, and it is one of the best. This variety can tolerate anything from full shade to...Read More almost full sun. It heaves less than most in Zone 4a, divides and rebounds extremely well, and lends a nice bronzey-purple color to the garden.

I have these planted around my mailbox (full sun near Philly, PA). I have them interspersed with pachysandra. I was so surprised how well...Read More both do in the sun. I always get many compliments about how that bed looks--I've used different annuals to brighten it up in the summer. They look wonderful with Hawaii blue ageratum. I also currently have yellow coreopsis and some daylilies in the bed. The leaf shape and color is pretty. In the spring I cut back the old leaves to allow the new ones to emerge. They give enough shade to keep the weeds at bay, and have shaded the pansies that I planted this spring so that they still look pretty in the hot June sun.

I've grown these in containers quite a bit in central texas, bc I like the size and foliage. They have always down well for me. Don't ove...Read Morerwater them, they'll just dissapear. Bright dappled shade seems to be best, but mine this year got sun starting at 3pm and did fine. Tend to look better in spring/fall and go into a "holding pattern" over the summer.

These plants are wonderful performers for me. Iv'e have mine for well over 10 years. All I do is dig up a few and spread them around the...Read More yard. Very easy. They also blossom for me almost all summer. Very easy to grow. It get light shade all day and love its spot in the yard.

Here in southwest WA, this plant gets eaten by the deer! Just thought I should mention that, since it's on several local nursery deer re...Read Moresistant lists. Also, in the hot and dry of the summer here, it can get burned mid July. Mine's in a pot and I move it to the side of the deck that gets about 5 hrs of morning sun once the rains stop in June. It thrives, unless my husband moves the pot too close to the edge of the deck.

Deer candy in these parts!

the tag on mine also says part shade (3-6 hours of sun) , and thats pretty much wrong. Ours are planted in full shade and thrive there, a...Read Moret one point my boyfreind had them in part sun and they were almost dead within a few days.

This plant is a strong positive IF:
You live in a cooler zone and/or want to use it as a "filler" for a mixed shady border (and ha...Read Moreve enough ferns!) They aren't for a stand-alone focal specimens, but they set off hostas beautifully! It's nice to have a dark leaf to make the bright green and white hostas just pop! Adding some coleus in there during the summer is great, too.
They aren't for the tropics or hot spots, but ideal for moist, shady woodland gardens.

When I moved into the house I'm presently living in I delighted in discovering the variety of plants I inherited in the gardens and gladl...Read Morey added more. I have just located the plant tag in a kitchen drawer for Coral Bells, positively identifying what I thought to be some kind of begonia nestled unobtrusively behind some sedum and azalea bushes in the front border garden. It is mostly obscured by the sedum and is too low to the ground to be noticed, although when you peek beyond the sedum they are a surprise patch of interesting color. Mine either have yet to bloom or I've never noticed them in bloom; the tag says "Beautiful cut flower". Mine is planted in mostly shade. Not impressive, but not horribly offensive either, it is welcome where it is.

This is the first heuchera I purchased. I found a 6 pack at a Wmart for about $2 5 or 6 years ago and have had them planted in container...Read Mores every since. They are in a partial sun/shade situation and seem to be doing fine. The purple leaves are rather dull to me and the flowers are fairly blah too. It does reseed and I've got one now growing up from the base deck of my patio. Seed is easily collected.

Here in Manassas,VA I have several Purple Palace coral bells planted under the edge of our deck facing east. They are doing very well an...Read Mored look great among the native ferns that grow there. I was pleasantly surprised to see hummingbirds feeding from the tiny flowers.

I gave this heuch a neutral rating only because I feel that there are nicer-looking dark heuchs out there. I planted this one in Sept 2...Read More005 and it came through our winter no problem and actually provided some winter interest. So far this year, the colouring is good and it is at least 2 1/2 times the size it was when I initially planted it. It receives a fair amount of mid-afternoon sun (pt sun) and never shows signs of burn.

Great plant for part shade. Flowers early/mid-summer but because of the nature of the flowers on this variety they look almost the same w...Read Morehen their spent or at full bloom so it kinda flowers all summer!!! Great plant. Looks good with Golden Creeping Jenny and Purple Ajuga.

