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Heuchera x brizoides Bressingham Hybrids (Bressingham Hybrid Coral Bells) - A seedling group of Heuchera that has tufts of leaves that emerge with a reddish bronze color and mature to a darker greenish bronze. They are about the size of a U.S. quarter with 5 to 9 rounded lobes and have scalloped margins. The flowers, which generally appear in panicles that rise about a foot above the foliage from late spring through summer vary in color from white, whitish pink to red.
This group of Heuchera perform best in cool full to part sun or light shade with regular irrigation and are hardy down to about 10 degrees F. They are useful in a woodland garden setting, along the front edge of the border or as container plants and are attractive to hummingbirds but a little low to the ground to be visited regularly by them.
The Bressingham hybrid seed strain resulted from a group of selections made in 1950 by Alan Bloom and Percy Piper from the plant long in the horticultural trades that was called Heuchera x brizoides, which is thought to be a hybrid cross using a combination of Heuchera americana, Heuchera micrantha and Heuchera sanguinea. Heuchera x brizoides was bred in the late 1800s by Victor Lemoine of the famed nursery Victor Lemoine et Fils at Nancy in Lorraine Province of France and first released in their 1897 catalog. The name Briziodes was chosen by Lemoine because he thought the inflorescence resembled that of one of the Quaking Grasses in the genus Briza. The Bressingham Hybrids have long been the most popular seed strains of Heuchera in the nursery trades internationally.
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 and sold this seed propagated plant from 1992 until 2006 but continue to grow a white flowering form we selected in 1986 and list as Heuchera x brizoides 'Bressingham White'.
This information about Heuchera x brizoides Bressingham Hybrids 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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