Heuchera
Heuchera villosa
Grown almost entirely for evergreen foliage in colours no other hardy perennial offers — lime, amber, purple, near-black — in a neat clump that never spreads. It is excellent in a pot and its one structural weakness is a habit of lifting itself out of the ground as it ages.
- Position
- Partial shade or Dappled shade or Full sun
- Water
- moderate demand
- Drainage
- Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
- Grows to
- 25–50 cm × 30–50 cm
- Hardiness
- H6
- Flowers
- June and July
- Difficulty
- Straightforward
August
Nothing to do
No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.
Coming next month: plant, divide.
Heuchera’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | March. | April. | September. | |||||||||
| In flower | June. | July. | ||||||||||
| Divide | March. | April. | September. |
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Partial shade, Dappled shade, Full sun
- Frost
- Very hardy
- Hardiness rating
- H6 (RHS)
- Grows best at
- 8–24 °C
- Soil
- Loam, Peat-free compost, Chalky
- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Drainage
- Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
- Water needs
- moderate
- Drought
- moderate tolerance
- Waterlogging
- poor tolerance
- Heat
- moderate tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- moderate tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Heuchera villosa — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Works, with one condition | Heuchera will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Sandy | Grows well here | Heuchera grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Grows well here | Heuchera grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits Heuchera as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits Heuchera as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Peaty and acid | Works, with one condition | Heuchera will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Shallow over rock | Prefers this soil | Shallow over rock suits Heuchera as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Works, with one condition | Heuchera will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 25–50 cm
- Mature spread
- 30–50 cm
- Rooting depth
- 25 cm
- Spacing
- 30–40 cm apart
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13
In a container
- Minimum volume
- 5 litres or more
- Minimum depth
- 25 cm
Where the container figures come from
- Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
- Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
One of the best foliage plants for a pot, and better in one than in a border in many gardens — the colour is at eye level, the vine weevil grubs that are their main enemy are easier to spot when repotting, and a container in light shade prevents the leaf scorch they get in full sun. Refresh the compost every second spring and replant the crown deeper, because it lifts itself out of the pot as it ages.
Habit and ultimate size
What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- In a container
- Good in a container long-term
Where these figures come from
- FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera villosa — foliage
Checked 2026-08-13
- In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Open ground | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Traditional dug bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Raised bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 |
Growing it
- PlantingEvery two or three years, lift the plant, cut off the bare woody stem that has pushed the crown up out of the soil, and replant the rosette deeper. Heuchera lifts itself as it ages and a plant left to it becomes unstable, dries out and dies — this is normal and completely fixable.
- ProtectionCheck for vine weevil, especially in pots. A heuchera that wobbles when touched and pulls out of the compost with no roots has been eaten by the grubs, and the plant is the pest's favourite in a container. Tipping a pot out in autumn to look is worth doing routinely.
- PropagationHeucheras lift themselves out of the ground as they age, leaving a bare woody stem with a rosette on top — and that is the moment to divide them. In spring, lift the plant, cut the crown into rosettes each with some root, and replant them deeper than they were so the bare stem is buried. This is renewal as much as propagation and is worth doing every three years.
- WateringWater through the first season and in dry spells after that — heucheras are shallow-rooted and dry out sooner than their neighbours, and they scorch at the leaf edges in a hot dry position, which is why the darker and brighter cultivars generally look better in part shade than in full sun. The characteristic problem is not thirst but lifting: the woody crown pushes itself up out of the ground over a few years until the roots are half exposed and the plant dries out and rocks. When that happens, lift it in autumn or spring, split it and replant the pieces deeper.
- FeedingA spring mulch of garden compost and, on poor soil or in a container, a balanced liquid feed monthly through the growing season. Do not overdo it — heucheras fed hard make large soft leaves that lose the intensity of colour they are grown for and are more prone to rot at the crown in a wet winter. In pots, refreshing the compost every second spring does more good than feeding more.
Where this guidance comes from
- PlantingSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — replanting
Checked 2026-08-13
- ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Vine weevil
Checked 2026-08-13
- PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — propagation
Checked 2026-08-13
- WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
- FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Heuchera — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
What goes wrong
| Problem | How often | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Heuchera rust | commonsourceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13 | Orange pustules beneath pale upper-surface spots. Often arrives on a bought plant. |
Sources for this page
GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.