Heuchera Snowy Panky

The Heuchera 'Snowy Panky' is a small heuchera with a unique pastel color. Its small lobed leaves are  bordered and speckled with grey-green, beautifully highlighted with pink veins on a pale white background. In late spring, the plant is adorned with a charming pink flowering carried by graceful stems. Decorative even in winter, this plant brings life to borders, as well as pots, throughout the year. It is a delicate perennial, a variety that will benefit from being grown in a pot to be admired up close. In the garden, it will thrive in partially shaded areas that are not too dry.

The Heuchera 'Snowy Panky' belongs to the Saxifragaceae family, it is a recent horticultural creation by Dirk Scheys, in the lineage of 'Pinky Panky'. The plant will reach an average height of 15-20 cm (6-8in) (for the foliage) and a width of 30 cm (12in) in 3-4 years. This Heuchera forms a small spread-out cushion-like clump. Its evergreen foliage is the first asset of this plant: the leaves are divided into 5 to 7 rounded, dentate, ciliate lobes, and they display a rare color. This color, which varies depending on the leaves, also changes over time and depending on the exposure. It includes green, grey, white, and a fairly dark pink along the main veins. The flowering of this variety takes place between May and early July. Delicate, it takes the form of numerous erect stems of 40 cm (16in) in height emerging above the clump of leaves. Each flower stalk is topped with a panicle filled with multiple small pink bells. While it tolerates shade, the flowering of this plant will be more generous in the morning sun.

The Heuchera 'Snowy Panky', original and precious, is a gem for collectors of heucheras. This little plant deserves to be showcased, in a beautiful pot or in a slightly shaded spot in the garden, near a pathway. Its foliage remains decorative throughout the year and its flowering brings a lightness to any setting. For example, combine it with purple or pink heucheras, the blue flowers of forget-me-nots, Omphalodes verna, brunneras, ajugas, columbines, bellflowers, or Japanese grasses (Hakonechloa), always away from the heat of the sun. Its pairing with daylilies allows for playing with contrasting textures, which extends well beyond the flowering period. When planted in mass, 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 as well as asarums, for example.