The Southern Comfort Heuchera, otherwise known as the Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 or Coral Bells ‘Southern Comfort’, Alum Root ‘Southern Comfort’, Coral Flower ‘Southern Comfort’, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this perennial will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its multicolored colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Southern Comfort Heuchera Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Southern Comfort Heuchera are the following:
- Water: The Southern Comfort Heuchera prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Southern Comfort Heuchera in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand and loam.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Southern Comfort Heuchera is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Southern Comfort Heuchera belongs to the Saxifragaceae family, and the genus Heuchera, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 (HEW-ker-a).
As with other Heuchera’s, the Southern Comfort Heuchera is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Southern Comfort Heuchera is a plant native to the North America.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Southern Comfort Heuchera. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Southern Comfort Heuchera is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Southern Comfort Heuchera? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 can grow up to 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Southern Comfort Heuchera a relatively medium perennial compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 18″ – 24″ (45cm – 60cm) free so the Southern Comfort Heuchera can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Southern Comfort Heuchera is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Southern Comfort Heuchera in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Southern Comfort Heuchera is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Southern Comfort Heuchera prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Southern Comfort Heuchera requires soil with high organic matter, loam (silt), and sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to alkaline soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Southern Comfort Heuchera requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial will do well as long as you keep it in shade, or partial sun to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 in from little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to dappled or moderate shade (under other plant’s canopy).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Southern Comfort Heuchera will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), and during the fall.
Flowers
You can expect your Southern Comfort Heuchera to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
The Southern Comfort Heuchera produces some beautiful white, or white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Southern Comfort Heuchera have a beautiful multicolored color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 to be around (> 6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Southern Comfort Heuchera is well known for being able to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for salt, drought and animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Southern Comfort Heuchera? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Heuchera X ‘Southern Comfort’ Plant Patent #20,364 owners agree that this perennial will look great in most cottage, contemporary and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of city and courtyard, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Southern Comfort Heuchera’s best location within your garden is in edging, banks and slopes, patio and containers, beds and borders, ground covers, and in underplanting roses and shrubs, others use it for landscaping in a firescaping/fire wise, rock garden, border, erosion control, mass planting, ground cover, cutting garden, container, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Southern Comfort Heuchera’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Helleborus, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Hosta will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Southern Comfort Heuchera, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
