Heuchera 'Palace Purple'

Heuchera 'Palace Purple': The Original Purple-Leaf Classic

'Palace Purple' has expensive taste and a decorator on speed dial. Big, maple-shaped leaves in purple and bronze with wine-red undersides, happy in more sun than most of its cousins. VELVET CURTAINS FOR YOUR FLOWER BED.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Heuchera 'Palace Purple'
• Common Name: Coral Bells
• Height: 20–30 cm (8–12 in) in leaf; flower stems reach about 50 cm (20 in)
• Spread: 30–45 cm (12–18 in)
• Flowers: Tiny creamy white bells on slender dark red stems
• Bloom Time: Early to midsummer (June to July)
• Foliage: Large, lobed, maple-like leaves in purple to bronze-green, with dark wine-red undersides. Colour may soften to bronze in hot summers.
• Features: Perennial Plant of the Year® 1991

Where to Plant: Use it to edge a border, mass it under open trees, or add dark foliage to a mixed planting. It holds up well in containers too.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Palace Purple' in a moist bed in sun or part shade with violet iris, purple pincushions and tall goat's beard. Iris 'Caesar's Brother' opens deep violet Siberian iris at 80 to 100 cm in May and June. Astrantia 'Star of Beauty' adds purple pincushion flowers at 60 cm from June to August. Aruncus dioicus rises behind at 120 to 180 cm with creamy plumes in June and July. Molinia 'Variegata' arches at 60 to 80 cm in flower with cream-striped blades.

Plant Care: Plant in moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, keeping the crown at soil level. Avoid wet, poorly drained clay, which can rot the crown over winter. In full sun, water more often during dry spells. Where summers run hot, a bit of afternoon shade keeps the leaf colour from fading. Leaves can be cut back hard in early spring if winter has left them ragged. Remove spent flower stems to keep it tidy. Divide every three or four years in spring, especially if the crown starts pushing up out of the soil.

History: 'Palace Purple' was raised in England from seed sent over from a botanical garden in the United States, and it grew at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where it is named for Kew Palace. One of the first purple-leaved heuchera, it was named Perennial Plant of the Year® in 1991.

Final Thoughts: Edge a bed with it and watch the whole yard look renovated. The deer don't sign off on it. THE SPLURGE THAT ISN'T.