Heuchera villosa Wild Rose

The Heuchera 'Wild Rose', with its large shiny leaves of bright purple veined with dark gray, is a remarkable shade-loving perennial. This variety, from the new Primo series, is also distinguished by its vigour and rather rapid growth, allowing it to quickly make an impact in the garden, as well as in pots on the terrace or balcony. Highly ornamental all year round, this variety also offers a poetic summer flowering, with graceful stems adorned with small pale pink flowers emerging from buds of a deeper pink. In the garden, it will form a fantastic duo with Heuchera 'Black Pearl', with its very dark purple foliage. The Heuchera 'Wild Rose' belongs to the Saxifragaceae family. It is a descendant of Heuchera villosa, a robust species native to the United States. This cultivar is a vigorous hybrid from the Primo series, which distinguishes it from the Dolce series (including Heuchera 'Silver Gumdrop'), with greater size, faster growth, and a stronger presence. 

The plant will reach an average height of 30 cm (12in) (for the foliage) and 50 cm (20in) in width within 3-4 years. This Heuchera forms a beautiful spread-out cushion-like clump, dense and abundant. Its evergreen foliage is the major asset of this plant: its leaves are rather large, rounded, with lobed lamina, traversed by numerous dark veins. They have a particularly remarkable colour that is very enduring throughout the seasons and has a shiny appearance. Their colour is a vivid purple-pink when fully open. Older leaves are covered with a more greyish glaze. The flowering of this variety, rather discreet but light and airy, begins in June and sometimes continues until August. The flowers, small bell-shaped and pink with dark pink calyxes, are arranged along an erect and arching stem that reaches 45 cm (18in) in height. 

Heuchera 'Wild Rose' is an astonishing ground cover for partially shaded areas of the garden, even slightly dry in summer. Its foliage remains decorative throughout the year, and its flowering brings a lightness to any setting. For example, combine it with the blue blooms of forget-me-nots, Omphalodes verna, brunneras, ajugas, columbines, and campanulas, or with the lush foliage of hostas, always away from the sun's heat. It always makes a successful combination with dark-coloured heucheras. It grows very well in pots, in the company of grasses like Carex oshimensis and Agropyron magellanicum. In a small shaded rockery, it will accompany small ferns like Adiantum pedatum, or the beautiful marbled foliage of Asarum splendens. When planted in mass, it will form an unusual border along an east-facing pathway.