Heuchera FYRE WING™ 'Spinel'

Heuchera FYRE WING™ 'Spinel': Wine-Toned Lace Flecked With Silver

'Spinel' barely bothers with flowers and doesn't need to. Lace-like purple-bronze leaves with red and silver tints that shift with the light and the weather. THE LEAVES ARE THE WHOLE ACT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Heuchera hybrid
• Common Name: Coral Bells
• Series: FYRE WING™, from Terra Nova Nurseries
• Height: 18 cm (7 in)
• Spread: 35 cm (14 in)
• Flowers: Rarely produced. Grown for its leaves.
• Bloom Time: Occasional pale flower stems in late spring (May to June)
• Foliage: Finely cut, lace-like purple-bronze leaves with red and silver tints and red-toned undersides. Colour shifts with light and temperature.
• Features: Compact

Where to Plant: Put it where people can see it up close: the front of a border, the edge of a path, or a container by the door. Its cut leaves read as texture, and it tucks neatly into a well-drained rock garden.

Companion Plants: Give FYRE WING™ 'Spinel' a moist bed in sun or part shade with red and white columbines, apricot Jacob's ladder and speckled hibiscus. Aquilegia Earlybird™ Red White opens red and white columbines at 23 to 28 cm from May to July. Polemonium 'Apricot Delight' adds soft pink and apricot flowers at 40 to 50 cm in June and July. Hibiscus 'Starry Starry Night' brings speckled pale pink blooms over dark leaves at 105 to 120 cm from July to September. Deschampsia cespitosa adds fine blades and airy flower clouds at 60 to 90 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in rich, well-drained soil with the crown sitting at soil level, not buried. Heuchera dislikes wet feet, especially in a soggy Canadian spring, so heavy clay should be loosened with compost first. Water deeply through the first season, then only in dry spells. It handles sun where summers are mild. In a hot, exposed spot, give it some afternoon shade to keep the colour rich. In early spring, trim off any leaves damaged over winter. Over a few years heuchera can push its crown up out of the soil. When that happens, lift and replant it a little deeper, or divide it in spring.

History: Terra Nova Nurseries in Oregon revealed the FYRE WING™ series at Cultivate'26 as the first lace-leaf heuchera, the result of a rare leaf mutation and years of selection. The seven varieties are named after gemstones, and spinel is a red-to-purple gem that suits these wine-toned leaves.

Final Thoughts: Tuck it into a sunny pot and watch the colours change from morning to night. Deer won't touch it. A GEMSTONE THAT NEEDS NO SETTING.