Heuchera Spice Curls™

Heuchera Spice Curls™: Purple-and-Silver Ruffles That Take the Sun

This heuchera woke up with the kind of curls people pay a salon a small fortune for. Deep purple ruffles with red undersides, and it swears it's all NATURAL. NOBODY BELIEVES IT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Heuchera hybrid ('Holtspcur856')
• Common Name: Coral Bells
• Series: Bloomin' Easy®
• Height: 30–36 cm (12–14 in)
• Spread: 36–41 cm (14–16 in)
• Flowers: Red bells on upright spikes held above the leaves
• Bloom Time: Late spring to summer (June to August)
• Foliage: Dense, heavily curled and ruffled leaves, deep purple with a silvery sheen and red undersides
• Features: Keeps its colour into fall

Where to Plant: Put it at the front of a border, along a walkway or in a container where people will see the ruffles up close. The red undersides flash when the wind turns the leaves, so plant it where you walk past often. Afternoon shade helps in hot, dry spots.

Companion Plants: Give Spice Curls™ a moist bed in sun or part shade with white columbines, pink knotweed and rose foxgloves. Persicaria 'Dimity' creeps at 15 to 20 cm with pink pokers from June to September. Aquilegia Earlybird™ White opens creamy white columbines at 23 to 28 cm from May to July. Digitalis Arctic Fox™ Rose adds dark rose foxgloves at 46 to 61 cm from June to August. Deschampsia 'Goldschleier' fills in with fine blades and golden flower clouds at 60 to 90 cm.

Plant Care: Plant in well-drained soil enriched with compost, with the crown at soil level. In full sun, keep the soil evenly moist through the first summer and during heat waves. Heuchera rots in soggy ground, so avoid low spots where water sits, especially on clay. Mulch lightly once the ground freezes to cut down on frost heaving, and check in spring that the crown is still snug in the soil. Trim away tattered leaves in early spring. When the plant gets woody in the middle after a few years, divide it in spring and replant the healthy pieces.

History: Spice Curls™ is part of Bloomin' Easy®, a brand of plants selected for easy care, and its official cultivar name is 'Holtspcur856'. Coral bells are native to North America, and the genus honours Johann Heinrich von Heucher, an 18th-century German botanist.

Final Thoughts: Give it some sun, keep the deer guessing and watch the hummingbirds line up for a closer look. GOOD HAIR DAYS RIGHT INTO FALL.