Heucherella Cracked Ice

Heucherella 'Cracked Ice' is a hybrid between Heuchera and Tiarella, combining the best of both parents in a highly successful variety. This recent selection forms a low, evergreen cushion of deeply lobed leaves, with a frosty blue-green colour, veined with dark purple. In autumn, it takes on a delightful silver-pink tone, which is truly fascinating. Its delicate and abundant spring flowering consists of panicles of white flowers carried on slender stems. This vigorous, compact, healthy, and easy-to-grow variety is an excellent perennial for shaded and cool areas of the garden or in undergrowth.

Heucherella 'Cracked Ice' belongs, like its ancestors Heuchera and Tiarella, to the Saxifragaceae family. It has inherited the qualities of these two plants: the spectacular foliage of the Heuchera and the abundant flowering and superior robustness of the Tiarella. 'Cracked Ice' was obtained by Terra Nova, a North American nursery specialising in the creation of new cultivars of Heuchera, Heucherella, and Tiarella, with increasingly surprising colours and remarkable vigour.

It is a perennial plant that forms a low and compact clump. At maturity, it reaches about 20 cm (8 in) in height and 40 cm (16 in) in spread. The leaves measure 4 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) in diameter. The first leaves, which emerge in spring, are narrower. They give way to large, rather round and deeply palmate leaves that resemble those of a maple, with a silvery green-blue colour and strongly marked veins coloured in dark purple. With the arrival of cold weather, 'Cracked Ice' takes on a soft and luminous silver-pink colour. The very long-lasting flowers appear in April-May and last until the beginning of summer, grouped in condensed spikes carried on thin and hairy stems about 50 cm (20 in) tall. These white flowers have a foam-like appearance.

Heucherella 'Cracked Ice' appreciates wooded environments with a humid atmosphere. It will naturally find its place in moist woodland alongside ferns, Impatiens balfouri, Solomon's seals, and astilbes. It is also a good plant for perennial borders or in a rockery, always in shade. It can also be used as a waterside plant. It will also thrive in containers or sheltered planters away from direct sunlight. In this case, it should be planted in a well-drained potting mix without excess fertiliser, with watering carefully monitored in summer and reduced in winter. Pots will need protection against cold winter winds.