Heuchera
Choose leaf colour for the light you have — darker types for brighter spots, pale ones for shade — and keep the crown at soil level.
Care
Part shade suits most; dark-leaved types take more sun than the lime and amber ones, which scorch.
Medium — even moisture, but never waterlogged, especially in winter.
Moist but well-drained, humus-rich soil; dislikes heavy wet clay.
Cut flower stems at the base after flowering and tidy tatty leaves in spring. Old plants develop a woody stem that lifts the crown out of the soil — replant deeper or divide.
A light balanced feed or a compost mulch in spring is plenty; in pots a monthly liquid feed through summer.
Divide every three or four years in spring or early autumn, replanting young side crowns deeper so the woody stem is buried.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- AprilTidy tatty leaves and mulch; replant any crown that has lifted. how ›
- JulyCut spent flower stems at the base. how ›
- SeptemberCheck pots for vine weevil grubs if plants wilt or come loose.
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- AprilTidy tatty leaves and mulch; replant any crown that has lifted. how ›
- JulyCut spent flower stems at the base. how ›
- SeptemberCheck pots for vine weevil grubs if plants wilt or come loose.
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. Notched leaf edges; plants wilt and lift out with no roots — creamy grubs in the compost.
What to do. The main pest of heucheras in pots; use nematodes in late summer and check compost when repotting.
How to spot it. Crown sits on a bare woody stem above the soil.
What to do. Lift and replant deeper, or divide.
How to spot it. Brown, crisp patches on pale-leaved types.
What to do. Too much sun; move to part shade.
Questions
Heuchera: is it hardy?
H6: Hardy in the vast majority of UK gardens. It survives down to −20 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
Yes — excellent in pots for year-round foliage colour.
Heuchera: when do you prune it?
Cut flower stems at the base after flowering and tidy tatty leaves in spring.
Heuchera: when does it flower?
In the climate of UK it flowers in May–July.
When do you feed it?
A light balanced feed or a compost mulch in spring is plenty; in pots a monthly liquid feed through summer. Feeding months, UK: April, June.