Heuchera Forever Red

Heuchera 'Forever Red', with its shining copper foliage, is the most red variety of heuchera currently available. It remains vibrant red throughout the year, both in summer and winter, with its glossy and lobed leaves, bordered by beautiful undulations. The older leaves take on a rich brick colour. Above the foliage, arched stems rise in the heart of summer, bearing a pale pink to white flowering that is infinitely delicate. Vigorous but demanding, this heuchera requires fertile and moist soil. It tolerates heat quite well, but not intense sunlight. In the garden, it will form a fantastic ground cover and on the terrace in pots that go off the beaten track.

Heuchera 'Forever Red' is a rhizomatous perennial plant belonging to the saxifrage family. This variety is part of a series of recent hybrids selected in the USA for their intensely coloured foliage throughout the year. It is a cross between Heuchera villosa, which naturally grows on shaded and humid rocks in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeastern United States, and Heuchera americana, an American species tolerant of dry and poor soils. 'Forever Red' forms a regular, dense and spreading clump, 20 cm (8 in) in height, 30 cm (12 in) in diameter, and 30 cm (12 in) in flower height. The growth of this small vigorous plant is quite rapid. The colour varies slightly with the seasons and temperature, but overall remains red, ranging from deep red-pink-orange to a more brownish-red when temperatures are higher. Autumn and early winter accentuate its leaf colour. The foliage is evergreen, except in very cold climates. Flowering takes place in July-August, in the form of panicles of tiny bell-shaped flowers, white with pink anthers. This plant has a shallow root system.

Place your Heuchera 'Forever Red' at the base of old white-flowered roses, which its purple foliage will particularly highlight. It will also have a very beautiful effect as a border plant with a dominant red colour: paired with 'Queen Victoria' lobelia, 'Ruby Port' columbine, or 'Chocolat' cosmos. It can also be used as ground cover to fill the base of spring-flowering shrubs, and will thrive in a cool rockery. In a mass planting, it brings a lot of elegance to the garden. Combine it with acid-green foliage: lady's mantle, carex, a small fern like Adiantum pedatum, or the beautiful marbled foliage of Asarum splendens. This heuchera also pairs well with the blue flowers of forget-me-nots, Omphalodes verna, brunneras, and ajugas ,etc. Heuchera is an ideal plant for filling pots, containers, and flower beds.

The trembling stems and tiny bell-shaped flowers of heuchera were very fashionable in 19th-century gardens throughout Europe. They were named "Despair of the Painter" by the Impressionist painters, who undoubtedly tried to depict them in vain.