Everyone is familiar with coral bells, and many don’t even realize that the majority of them are native. Of course, the most popular ones in horticulture have been hybridized and cross-bred for decades at this point, and who knows their original parentage. I, personally, am not an expert on all the cultivars of coral bells, let alone a collector of them. That being said, there are species that do grow wild here in PA, and they’re not that uncommon. They just don’t tend to look as… I guess what I mean is that the wild species aren’t the brightly colored ones that the garden club ladies gawk over at the garden centers.
Dale’s Strain is, in fact, a straight species of one of our native Heuchera, but it is a seed strain for one with beautiful variegated leaves. If you love the nativars but want something that is a bit more natural, this is a selection of a wild type. Do not plant them in full sun. At The MagiK Garden, they seem to thrive in bright, dappled light with no more than 2 hours of direct sun at best. An ideal location is one situated under the canopy of a deciduous tree. They are evergreen, though the leaves turn a burgundy-red to brown color in the winter months to protect themselves from harsh sunlight, then return to their usual greenish selves once the trees leaf out once more.
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