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Heuchera 'Crimson Curls' (Crimson Curls Coral Bells) - A clump-forming herbaceous perennial that forms a basal mound to around 9 inches tall by about 18 inches wide. The 2- to 4-inch-wide leaves emerge in spring a dark burgundy red with purple underneath and are distinctively curly. Leaves fade to a duller gray green in summer. In late spring to early summer appear the small white bell-shaped flowers on slender stems that rise to 12 to 18 inches tall, well above foliage.
Performs well in full sun in cooler gardens but needs some shade (particularly afternoon) in warmer spots. Plant in well-drained soil and irrigate regularly. Foliage will be scorched, and plants will decline if getting too much sun or not enough water. Remove stems of faded flowers to tidy up the plant and encourage possible additional flowering in fall. This plant is evergreen in our garden but can be grown in much cooler climates as a hardy perennial.
Heuchera 'Crimson Curls' was introduced by Ray Brown of Plant World Botanic Gardens in Devon, England and was released in the United States by PlantHaven of Santa Barbara, California. It was selected as a seedling in 1996 from a planting bed of several named and unnamed Heuchera cultivars and hybrids that had been planted in 1993. The planting was to allow open pollination to occur so selections could be made of seedlings exhibiting new leaf variants. It is thought that 'Crimson Curls' may have derived its foliage color partially from Heuchera 'Palace Purple' and the crispy metallic leaf texture from the species Heuchera micrantha or possibly from Heuchera americana but the exact parentage remains unknown. It received US Plant Patent PP13,729, which was filed for in December 2000 and has since expired.
In their book "Heuchera and Heucherellas: Coral Bells and Foamy Bells" Timber Press 2005 authors Dan Heims and Grahame Ware note that Linnaeus named Heuchera for Johann Heinrich von Heucher, professor of medicine and Botany at Wittenberg University and that the name Heuchera should be pronounced following this person's name that it commemorates, meaning it so be pronounced HOY-ker-uh, but like most people, we continue to pronounce it HUE-ker-ah. We grew this very nice and colorful cultivar from 2003 until 2020 and only discontinued when it became unavailable from the sources that we originally purchased transplant plugs from.
This information about Heuchera 'Crimson Curls' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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