This is one of my favorite plants and I use it as a repeating theme in my gardens. It's a welcome dark splash of color against evergreen...Read More shrubs and taller perennials, like lillies. It thrives in full sun against my asphalt driveway, and also in the front of my perennial borders. This one poor plant has even been run over twice and came back just as beautiful as before. I use the large leaves and flowers as fillers in bouquets. It is mostly evergreen here and is just about a perfect garden plant in central Maryland.

This cultivar belongs to a small group of Heuchera villosa or micrantha?There are quite a numbers of heuchera species, so cultivation is ...Read Moredifferent between the species. It is just the mass market nurseries tend to put H. villosa in the same cultivation as other heucheras because of the name "Heuchera". This heuchera seem to prefer more shade than the other heuchera species. It gives purple foliage to the shade garden, which not much plants of the northern gardens does. The other heuchera species and cultivars except for maybe? some cutivar tend to decline in woodland shade and prefers at least two to four hours of direct sun. More research is needed to determine woodland shade tolerant of heucheras cutivars so they can be divided in groups based on light tolerance or other environmental.

For me, it does better with some sun. There is always a lot of nice new growth at the base, so when the older leaves start looking bad, ...Read MoreI just cut it back. My information says it is hardy in zones 3-9.

Light aids germination of seeds.

Blooms June - October in my garden; flowers are insignificant.

We've grown this one, in full sun, for years, without a problem. Once in awhile I get a burned leaf and just cut it off. Little enough w...Read Moreork for such a great item for Color Echoes. I'd love to add newer varieties to our gardens this year.

This plant was good in the begining, but soon after it was thining out and not looking to hot. I thought i was over feeding it or somethi...Read Moreng, so i bought a new one but it did the same thing 2 months later. If someone was to be giving these away somewhere, even on the side of the road or at the garden center, i wouldnt take it.

We first planted 11 in an area that got afternoon sun. They didn't like that one bit. I transplanted the 5 plants that survived to a be...Read Mored that gets some filtered morning sun. They're doing much better. The deer or rabbits (not sure which) like them. The blooms last a long time and add lovely, delicate structure to the garden.

This is one of the hardiest coral bells for my zone. Very strong plant.

I planted mine in one spot in part sun and shade two years ago and haven't touched it since. It does great right where it is and I actual...Read Morely love the inconspicuous blooms.

I managed to confuse this with 'Chocolate Ruffles', so am changing my entry.. In my opinion, 'Palace Purple' is mildly above average - ha...Read Morebit is a bit floppy and foliage just can't compete with 'Chocolate Ruffles'. Having said that, it's still a reliable plant.

I grow this plant in zone 8, a high desert area. It gets very little sun and does okay but is a heavy water user. Will wilt easily on hot days.

Ahhhh, much disappointment. I bought Palace Purple to use in a large window box that gets about 5 hours of afternoon sun. The leaves ha...Read Moreve gotten very burnt. It's a lovely color, but if I can't use it there, I'll have to replace it with ......maybe purple sweet potato vine.

I have plants in both partial shade and full sun areas. The ones in part shade don't grow or color much - they just fill space. But the o...Read Morenes in full sun are beautiful specimens. (They were transplanted from the part shade area.)

Very nice looking plant and gets bigger with age. I read all the negatives about this plant. I also noticed that the zones were very clos...Read Moree from the negatives. This is an extremely hardy plant. Therefore consideration should be taken for this...as the sun and air doesn't get as hot in cooler zones. Therefore this is an excellent plant for shade in zones 3-7. I have plants in full shade and full sun. The ones in full sun seem to have a more color. It can take neglect and somewhat drought tolerant.

'Palace Purple' is widely available, and inexpensive. I bought a six-pack of plants to stick in assorted bare spots in dry shade, and th...Read Moreey have all done well. It may not be the most "fashionable" variety, but it is more vigorous than most, more tolerant of abuse than most, and it should definitely be considered a very serviceable plant.

I've used several cultivars of Heuchura in various places in my gardens. They seem equally at home here (zone 5) whether they're planted...Read More in a moist shady, sunny moist, or shady well-drained bed. I've moved and divided these with ease. In fact, one clump I had to move came apart in several sections, a few of which I didn't take much care in planting, and they've all made themselves quite at home and are growing beautifully.

