🔔 Palace Purple Coral Bells

What it looks like

Why this variety

Palace Purple is the heuchera that started the foliage revolution: deep purple-bronze, maple-like leaves in a tidy mound, with airy wands of tiny white-pink flowers rising above in late spring, on a plant that looks good twelve months a year in mild climates. Before Palace Purple, coral bells were grown for their flowers; after it, they were grown for their leaves, and the hundreds of heuchera colors in catalogs today all descend from this one purple plant. It is still one of the best — vigorous, reliable, and a deep, rich purple that pairs with silver, lime, and gold.

The trade-off is heaving and crown rot: in wet winters or wet soil, heuchera crowns can heave out of the ground or rot, so plant Palace Purple in rich, well-drained soil, mulch lightly (not piled on the crown), and divide every few years, replanting divisions at the same depth. In hot sun the purple fades and scorches, so part shade with morning sun is the sweet spot. Give it those basics, and it will be the purple anchor of your shade border for years.

If you are new to choosing between cultivars, the Varieties Matter guide explains why the name after the plant matters as much as the plant itself. Palace Purple is a perfect example: it is not just a coral bells in the abstract, it is a coral bells with a specific job, a specific history, and specific strengths.

Florida honesty, stated plainly: heuchera is a North Florida trial, not a statewide perennial — it wants cool, moist, shaded conditions and a winter rest, and Florida heat and humidity are not its home weather. In North Florida, plant Palace Purple in part to full shade, in rich soil that drains sharply, and treat a thriving clump as a triumph. In Central and South Florida, expect decline, and plant a native shade groundcover instead.

How to grow

Plant in spring or fall in rich, well-drained soil in part to full shade — heuchera is a woodland plant that wants leaf-mold soil, consistent moisture, and protection from hot sun. Work worm castings and compost into the bed at planting, mulch lightly but keep mulch off the crown (piled mulch rots crowns), and divide every few years, replanting divisions at the same depth, to prevent heaving and decline.

Set plants 12-18 inches apart in soil with a pH around 6.0-7.0. Work worm castings into the bed at planting and mulch to hold moisture. A well-fed coral bells plant rewards that care directly: steadier growth, better bloom, and a show that actually shows up.

Water & feeding

Keep soil evenly moist but never waterlogged — heuchera wants woodland moisture, not swamp and not drought, and its crown rots in standing water. Water at the soil line, mulch lightly (never piled on the crown), and feed lightly: castings and compost at planting plus a spring top-dress. In a dry spell, water is the care program; a heuchera that dries out scorches and does not recover its looks that season.

Common problems

• Crown rot in wet soil — heuchera’s killer; plant in sharp drainage, keep mulch off the crown, and do not plant where rain ponds.
• Heaving in freeze-thaw winters — crowns lift out of the soil; replant at the right depth in spring and mulch lightly.
• Scorch in sun or heat — purple fades, lime scorches; part to full shade is the sweet spot, especially in warm gardens.
• Fading color in hot summers — heuchera colors are richest in cool weather; heat greens them up, and no fertilizer restores the color.
• Vine weevils on roots in some regions — notched leaves and crown decline; remove affected plants and encourage predators.

Harvest

Cut a few flower wands for small bouquets in late spring, when wands are fully open — heuchera flowers are airy and delicate in water, though the foliage is the real show. The leaves themselves can be cut sparingly for foliage arrangements without harming the plant. Divide congested clumps every few years in spring or fall, replanting divisions at the same depth, and leave the foliage standing over winter where it is evergreen enough to shelter.

Saving seeds

Palace Purple is the heuchera that started the foliage revolution: deep purple-bronze, maple-like leaves in a tidy mound, with airy wands of tiny white-pink flowers rising above in late spring, on a plant that looks good twelve months a year in mild climates. Before Palace Purple, coral bells were grown for their flowers; after it, they were grown for their leaves, and the hundreds of heuchera colors in catalogs today all descend from this one purple plant. As a named coral bells cultivar it is kept true by division, not by seed: plant in spring or fall in rich, well-drained soil in part to full shade, mulch lightly but keep mulch off the crown, and divide every few years, replanting divisions at the same depth, to prevent heaving and decline. The full method is in the Saving seeds section of the Coral Bells guide.