PlantFiles: Coral Bells, Alumroot, Coralbells, Alum Root
Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'

Here in southwest WA, this plant gets eaten by the deer! Just thought I should mention that, since it's on several local nursery deer resistant lists. Also, in the hot and dry of the summer here, it can get burned mid July. Mine's in a pot and I move it to the side of the deck that gets about 5 hrs of morning sun once the rains stop in June. It thrives, unless my husband moves the pot too close to the edge of the deck.

Deer candy in these parts!

the tag on mine also says part shade (3-6 hours of sun) , and thats pretty much wrong. Ours are planted in full shade and thrive there, at one point my boyfreind had them in part sun and they were almost dead within a few days.

This plant is a strong positive IF:
You live in a cooler zone and/or want to use it as a "filler" for a mixed shady border (and have enough ferns!) They aren't for a stand-alone focal specimens, but they set off hostas beautifully! It's nice to have a dark leaf to make the bright green and white hostas just pop! Adding some coleus in there during the summer is great, too.
They aren't for the tropics or hot spots, but ideal for moist, shady woodland gardens.

When I moved into the house I'm presently living in I delighted in discovering the variety of plants I inherited in the gardens and gladly added more. I have just located the plant tag in a kitchen drawer for Coral Bells, positively identifying what I thought to be some kind of begonia nestled unobtrusively behind some sedum and azalea bushes in the front border garden. It is mostly obscured by the sedum and is too low to the ground to be noticed, although when you peek beyond the sedum they are a surprise patch of interesting color. Mine either have yet to bloom or I've never noticed them in bloom; the tag says "Beautiful cut flower". Mine is planted in mostly shade. Not impressive, but not horribly offensive either, it is welcome where it is.

This is the first heuchera I purchased. I found a 6 pack at a Wmart for about $2 5 or 6 years ago and have had them planted in containers every since. They are in a partial sun/shade situation and seem to be doing fine. The purple leaves are rather dull to me and the flowers are fairly blah too. It does reseed and I've got one now growing up from the base deck of my patio. Seed is easily collected.

Here in Manassas,VA I have several Purple Palace coral bells planted under the edge of our deck facing east. They are doing very well and look great among the native ferns that grow there. I was pleasantly surprised to see hummingbirds feeding from the tiny flowers.

I gave this heuch a neutral rating only because I feel that there are nicer-looking dark heuchs out there. I planted this one in Sept 2005 and it came through our winter no problem and actually provided some winter interest. So far this year, the colouring is good and it is at least 2 1/2 times the size it was when I initially planted it. It receives a fair amount of mid-afternoon sun (pt sun) and never shows signs of burn.

Burned up here in central Texas summer, even in shade.

Great plant for part shade. Flowers early/mid-summer but because of the nature of the flowers on this variety they look almost the same when their spent or at full bloom so it kinda flowers all summer!!! Great plant. Looks good with Golden Creeping Jenny and Purple Ajuga.

This is one of my favorite plants and I use it as a repeating theme in my gardens. It's a welcome dark splash of color against evergreen shrubs and taller perennials, like lillies. It thrives in full sun against my asphalt driveway, and also in the front of my perennial borders. This one poor plant has even been run over twice and came back just as beautiful as before. I use the large leaves and flowers as fillers in bouquets. It is mostly evergreen here and is just about a perfect garden plant in central Maryland.

This cultivar belongs to a small group of Heuchera villosa or micrantha?There are quite a numbers of heuchera species, so cultivation is different between the species. It is just the mass market nurseries tend to put H. villosa in the same cultivation as other heucheras because of the name "Heuchera". This heuchera seem to prefer more shade than the other heuchera species. It gives purple foliage to the shade garden, which not much plants of the northern gardens does. The other heuchera species and cultivars except for maybe? some cutivar tend to decline in woodland shade and prefers at least two to four hours of direct sun. More research is needed to determine woodland shade tolerant of heucheras cutivars so they can be divided in groups based on light tolerance or other environmental.

A beutiful contrasting plant. For me, it does better with some sun. There is always a lot of nice new growth at the base, so when the older leaves start looking bad, I just cut it back. My information says it is hardy in zones 3-9.

Light aids germination of seeds.

We've grown this one, in full sun, for years, without a problem. Once in awhile I get a burned leaf and just cut it off. Little enough work for such a great item for Color Echoes. I'd love to add newer varieties to our gardens this year.

This plant was good in the begining, but soon after it was thining out and not looking to hot. I thought i was over feeding it or something, so i bought a new one but it did the same thing 2 months later. If someone was to be giving these away somewhere, even on the side of the road or at the garden center, i wouldnt take it.

We first planted 11 in an area that got afternoon sun. They didn't like that one bit. I transplanted the 5 plants that survived to a bed that gets some filtered morning sun. They're doing much better. The deer or rabbits (not sure which) like them. The blooms last a long time and add lovely, delicate structure to the garden.

This is one of the hardiest coral bells for my zone. Very strong plant.

I planted mine in one spot in part sun and shade two years ago and haven't touched it since. It does great right where it is and I actually love the inconspicuous blooms.

I managed to confuse this with 'Chocolate Ruffles', so am changing my entry.. In my opinion, 'Palace Purple' is mildly above average - habit is a bit floppy and foliage just can't compete with 'Chocolate Ruffles'. Having said that, it's still a reliable plant.

I grow this plant in zone 8, a high desert area. It gets very little sun and does okay but is a heavy water user. Will wilt easily on hot days.

