Heuchera Pinky Panky

The Heuchera 'Pinky Panky' is certainly a small heuchera, but with a unique and delicate colouration. With a very soft grey-green color, its small lobed leaves are randomly maculated, splashed, and speckled with pink to almost white. In late spring, the plant is adorned with a charming pink flowering carried by slender stems. Even in winter, this plant is decorative and brings life to borders and pots throughout the year. It is a delightful perennial that thrives in semi-shaded areas that are not too dry.

The Heuchera 'Pinky Panky' belongs to the Saxifragaceae family and is a recent horticultural creation by Dirk Scheys. On average, the plant reaches 25 cm (10in) in height (for the foliage) and 30 cm (12in) in width within 3-4 years. This Heuchera forms a small, spreading cushion-like tuft. Its evergreen foliage is the plant's main feature: the leaves are divided into 5 to 7 rounded lobes with remarkably colored ciliate margins. The colour of the leaves varies over time and depending on the exposure. The flowering of this variety occurs in late spring or early summer, between early June and July. Delicate, it takes the form of numerous erect stems, 40 cm (16in) in height, emerging above the leaves. Each flower spike is topped with a panicle filled with multiple small bell-shaped flowers in pink. While it tolerates full shade, the plant will have a more abundant flowering in the morning sun.

The Heuchera 'Pinky Panky', original and precious, is a gem for heuchera collectors. This small plant deserves to be showcased in a beautiful pot or in a slightly shaded area of the garden, near a pathway. Its foliage remains decorative throughout the year, and its flowering adds lightness to any setting. For example, combine it with purple or pink heucheras, the blue blooms of forget-me-not, Omphalodes verna, brunneras, ajugas, columbines, bellflowers, or Japanese grasses (Hakonechloa), always away from the intense sun. Its pairing with daylilies allows for a play of contrasting textures that extends beyond the flowering period. Planted en masse, it will form a remarkable border along an east-facing pathway. In a cool and shaded rock garden, it can be accompanied by tiarellas and heucherellas and asarums, for example.