Bred for its extended flowering time and among the longest-blooming cultivars in the genus, this new Tiarella has masses of light pink flower spikes from May which gradually mature to white. This vigorous plant will make a dense clump in its first year, is very cold tolerant and will thrive in light shade even in dry conditions. It also makes an excellent plant for containers. The deeply lobed leaves are a fresh shiny green in spring with distinctive maroon venation, creating an unusual ‘quilted' appearance.

Foliage colour deepens through the season until autumn when the entire plant becomes a gorgeous medley of autumn hues, bronze and dark greens edged in bright red.

Charles Oliver from Scottdale, Pennsylvania, North America specialises in breeding plants that have an extended bloom time and this new Tiarella is the result of crossing T. ‘Braveheart' and T. ‘Spring Bronze' in 1995. The new plant stood out because it grew well in an especially dry semi-shade spot in his garden and has dense spikes of very long-lasting pink flowers. Charles offered it to the plant breeding programme at Blooms of Bressingham in North America. Here it has been successfully trialled and also in the UK at R A Meredith's New Plant Development unit at Blooms of Bressingham Norfolk.

Fact File

• Mature plants: height 30-35cm (12-14ins), width 20cm (18ins).
• Fully hardy.
• Green foliage in spring with maroon venation, stunning autumn colour later in season.
• Masses of delicate pink flowers spikes maturing to white.
• Very prolific flowering period.
• Vigorous plant that makes a dense clump in first year.
• Thrives in light shade, tolerates cold conditions and dry soil.
• Ideal for borders and containers.
• Associates well with woodland plants.
• Low maintenance plant requiring minimal dead-heading and tidy-up during season.
• Adds interest in the garden all year round.

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(High res photographs supplied as digital image e-mail file or disk; press release available by e-mail)