Heuchera americana (Common Alum-Root)

A genuinely low-maintenance, deer-resistant evergreen groundcover, American alumroot's bitter, tannin-rich foliage keeps browsers away while still supporting a named specialist bee and a dedicated larval host moth - rare combination of toughness and ecological value for a shade groundcover.

Species Overview

Heuchera americana, commonly known as American alumroot or coral bells, is a clump-forming perennial native to much of eastern and central North America. Its most noteworthy feature is its evergreen, heart-shaped, lobed basal foliage, which emerges purplish in spring, matures to mottled green, and shifts to shades of red, purple, or bronze in fall and winter. Airy panicles of tiny bell-shaped flowers rise well above the foliage on leafless stalks.

Application

• Woodland groundcover and shade garden plantings
• Rock garden, rocky outcrop, and cliff-ledge restoration
• Deer-pressured woodland sites
• Pollinator habitat for the specialist Heuchera bee (Colletes aestivalis)

Growing Conditions / Specification Data

• Light: Part Shade to Full Shade - tolerates dry shade
• Soil/Moisture Tolerance: Well-drained, humus-rich, acidic soils, sometimes rocky; tolerates poor soil, low moisture, and lime
• Drought Tolerance: Moderate
• Flood Tolerance: Low - A dry, rocky-woodland species adapted to well-drained soil; not tolerant of standing water.
• Plant Type: Forb
• Mature Height: 1-2 ft.
• Fall Color: Red, Purple
• Bloom Color / Period: Green, Purple; May-July
• Wetland Indicator Status: FACU (Facultative Upland)
• Native Range: Connecticut to Ontario and Michigan, south to Georgia and Oklahoma
• Hydrology: Dry-Mesic
• Root Depth: Shallow (Under 12 in.)
• Salinity Tolerance: Low
• Growth Rate: Moderate
• Shade Tolerance: Tolerant
• Growth Habit: Clumping/Mounding
• USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9
• Deer Resistance: Yes (Rarely Damaged)
• Pollinator Value: Larval host, supports bees, supports specialist/oligolectic bees, supports moths

Planting Guidance

• Woody crowns rise above the soil as the plant ages - dig up and replant a little deeper (with 1-2 in. of stem above the soil) to rejuvenate older plantings.