Galactica Foamy Bells
Heucherella 'Galactica'
Plant Height: 10 inches
Flower Height: 18 inches
Spacing: 16 inches
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 4a
Brand: Perennial Resource
Description:
A striking variety with coppery-red new foliage that matures to silvery green with contrasting dark gray veins radiating from the leaf centers; cream bell flowers in early summer; a vigorous grower that forms a dense mound
Ornamental Features
Galactica Foamy Bells features dainty spikes of creamy white bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from late spring to early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive glossy lobed leaves emerge coppery-bronze in spring, turning grayish green in color with distinctive dark gray veins and tinges of silver the rest of the year.
Landscape Attributes
Galactica Foamy Bells is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Galactica Foamy Bells is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Planting & Growing
Galactica Foamy Bells will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity extending to 18 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 16 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.
This plant performs well in both full sun and full shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Galactica Foamy Bells is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.