Create a stunning autumn pot design utilizing Heucherella, following the advice of expert Jo Thompson for rich tones and textures.
In the world of shade-loving perennials, a combination of Heucheras, Heucherellas, and Tiarellas can create a stunning and low-maintenance container garden. Here's a guide to help you bring these plants together for a visually appealing and easy-to-care-for pot planting.
The Heuchera plant, known for its vibrant foliage, serves as a strong color and texture statement. For instance, the Heucherella 'Sweet Tea' boasts star-like lobed leaves intensely coloured in a brighter coral-brown during summer, fading as autumn approaches, and produces spires of foam-like white flowers. On the other hand, the Heuchera 'Black Pearl' offers jet-black ruffled leaves and slightly pinkish-white flowers.
Heucherellas, hybrids between Heucheras and Tiarellas, combine colourful foliage with delicate veining and often more spreading habits, making them suitable for mid-layering. For example, the Heucherella 'Frosted Violet Dream' features serrated foliage of deepest purple with a hue of violet blue, and produces long spires of white flowers that are pink in bud.
Tiarellas provide light, airy foliage and flowers, typically good as a low or front layer with soft texture. The Bergenia 'Pink Dragonfly', for instance, offers oval, evergreen leaves and clusters of vivid-pink spring flowers.
When designing your layered pot planting, a recommended approach is to use a combination that contrasts leaf colours and textures while layering their heights for visual interest. For a simple 3-tier layering strategy, consider the following:
- Back layer (tallest): Heuchera with bold foliage colour (e.g., ‘Walnut’ or ‘Paris’) to create a visual backdrop.
- Middle layer: Heucherella with contrasting foliage, such as a lighter or marbled variety with veining, to add texture and interest.
- Front layer: Tiarella, whose delicate leaves and flowers soften the edges and spill slightly over the pot.
These plants are tolerant of a little bit of shade and are suitable for USDA 5a-9b hardiness zone. They enjoy a moist soil and will be happy in a peat-free, loam-based compost. For those in the RHS H6 hardiness zone, some Heucherellas, such as the Heucherella 'Pink Fizz', with large, deeply lobed green leaves with light silvering and heavy wine-red to deep-purple veining, and produce pure-pink flowers, are also suitable.
To create a statement, use diverse foliage colours (green, purple, silver, red) and layer from tallest at back to shortest at front for depth. Choose plants with differing leaf textures for contrast. Ensure all selections are shade-tolerant and prefer similar watering for container success.
By following this guide, you can create a shade container garden that offers visual impact and easy care, perfect for adding a touch of nature to your outdoor space.
- A combination of Heucheras, Heucherellas, and Tiarellas can make a stunning and easy-to-care-for container garden, suitable for home-and-garden lifestyle, as they are tolerant of shade and prefer similar watering.
- To create a visually appealing pot planting, consider a 3-tier layering strategy: use Heucheras with bold foliage colour for the back layer, Heucherellas with contrasting foliage for the middle, and Tiarellas with delicate leaves and flowers for the front layer.
- For those in the RHS H6 hardiness zone, some shade-tolerant Heucherellas, like the Heucherella 'Pink Fizz', can also be included in a shade container garden, along with other diverse foliage colours and textures, to add a touch of nature to your home-and-garden lifestyle.
