The genus Heucher's cranberry includes about 55 species native to the mountains and forests of North and Central America. Most of the plants are evergreen. Their attractive decorative leaves in different colors and structures are set on long petioles. The cranberries bloom from May to August.Single small flowers are white to red in color, located at the top of a leafless flower stalk.The flowers, depending on the species, are gathered in clusters or loose panicles.
Heuchera is colloquially called a quiver because of the trembling of delicate flowers at the slightest gust of wind. Although the inflorescences are inconspicuous, it is impossible not to notice them even in a multi-species composition.Heuchera sanguinea has green, round or kidney-shaped leaves, densely hairy, red flowers.
Heuchera x brizoides
Beetlejuice - round, to the bottom leaves have a notched edge. The flowers are small, bell-shaped, red, pink or white, placed on thin, stiff stems.Heuchera american heuchera - young leaves are marbled and veined, when older leaves become shiny, intensely green.Flowers are brownish-green. Heuchera micrantha forms dense clumps of lobed leaves. The flowers are tiny, beige-pink.
The queen of small-flowered cranberries is the 'Palace Purple' variety with highly shiny purple or cherry-red leaves. In shady places, the leaves will be less pigmented and less shiny.The youngest leaves are marbled and veined. Plants form clumps of long-tailed leaves 30 centimeters high and up to 50 centimeters in diameter. The plant blooms from May to August.Panicles of tiny beige flowers form on the inflorescence stem.'Palace Purple' can be propagated by sowing from seeds. The obtained seedlings largely repeat the features of the mother plant.
Cranberries grow relatively slowly. Especially after harsh winters in the first two seasons, they recover for a long time. These perennials are relatively easy to grow. Plants with light leaves develop better in sunnier places. The darker the leaves, the less light the plant needs.The substrate should be permeable, humus, moderately moist, neutralThey are average frost-resistant.
Modern incarnations of a crane
Planting and winter protection of cranberries
In the north-eastern regions of Poland, the plant should be protected against frost: with bark, leaves or horticultural non-woven fabric.Cranberry, which grows in one place for many years, and its leaves dry from the inside, should be in autumn or in early spring, dig it, divide it into several smaller parts and put it back in new positions where the soil is dug up to at least 30 centimeters.
The cranberries with the most decorative leaves should be planted in the foreground or on the edges of the flowerbed. They look interesting in the beds among low perennials, such as geraniums, algae, funkie and ferns.They can also be combined with tawułami, boxwood, conifers and ornamental grasses.They can be successfully incorporated into colorful compositions, on the shore of a pond or in rock gardens.
They can also be used to plant shrubs and trees with contrasting leaves.Daffodils will be welcome in every place in the garden.They look good in a group of 10-15 plants planted at 30 cm intervals.
Decorative leaves on the perennial bed
When planting cranes in the garden, we don't have to be afraid of snails. Neither can sun, because many red-leaved varieties 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 to plant amplias. Popular varieties include 'Sunrise Falls' (small photo), 'Glacier Falls' (green leaves with red veining) and 'Copper Cascade' (orange-yellow).
Cranberries in pots
When we look at a variety of Heucher cranberries in a garden nursery, we would like to immediately take as many of them home as possible. We quickly make a decision to re-equip all the pots with summer flowers.However, choosing the most beautiful ones takes 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 the horned violet Viola cornuta and pansies, whose flowering peak is only in the spring months. In addition, they contrast fantastically with the grasses. Trying two or three different arrangements on site sometimes helps to make up your mind.
Growing conditions for cranberries
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 leaf color, the more shade the plant needs. For example, yellow-leaved 'Citronella' requires full shading, otherwise there are signs of burns on the leaves.Besides, you need to provide the plants with some fertile flower soil to give them a good start, which plants with ornamental leaves also need.
Cranberry x Heucherella, a cross between the Heucher cranberry and Tiarell's 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 fall stocking, 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 be a gap for them in the perennial bed. It is worth remembering that cranberries and cranberries, whose greatest advantage is that they remain decorative all year round, reproduce by dividing the expanded clumps in spring or autumn.More experienced gardeners can be recommended seeding.
Advantages of growing cranberries
Heuchera Heuchera is a perennial distinguished by beautiful leaf colors and in this respect it is second to none. We can choose from a multitude of plant varieties with leaves of lemon green, maroon brown, plum, chocolate, peach, amber, silvery and many, many other colors and tones. Most varieties also create lovely delicate inflorescences.Cranes can be grown in the garden and in all kinds of containers.They can be planted individually, in a group of one or several varieties, as well as in compositions with other plant species.
They look very effective for a long time without requiring many care treatments. The main thing is to plant them in fertile, humus, well-drained soil. Place the containers in slightly shaded places (avoid burning, strong sun).We water it so that the substrate is constantly moist and we feed it every 3 weeks.For the winter, the pots with cranberries must be moved to a cold room or carefully protected against frost.
Cranberries - use in discounts
Over the past several years, Heuher's cranes have changed a lot. And that's literally in every way.Modern varieties are much more resistant, he althier and thrive.The leaves of the new varieties are distinguished by a more interesting color and form.
From April to September, perennials are decorated with tall inflorescences of tiny white, pink or purple flowers. The pink flowering inflorescences can be dried. Their color is perfectly preserved. The delicate shape of the cranberry optically loosens the compositions of dried plants.
There are so many cranes today that it is difficult to clearly identify the most beautiful one.The task is also not made easier by the fact that the crane does not form a consistent genus in terms of developmental features and application. Thanks to such a large selection of colorful varieties, the cranberry facilitates the creation of colorful plant compositions.
Strongly growing varieties form clumps of up to 45 centimeters in diameter and are perfect for both cover applications, e.g. for decorating woody plants, and for enveloping, e.g. for planting the edges of a bed.
Smaller varieties, such as 'Regina', can be grown in rock gardens or in containers. Note that red-leaved varieties should be exposed in sunny places; they turn green in low light.Cranes with red-brown leaves create wonderful color accents on classic flower beds.If there are shades of purple in the color of their leaves, they can be combined with purple or pink flowers.
Blueberries with yellow and orange leaves feel best in semi-shaded places (similar to green varieties). When grown in the sun, spots appear on the leaves. Cranberries grow best in a fertile, slightly moist soil.
Spring cranberry care
In spring crops should be supplemented with a little compost, which will accelerate the development and flowering of perennials. It is also a great opportunity to bury the root rhizomes that climb up over time. The cranes grow lush thanks to the underground runners.Plants are reproduced by dividing the clump, rejuvenating it at the same time.
We make the division every 3-4 years. They are planted at a spacing of 30x30 cm. Empty spaces are quickly overgrown with young growths.Everyone will be happy to hear that the cranberries, despite their appetizing appearance, are avoided by snails.
