← Bedfellow

Seaside Alumroot

Heuchera pilosissima

Seaside alumroot is the fuzziest of the heucheras — leaves, stalks and flower stems all covered in dense soft hairs, which is what the name pilosissima records and what makes the plant read gray-green rather than green. It grows along the northern and central California coast in redwood shade and on coastal bluffs, so it takes salt wind, fog and root competition from conifers better than most garden heucheras. Narrow plumes of small white to pink flowers rise well above the foliage in spring, more graceful than showy, and hummingbirds work them. It holds most of its foliage through winter and stays a tight clump rather than spreading. Once established it tolerates the dry summer shade under trees, one of the hardest places in a garden to plant. It resents heavy clay and standing water and is best set slightly high, with its crown above the soil line.

Family

Saxifragaceae

Type

wildflower

Lifespan

perennial

Height

1–2 ft

Spacing

1–1.5 ft apart

Light

shade

Soil moisture

moist

Soil pH

neutral, acidic

Bloom

April, May, June

Bloom colors

white, pink

Wildlife value

pollinators, hummingbirds

Landscape uses

border, container

Native states

CA, OR