Product Field NotesCompanion Plants
Lemon Love Coral Bells: Chartreuse Light for the Shady Side
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Lemon Love coral bells is a big, bright heuchera for places lavender would never go. Its slightly ruffled leaves emerge bright yellow in spring, settle into chartreuse and turn more lime green in deeper shade. Over a few years the mound can widen to about three feet across, so one plant does a lot of brightening.
To be clear from the start: this is not a plant for your lavender bed. Lemon Love wants shade and steady moisture. It earns its place on the shady side of the same garden plan.
Lemon Love at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Heuchera 'Lemon Love' |
| Foliage | Chartreuse to lime green, slightly ruffled |
| Flowers | Tiny cream bells with pink-blushed calyces on stems about 20 inches tall |
| Size | 10 to 14 inches tall, 28 to 32 inches wide |
| Bloom | Mid-June to early July, about five weeks |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 4 to 9 |
| Light | Part sun to full shade |
| Deer | Moderately resistant |
A shady-side partner to lavender
Most properties have both: a hot, open spot where lavender thrives and a cooler area under trees or along the north side of the house. Lemon Love is for the second one. Its chartreuse leaves bounce light around shade the way silver lavender foliage does in sun, so the two ends of the yard feel related. Pair it with ferns, hostas and dark-leaved coral bells for contrast.
The Companion Plant Planner lets you lay out sun and shade beds side by side so each plant lands where it will grow well.
Planting and care
- Light: part to full shade. Hot afternoon sun can scorch the pale leaves.
- Soil: average to fertile and well drained, with steady moisture. Wet, heavy soil is the main cause of crown rot.
- Watering: water at the base and avoid overhead watering late in the day to keep leaves clean.
- Space: give it room. It is a vigorous grower that keeps widening.
- Spring tidy: trim tattered old leaves and spent flower stems.
Winter in Michigan
Lemon Love is evergreen to semi-evergreen here. The bigger winter problem is frost heaving in heavy or wet soil, which pushes the crown up out of the ground. Plant with the crown at soil level, add mulch after the ground freezes and, in spring, press any heaved plants back down.
Choosing a tray size
Lemon Love comes in a 72-cell plug tray and a 20-cell plug tray. The larger tray suits growers and big shade plantings; the 20-cell tray is a more manageable number for edging a woodland path or filling a few containers. See each product page for current availability.
Frequently asked questions
Can Lemon Love take any sun?
Some gentle morning sun is fine, but strong afternoon sun can scorch the leaves. In deeper shade the color shifts toward lime green.
Should I keep the flowers?
The creamy flower haze is pretty and pollinators visit it. Once it fades, cut the stems at the base to keep the mound neat.
Why did my plant pop out of the ground?
That is frost heaving. Press it back in gently in spring and mulch after the ground freezes next winter.
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