Vivid, also known as Coral Bells, Alum Root, or Heuchera sanguinea, is a perennial native to North America. This cultivar offers attractive green foliage and stunning pink flowers atop tall stalks from spring to summer. It reaches 12-18" tall and 12-15" wide with a mounding habit. The foliage is evergreen, and the flowers are perennial in zone 4-9, flourishing in full or partial sun with moderate water. Vivid adds color and contrast to landscape beds, containers, and rock gardens and attracts pollinators. For a variety with changing foliage, try growing Heuchera Marvelous Marble Silver.
Vivid Selling Tips
Sell Vivid to customers looking to add visual interest to rock gardens, borders, and containers. This evergreen perennial offers many benefits, from attractive foliage to shade tolerance, low-maintenance care, and attracting pollinators. This plant has a mounding habit, is drought tolerant, and does well even in clay soil. Bright flowers bloom atop stalks in summer, perennial in zone 4-9. Customers love the year-round depth, texture, and color this plant provides. Heuchera flourishes in full sun with moderate water or part shade with low water. Try growing Vivid with Astilbe, Bleeding Heart, Fern, Hellebore, Hosta, and Lamium in shady gardens. Create stunning sunny landscape beds by pairing Heuchera with Artemesia, Ajuga, Daylily, Geranium, Iris, Lysimachia, and ornamental grass.
Coach Your Customer
1. Space plants 12-15" apart in full sun or partial shade.
2. Water regularly, especially during the first year, as the plant establishes a root system. Water more often in a sunny location or less often in a shady spot.
3. Cut back in the fall or remove damaged foliage in spring. Deadhead flowers or cut them for a vase to encourage continued blooming.
4. Divide plants every three years.
5. Fertilize once a month during the growing season with an all-purpose fertilizer.
General Growing Tips For Your Seedling Tray
For best results with Vivid, grow one seedling plug per 4-inch or two per 6-inch container. Use well-drained soil with a pH of 5.8-6.2, EC of 1.5-2.1 mS/cm SME, and low feed (75-125 ppm N). This plant requires bulking and vernalization for 6-10 weeks and 9-10 weeks, respectively. Provide temperatures of 64-66 during bulking and 40-50 during vernalization. During finishing, provide temperatures of 64-66 daytime and 60-62 nighttime. This plant requires long days to 14 hours. Don't pinch or use PGRs during bulking and vernalization. You may use paclobutrazol spray during finishing if necessary. Watch for aphids, whiteflies, pythium, and Rhizoctonia.
Flowering
Pink flowers bloom on tall stalks from spring to summer.
Pinching
This plant doesn't require pinching.
Spacing
Space containers for adequate airflow and sunlight penetration around the base and foliage of each plant. We recommend spacing 4- or 6-inch containers of Vivid seedling plugs 8-10" on center.
Height Control
Prevent stretching by providing consistent, moderate water and avoiding excess nitrogen and ammonium. Don't pinch to control height but use a spray of paclobutrazol at 15 ppm if necessary.
Pests
Scout for aphids and whiteflies as part of your Integrated Pest Management program. Prevention is the best method for controlling pest infestations.
Aphids are small, soft-bodied insects that cause damage by sucking sap from plant tissue. They reproduce quickly and are particularly attracted to young growth. Curling and yellowed leaves, stunted growth, and stickiness on leaves are signs of an infestation. These insects also spread diseases and reproduce rapidly. Use biological controls or horticultural oils to discourage and kill aphids.
Whiteflies are small, winged insects that eat plant sap and cause yellowed leaves and stunted growth. Severe infestations can lead to plants dying. Prevent infestations by sanitizing surfaces and tools and removing debris. Introduce natural predators and use sticky traps to control populations. Insecticidal soaps and oils are also effective against this pest.
Disease
Watch for signs of pythium and Rhizoctonia. Implement an Integrated Pest Management plan in your commercial greenhouse and take preventative measures against diseases. Water at the base of each plant in the morning, allowing the soil to dry between waterings. Provide good airflow in your greenhouse, and space plants to allow circulation and sunlight to the base of each plant.
Pythium and Rhizoctonia are fungal diseases that cause stunted growth, yellowed leaves, and plant death by eating away at the plant's roots. Use well-draining planting media and provide good airflow and spacing in your greenhouse. Allow the soil to dry slightly between waterings and apply fungicides with active ingredients abamectin, spinosad, or imidacloprid to combat these diseases.
Planting Vivid Liners
We recommend planting one seedling plug per 4-inch or two per 6-inch container. Use well-drained soil and plant the ellepot evenly with the growing medium centered or evenly spaced in the container.
Rooted Cuttings
Cuttings vary in size between different plant families. These rooted starter plants will arrive ready to be transplanted in to your final container. If they are to be used in a landscape application, you will need to establish them in a 4 inch pot or an 1801 before planting outside.
Heuchera Vivid Quick Reference Guide
| 4 Inch crop time | 20 Weeks |
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| Bloom Period | Spring, Summer |
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| Color | Pink |
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| Habit | Mounding |
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| Height | 12-18 Inches |
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| Light | Full Sun, Partial Shade |
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| Minimum Temp | 60 |
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| Perennial Zone | 4-9 |
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| Water Needs | Light |
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| Patented Plant | No |
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