Heucherella Red Rover

The Heucherella 'Red Rover' brings the much-needed red colour to these beautiful perennials born from the marriage of heuchera and tiarella: with its astonishing deeply lobed foliage of a shiny purple in spring and winter, this perennial brings life to borders and flowering pots with panache! Its large leaves turn olive green in summer, while its long purple flowering stems adorned with white-cream bell-shaped flowers appear. It is a hardy and tolerant plant in terms of exposure, but thrives only in soils that remain cool and preferably non-calcareous.

The Heucherella 'Red Rover' belongs, like its ancestors Heuchera villosa and Tiarella, to the family of Saxifragaceae. It has inherited the qualities of these two plants: the spectacular foliage of heuchera and the abundant flowering as well as the superior robustness of tiarella. It is an evergreen to semi-evergreen perennial, growing in low and compact clumps. At maturity, it reaches 20 cm (8in) in height (for foliage), 60 cm (24in) in flower, and 50 cm (0 and 20in) in width. The leaves measure 5 to 12 cm (2 to 5in) in diameter. The first leaves, those that emerge in spring, are narrower and often consist of a single narrow lobe resembling a finger. They give way to large, rather round leaves, divided into 5 to 7 narrow and toothed lobes, with prominent veins. Their colour changes from purple-pink to coppery red in spring, then to olive green tinged with purple as temperatures rise. Their undersides retain their purple colour. The very long-lasting flowers of this 'Red Rover' variety appear in June-July, grouped in dense spikes, carried by thin and hairy stems, tinged with pink-purple, reaching a height of 60-70 cm (24-28in). This white-cream flowering in tiny bells gives an impression of foam.

The Heucherella 'Red Rover' appreciates wooded environments with a humid atmosphere and proves to be less sensitive than heuchera to the combination of heat and humidity. This variety also tolerates sunnier exposures, for example along a shaded path in the afternoon. It can also be used as a waterside plant, associated with ribbons of bergenia and Carex oshimensis, for the contrast of foliage. It will also thrive in sheltered containers or planters away from direct sunlight. It pairs well with astilbes, Caucasian forget-me-nots (Brunnera), or meadowsweets (Filipendula). It is also a good border plant to surround hydrangeas and camellias, for perennial borders, or in a rock garden, always away from the scorching sun.