My main cultivar is Palace Purple. However, I have another and I'm not sure what it is, as there are several out that are similar (green/ white veined). The green cultivar is not quite as productive as the Palace Purple. All in all, a nice little plant that will give good contrast and stand up to being browsed by deer in winter - yet spring back to double it's size next year. A "thumbs up" plant!

I love the leaves on Palace Purple, but after two years, it died. I put in partial shade because I live in Alabama. The summers get very ...Read Morehot. I still want to buy some more, and see if I can get them to grow. Marie

I live in the Chicago area and have had 'Purple Palace' for eight years with most intense color in full sun. A few years ago, I moved se...Read Moreveral to a mass planting in order to get a nicer effect from the flower. This spring (which was wet) I side-dressed them with compost and they have nearly doubled in size with huge 7 inch purple (green undertone) maple-shaped leaves. They are truly striking! The plants aren't all uniform in color or size but I like the variation which provides texture to the grouping.

In Houston, I have this planted in part shade and it has done well for 1 1/2 year. However, I did not expect it to be so slooooooow. Wi...Read Morell only buy more if I find a bargain (like under $1 a plant). The database describes it as deciduous, but mine did not die last winter (well, houston winter), it just looked a little sad.

My favorite heuchera! I'm in zone 5b (central IL). 4 are on the west side of the house and get sun from sunrise to about noon. These are ...Read Moremulched, they do not crisp at the edges, and are approximately 2 feet tall (foliage only). Soil is good. I have 2 on the south side in full sun. Both of these are mulched, and get about 1 foot tall (foliage only). Edges start crisping about late July for those in full sun. Soil is clay. All are approximately 9 years old, and have never been divided.

My Purple Palace Heuchera have been slow, but steady growers. I thought I lost two out of three after last winter, but they have rebound...Read Moreed quite nicely. I love the foliage and the contrast they provide in the garden. Mine grow in a shady border, but they receive around two or three hours of intense mid to late afternoon sun without any ill effects.

I agree with the other comments above: Needs shade, moist soil, and the flowers are so diminutive that I cut them off because they detrac...Read Moret from the leaves. In spring the new growth is very colorful and then it fades somewhat as the season progresses. Mine has lasted for many years, so I can give a positive rating as far as that goes. Saw this for sale many places again this year, which is a bit surprising for how long it has been around.

I live in zone 3 and there aren't very many decorative plants that want to live here. I bought the Purple palace as a part shade fill...Read Moreer. To my suprise it came back this year and looks great. It is full and looks healthy. Not bad for a .99 cents.

My experience with the purple leaved coralbells has not been good. The "tag" said "sun to light shade," but I found the leaves burned ev...Read Moreen in light shade, and after three years the raggedy looking plants had faded and disappeared. But my seed grown, green leafed coral bells spread throughout the same large azalea bed, and the red flowers made a pretty picture with white foxglove in an Atlanta suburb, zone 7b. And the purple leafed plants were a lot more expensive than the seed package, so I think the purple type was a definite waste of money.

Of the vast variety of "dark-leaved" heucheras, this is not necessarily my favorite. And, yes, if you have hot summers, you cannot plant...Read More the dark-leaved varieties in full sun - they "fry"! Palace Purple is the best known, probably because it was one of the first dark colors - I can think of others that are more attractive; purple petticoats and cathedral windows for example. I do not believe that any of the purple-leaved cultivars flower as "showy" as the green or variegated-green varieties.

This is a seed-grown strain, rather than clonal cuttings, so the plants vary wildly. Growing them in light shade seems to protect the fo...Read Moreliage from burn, and on some of the superior forms, the flowers make a light, airy effect that is highly appealing.

Palace Purple does not seem as prone to develop woody stems that need to be divided as frequently as some of the other heuchera types, although this varies widely by plant.

I've seen heucheras listed as sun, drought-resistant plants on occasion, but that hasn't worked here for me in zone 9 coastal Nor. CA. Th...Read Moreey seem to like partial shade much better, and definitely need adequate moisture. In the inland CA areas one would have to consider them a light shade plant. Nice foliage, but I can't say I admire the flowers much. Need to be planted 'en masse' in order to have any effect, rather like statice.