Ahhhh, much disappointment. I bought Palace Purple to use in a large window box that gets about 5 hours of afternoon sun. The leaves have gotten very burnt. It's a lovely color, but if I can't use it there, I'll have to replace it with ......maybe purple sweet potato vine.

I have plants in both partial shade and full sun areas. The ones in part shade don't grow or color much - they just fill space. But the ones in full sun are beautiful specimens. (They were transplanted from the part shade area.)

Very nice looking plant and gets bigger with age. I read all the negatives about this plant. I also noticed that the zones were very close from the negatives. This is an extremely hardy plant. Therefore consideration should be taken for this...as the sun and air doesn't get as hot in cooler zones. Therefore this is an excellent plant for shade in zones 3-7. I have plants in full shade and full sun. The ones in full sun seem to have a more color. It can take neglect and somewhat drought tolerant.

'Palace Purple' is widely available, and inexpensive. I bought a six-pack of plants to stick in assorted bare spots in dry shade, and they have all done well. It may not be the most "fashionable" variety, but it is more vigorous than most, more tolerant of abuse than most, and it should definitely be considered a very serviceable plant.

I've used several cultivars of Heuchura in various places in my gardens. They seem equally at home here (zone 5) whether they're planted in a moist shady, sunny moist, or shady well-drained bed. I've moved and divided these with ease. In fact, one clump I had to move came apart in several sections, a few of which I didn't take much care in planting, and they've all made themselves quite at home and are growing beautifully.

My main cultivar is Palace Purple. However, I have another and I'm not sure what it is, as there are several out that are similar (green/ white veined). The green cultivar is not quite as productive as the Palace Purple. All in all, a nice little plant that will give good contrast and stand up to being browsed by deer in winter - yet spring back to double it's size next year. A "thumbs up" plant!

I love the leaves on Palace Purple, but after two years, it died. I put in partial shade because I live in Alabama. The summers get very hot. I still want to buy some more, and see if I can get them to grow. Marie

I live in the Chicago area and have had 'Purple Palace' for eight years with most intense color in full sun. A few years ago, I moved several to a mass planting in order to get a nicer effect from the flower. This spring (which was wet) I side-dressed them with compost and they have nearly doubled in size with huge 7 inch purple (green undertone) maple-shaped leaves. They are truly striking! The plants aren't all uniform in color or size but I like the variation which provides texture to the grouping.

In Houston, I have this planted in part shade and it has done well for 1 1/2 year. However, I did not expect it to be so slooooooow. Will only buy more if I find a bargain (like under $1 a plant). The database describes it as deciduous, but mine did not die last winter (well, houston winter), it just looked a little sad.

My favorite heuchera! I'm in zone 5b (central IL). 4 are on the west side of the house and get sun from sunrise to about noon. These are mulched, they do not crisp at the edges, and are approximately 2 feet tall (foliage only). Soil is good. I have 2 on the south side in full sun. Both of these are mulched, and get about 1 foot tall (foliage only). Edges start crisping about late July for those in full sun. Soil is clay. All are approximately 9 years old, and have never been divided.

My Purple Palace Heuchera have been slow, but steady growers. I thought I lost two out of three after last winter, but they have rebounded quite nicely. I love the foliage and the contrast they provide in the garden. Mine grow in a shady border, but they receive around two or three hours of intense mid to late afternoon sun without any ill effects.

I agree with the other comments above: Needs shade, moist soil, and the flowers are so diminutive that I cut them off because they detract from the leaves. In spring the new growth is very colorful and then it fades somewhat as the season progresses. Mine has lasted for many years, so I can give a positive rating as far as that goes. Saw this for sale many places again this year, which is a bit surprising for how long it has been around.

I live in zone 3 and there aren't very many decorative plants that want to live here. I bought the Purple palace as a part shade filler. To my suprise it came back this year and looks great. It is full and looks healthy. Not bad for a .99 cents.

My experience with the purple leaved coralbells has not been good. The "tag" said "sun to light shade," but I found the leaves burned even in light shade, and after three years the raggedy looking plants had faded and disappeared. But my seed grown, green leafed coral bells spread throughout the same large azalea bed, and the red flowers made a pretty picture with white foxglove in an Atlanta suburb, zone 7b. And the purple leafed plants were a lot more expensive than the seed package, so I think the purple type was a definite waste of money.

Of the vast variety of "dark-leaved" heucheras, this is not necessarily my favorite. And, yes, if you have hot summers, you cannot plant the dark-leaved varieties in full sun - they "fry"! Palace Purple is the best known, probably because it was one of the first dark colors - I can think of others that are more attractive; purple petticoats and cathedral windows for example. I do not believe that any of the purple-leaved cultivars flower as "showy" as the green or variegated-green varieties.

This is a seed-grown strain, rather than clonal cuttings, so the plants vary wildly. Growing them in light shade seems to protect the foliage from burn, and on some of the superior forms, the flowers make a light, airy effect that is highly appealing.

Palace Purple does not seem as prone to develop woody stems that need to be divided as frequently as some of the other heuchera types, although this varies widely by plant.

I've seen heucheras listed as sun, drought-resistant plants on occasion, but that hasn't worked here for me in zone 9 coastal Nor. CA. They seem to like partial shade much better, and definitely need adequate moisture. In the inland CA areas one would have to consider them a light shade plant. Nice foliage, but I can't say I admire the flowers much. Need to be planted 'en masse' in order to have any effect, rather like statice.