In Which I Manage to Kill Heucheras

I honestly didn’t know it was possible to kill heucheras. They seem to survive cold, heat, not much water, too much water and cats laying on them. So I was quite surprised to find that it looks like two of mine aren’t coming back this year.

One, a Tiramisu I bought late last summer, was probably put into the ground too late for our early freezes. And then we had an open winter, with low temperatures and no snow to protect the plants. So that one isn’t a huge mystery. But the other, a Peach Melba that went into the ground in 2008, has me wondering. It was there last year. True, it didn’t grow a great deal and certainly didn’t seem as happy as the other varieties around it (Amber Waves, Lime Rickey, Plum Pudding), but it didn’t look like there was anything really wrong. I have no idea why this one died; it’s still firm in the ground so it wasn’t our usual culprits, the pocket gophers.

Given that I refuse to give up completely on a plant until it completely composts, I’ll be leaving these corpses in the ground, hoping that some spark of life remains. It’s happened before, having a dead looking plant come back to life midsummer, zombie-like. If these beauties do make it back, I’ll be happy to feed them braaaaiiinnnssss. (It’s Zombie Awareness Month, what can I say)