When we look at the variety of Heucher cranberries in a garden nursery, we would like to immediately take as many of them home as possibleWe quickly make a decision to re-equip all pots with summer flowers.Select these the most beautiful ones, however, take more time …
Deciding which of all the purple, caramel, golden yellow and apple green leaf varieties to take is a real challenge.And when we finally deal with it, we still have to find the appropriate companion plants.
It is not difficult, if only because the cranberries look good next to almost all autumn flowers and thus offer numerous compositional possibilities. They are perfect for autumn Aster asters, Dahlia dahlias and Cyclamen cyclamen, they can also be successfully combined with violet Viola cornuta and pansies, whose flowering peak is only in the spring months. In addition, they contrast fantastically with the grasses. Sometimes trying two or three different arrangements on the spot helps to make a decision.
The basic condition for the cranes to show their best side is in most cases a semi-shaded position.As a general rule, the lighter the color of the leaves, the more shade the plant needs.For example, the yellow-leaved 'Citronella' variety requires full shading, otherwise there are signs of burns on the leaves. In addition, plants need to be provided with some fertile flower soil to give them a good start, which plants with ornamental foliage also need.
Cranberry x Heucherella, a cross between the Heucher cranberry and the Tiarella tiarella, is a novelty on our market. These plants are as viable as their more famous relatives. They usually keep their leaves for the winter, and in summer they produce similar panicles of filigree flowers.The latter feature is irrelevant in the case of the autumn cast, but it is worthwhile to plant perennial cranes and cranberries the next year, when they have to give way to new summer flowers, to transplant into separate pots.
Even if we do not have space on the balcony, there will surely be a gap for them in the perennial bed. the fact that they remain ornamental all year round, they reproduce by dividing large clumps in spring or autumn. More experienced gardeners can be recommended seeding.
Decorative leaves on the perennial bed
When planting cranes in the garden, we don't have to be afraid of snails. Neither is sun, because many varieties with red leaves do quite well in the bed when the soil is moist enough.It is worth knowing that the yellow-orange variety 'Caramel' is also considered resistant to heat. By planting cranberries together with purple autumn asters and Sedum, Sedum spectabile, or with the white Hupehen anemone Anemone hupehensis, we get a wonderful composition.
New long-shoot varieties of cranberry x Heucherella are suitable for casing.They were bred in the USA, where they were used for planting amplias.Popular varieties include: 'Sunrise Falls', 'Glacier Falls' (green leaves with red veining) and 'Copper Cascade' (orange-yellow).
Autumn compositions with cranberries
1. The pink cyclamen Cyclamen are surprisingly well suited to the cranberry 'Marmelade' and the cylindrical imperata. The bluish-green leaves of the sedum plant Siebolda Sedum sieboldii mediate between the cranberry and the cyclamen.
2. The red flowers of Impatiens impatiens with a fireman's shade go well with the wavy leaves of the 'Purple Petticoat'.In the cultivar evaluation station, this cranberry received the highest marks.
3. The sedum inflorescences of the magnificent Sedum spectabile 'Carl' stand like little umbrellas above the silvery shimmering leaves of 'Velvet Night'. Between them you can see the two-colored heather of Callun's 'Twin Girls', and in the background - the fluffy tails of the feather feathers of 'Little Bunny'.
4. Thick balls of Chrysanthemum chrysanthemums harmonize perfectly with Calluna's heather and the 'Marmelade' cranberry.
5. The variegated assortment of cranes is now complemented by cranes x Heucherella.
6. Four wins: cranberry 'Stoplight' with light green leaves with red veins, feather feathers with delicate spikes, imperata cylindrical Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron' with bright leaf tips and cranberry 'Coco' with dense dark foliage.
