Clint ...

Let me take a step back ... would you say you live in a more humid climate ? My climate is quite arid so keeping pots moist in triple digit temps, even in the shade is hard.

Do you get the plants into the ground before winter or how do you over winter them ? I would have to over winter them outside. Would it be safer to have them in the ground ?

I'd really, really like to go for this sale, so if you can talk me into this, I want to do it ..

Lyn, one thing I might try if I lived in your climate is to plant all of these mail order heuchera in one big container with soil that doesn't dry out quickly. I would make a potting mix that's compost-based, and not peat-based, so that it's not so hard to re-hydrate once it does dry out. For the drainage component, I would add perlite and/or pine bark fines.

Planting all of them in one big container would make it less likely to dry out and easier to water. I would place the entire container under a patio umbrella.

I don't think overwintering them would be an issue for you, either in the ground or in containers.

ssg ...

That is a good idea. It does take a larger pot with a heavier potting mix longer to dry out. I have even put saucers ... heaven forbid ... under some of my pots and they have been dry by evening. Otherwise, I have to water a couple of times a day when it is this hot.

Thank you.

I've made a practice of potting smaller plants up so that I have a larger root mass before putting them into the ground. I don't like having to over winter things in containers. Mountain winters are variable, but nothing like what I read about your spring this year.

It's my summer temps that are harder on plants than my winter cold temps. I just wish I had more shade that wasn't out in what I call deer territory.

Lyn, have you tried lining your large pots with new disposable diapers? I read yesterday that a diaper has a gel like substance in the lining and each one will hold 9 cups of water. I have never tried this as triple digit heat is NEVER a problem for me but I have read of others doing this to reduce the frequency of watering containers. Just a thought.

Actually, no I haven't. I prefer to never grow things in containers in this type of heat ...

The only reason I grow anything in a container is to pot up a plant to grow the root mass so that it is larger so that when I plant something in the ground it has a better chance of success.

High summer temps are not only hard on container plants they are hard on things in the ground, too, but if a plant has a good start, it has a very good chance of finding it's feet and taking off and becoming a permanent part of the garden. I have found that my heucheras come back better when I give them a good start.

Lyn you can add crystals like these to either containers or in the ground to help with water retention.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Soil...

Thanks, Bob ...

It's not water retention really that is the major problem. I can manage that. It's low humidity that leads to leaf scorch. The plants simply cannot pull enough moisture up into the leaves to hydrate them so they are more susceptible to the heat.

I went out and checked the mature heucheras I have planted in the garden and we are in our second day of this heat wave. (Temps will drop by 15 degrees on Wednesday). I had watered them well yesterday and this morning. They were looking stressed by this afternoon. I checked the soil under and around the plants and it was moist. I do have excellent drainage.

Soooooo that tells me to just go ahead and buy a plant at near full price and plan on dividing it down the road when temps are cooler.

It's a case of listening to the plant and doing what it wants to do instead of what I want to do ...

Happy to see 2 new ones from last year came back, especially since they were sale plants at end of season. Heucheras are always iffy plants here.
Frosted Violet
.
Dolce Key Lime Pie

They both look good, Frosted Violet is one that I have for many years.

I just planted Frosted Violet last week. I bought it in a 1 gal nursery can. It was so root bound, I had to get it into the ground right away.

I planted it into the darkest shade I had and even in this heat spell, it's done fine. Usually, I have to baby a newly planted "anything" through this kind of heat, but this heuchera is not requiring the same kind of TLC. Maybe because I have sited it where it is getting the most shade I have available. I don't know the answer to that. I do think this heuchera is one is going to work up here.

As I said earlier, it seems best for me, if I plant them with the larger root mass, they do came back better.

I am running out that kind of shade, but my addition is not slacking off even a little bit.

Have you tried Midnight Rose that is another strong one.

Bob .. No, I haven't. I know it's on my which list.

My 'Amethyst Myst' got sun scorched during the drought and deer chomped last fall so I didn't divide it as planned this spring, and it has really held up during this heat wave.

Even with the large leaf surface, it's kept up with the transpiration rate and no leaf scorch this year.





I was surprised that 'Autumn Leaves' came back this year. It really suffered during the drought and I thought the deer chomp was the end of it. We had 40" of rain this winter and I guess that was the saving of the plant. I think this is one of weakest heucheras I have in the garden, but this year it is holding it's own against the heat.

I wonder if they need to be cut back hard now and then to rejuvenate the plant.




Ye old typo grrrrrrrrr

Bob, Midnight Rose is one of the weakest ones for me. I'm surprised it's done well for you. Have you had it long?

I have midnight rose and the select version since they were released which is many years now I would guess 7 or 8 years.

Wow, that's really impressive. I think I need to give Midnight Rose another look.

Here they do well in a lot of sun, the one I had in heavy shade did poorly till I moved it. I guess you would have to watch the sun by you more considering our zone difference.

Bob ... I think it also depends on humidity. I can tell you hot humid sun is very, very different from hot arid sun.

I do try to compensate for that in how I plant and how I care for the plants.

Often, I'll site a plant where another plant will block the afternoon light, so the heuchera is not really in shade, but it doesn't get a direct hit of light either. Hard to describe.

I had read that the darker colors could handle more sun than the lighter colors. I need to put most of the darker ones where they only get just a little bit of dappled shade in the morning and very little afternoon shade in the afternoons. More than that, I've got crispy leaves. Who wants to grow something that you have to grow under a tent ? However, the foliage contrast does make for some really interesting combinations.

Another variable I have going is elevation. Light at higher elevations seems to be more intense ... depending on what side of the mountain your property is located on. We were doing a heating survey for my house and the computer program that was used was incredible in measuring the impact of light as a heat factor.

It's fun to learn something new like that and then seeing how it my impact garden plants, too.

There are heucheras that are native to the western US in more arid climates that can handle arid heat, but I haven't seen them in the lineage of those with the dramatic colored foliage. Of course, now the patents aren't disclosing the full linage, but stating "proprietary seedling" in the lineage trees, so it's harder to track it down.

If you go on the Terra Nova site pick a Heuchera and scroll down they show the parent species.

Yes, it does, Bob, but if you go to the actual US patent, this is what it contains:

I am using 'Berry Smoothie' for an example.

"The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Heuchera and given the cultivar name of ‘Berry Smoothie’. Heuchera is in the family Saxifragaceae. Heuchera ‘Berry Smoothie’ originated from a cross between Heuchera 794-3, a proprietary non-commercial hybrid, as the seed parent, and Heuchera 788-2, a proprietary non-commercial hybrid, as, as the pollen parent. This was part of a planned breeding program to create the different foliage colors using Heuchera villosa in the breeding lines."

Terra Nova's site says the species used in the cross is h. villosa and h americana

The species h. villosa is native to the southeastern parts of the US and can hand hot humid conditions very well.

h americana has a broader range, but it's still more native to the east than to the west where I live.

http://www.terranovanurseries....

I've had fun researching heucheras since I fell in love with them, but I can't do this with every plant I want to grow. I am going to have to do a whole lot of trial and error going forward and learning from other people, too.

I get more enjoyment out of Heucheras and Japanese Painted Ferns than any plants I grow now. They are my favorites.