Coral bells 'Firefly'
Heuchera sanguinea 'Leuchtkäfer' · Saxifragaceae
Sprays of small, vermilion-red, scented bells on wiry stems, above a low mound of scalloped green leaves. Grown for its flowers.
- Size
- 10 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late May to late July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around coral bells 'Firefly'
The planner designed this bed around coral bells 'Firefly' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why coral bells 'Firefly' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Coral bells 'Firefly' × 10, red
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 3, tan
- 3 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Mountain bluet 'Amethyst in Snow' × 3, white
- 7 Grecian windflower × 12, blue
- 8 Crocosmia 'Emily McKenzie' × 5, orange
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are spires, daisies, globes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only red.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 10 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 58% of the edge.
- 10 plants in 3 runs (5, 3 and 2). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From late May to late July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With moor grass 'Greenlee', false sunflower 'Summer Sun' and mountain bluet 'Amethyst in Snow' in late June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bold leaves of Tatarian aster 'Jindai' are set against the fine leaves of moor grass 'Greenlee', the kind of contrast that keeps a bed from blurring. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 55 to 45, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where coral bells 'Firefly' goes in a border
At 10 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
Before heucheras were foliage plants, they were this: a haze of red bells along the edge of a border. Hummingbirds seek it out, and it lasts well when cut.
- Flowering edging
- Hummingbirds
- Cutting
What to plant with coral bells 'Firefly'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Lady's mantle: red against green, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for six weeks; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
- Carpathian bellflower: in flower together for six weeks, from late June.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for nine weeks, from late May; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about coral bells 'Firefly'
Does coral bells 'Firefly' need sun or shade?
Coral bells 'Firefly' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does coral bells 'Firefly' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does coral bells 'Firefly' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to late July. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early June to early August |
| Zone 5 | Late May to late July |
| Zone 6 | Late May to late July |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Early May to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should coral bells 'Firefly' be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 10 in (25 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many coral bells 'Firefly' plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used 10 in three groups.
Is coral bells 'Firefly' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension and the ASPCA.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat coral bells 'Firefly'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after coral bells 'Firefly'?
Coral bells 'Firefly' is over by late July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Ornamental onion 'Millenium': from mid July to late August, 18 in tall.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
What does coral bells 'Firefly' look like in winter?
Coral bells 'Firefly' keeps its green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is coral bells 'Firefly' good for bees and butterflies?
Coral bells 'Firefly' is visited by pollinators, specialist bees and hummingbirds.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Heuchera
- American alumroot Heuchera americana
- Coral bells Heuchera
- Coral bells 'Berry Smoothie' Heuchera 'Berry Smoothie'
- Coral bells 'Caramel' Heuchera 'Caramel'
- Coral bells 'Citronelle' Heuchera 'Citronelle'
- Coral bells 'Georgia Peach' Heuchera 'Georgia Peach'
- Coral bells 'Green Spice' Heuchera americana 'Green Spice'
- Coral bells 'Lime Rickey' Heuchera 'Lime Rickey'
- Coral bells 'Obsidian' Heuchera 'Obsidian'
- Coral bells 'Palace Purple' Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'
- Coral bells 'Plum Pudding' Heuchera 'Plum Pudding'
- Hairy alumroot 'Autumn Bride' Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride'
- Prairie alumroot Heuchera richardsonii
- Scarlet coral bells Heuchera sanguinea
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for bees
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 10 in (25 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to late July; airy sprays; red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Saxifragaceae
- Comes from
- Southwestern United States
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, heat
Checked against NC State Extension and ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.