Heuchera FOREVER® 'Midnight'

Heuchera FOREVER® 'Midnight': Ruffled Purple-Black With a Shimmer

'Midnight' brings heavily ruffled, deep purple-black leaves with a shimmering purple sheen, like a velvet curtain in an old movie theatre. THE SHADE GARDEN JUST GOT A PLOT TWIST.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Heuchera hybrid ('Midnight')
• Common Name: Coral Bells
• Series: FOREVER®, from Terra Nova Nurseries
• Height: 30 cm (12 in) in leaf; flower stems to about 38 cm (15 in)
• Spread: 55 cm (22 in)
• Flowers: Small white to red-purple bells on airy, branched spikes
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September)
• Foliage: Heavily ruffled, deep purple-black with a shimmering purple sheen

Where to Plant: It's a dark anchor for the front of a shady border, a woodland edge or a mixed container. A row of it along a path makes a smart, low edge from spring through fall.

Companion Plants: Plant FOREVER® 'Midnight' in a moist, shady bed with white hellebores, bold rodgersia and yellow ligularia spires. Helleborus HGC® Ice N' Roses® White opens snow-white flowers at 30 to 50 cm from March to May. Rodgersia aesculifolia adds chestnut-like leaves and cream plumes at 90 to 120 cm in June and July. Ligularia 'The Rocket' rises behind at 120 to 180 cm with lemon-yellow spires in July and August. Carex appalachica edges the front with fine, thread-like native blades at 15 to 30 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in moist, well-drained, compost-rich soil, keeping the crown level with the soil surface. Avoid heavy clay that stays soggy in winter. Water regularly in the first season and during dry stretches. Cut off spent flower stems at the base. In early spring, trim away any leaves damaged over winter. Mulch lightly after planting to keep frost from heaving young crowns. Divide every three or four years if the centre becomes woody.

History: 'Midnight' was discovered by John Pavlich as a natural sport of FOREVER® 'Purple' among tissue-culture plants at Terra Nova Nurseries in Canby, Oregon. The genus name honours the German botanist Johann Heinrich von Heucher.

Final Thoughts: Plant it where the light catches that sheen and let the shimmer do the talking. The deer stay out. NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER MIDNIGHT. EXCEPT THIS.