Tiarella 'Sugar and Spice'
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Tried and True Recommended by 4 Professionals
Common Name: foam flower
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Saxifragaceae
Zone: 4 to 9
Height: 0.5 to 1 feet
Spread: 0.5 to 1 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Frosted pink with white interior
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flowers: Showy Flowers, Fragrant Flowers
Leaves: Colorful
Tolerates: Deer

Culture

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Prefers humusy, organically rich, moisture-retentive soils. Soil should not be allowed to dry out. Wet soils, particularly in winter, can be fatal, however. Removal of flower spikes after bloom will improve the appearance of the foliage mound. Foliage is semi-evergreen in the St. Louis area where the amount of retained foliage color in winter is in large part dependent upon the severity of the temperatures.

Noteworthy Characteristics

‘Sugar and Spice’ is a medium-sized, mounding foamflower hybrid that is primarily noted for its white to pink spring flowers and its pinnately divided green leaves with dark center marks. This foamflower results from a cross between unknown parents, however the patent holder suggests that T. trifoliata var. laciniata and T. wherryi are probably part of the parentage. Pinnately divided and deeply dissected shiny green leaves marked with a dark center band on each division emerge in spring in a mound rising to 8” tall and 12” wide. Slightly fragrant, frosted pink flowers with a white interior bloom in April-May in bottlebrush-like racemes atop stems rising above the foliage mound to 13” tall. Tiarella is in the same family as and somewhat suggestive of Heuchera, Tellima and Mitella. Tiarella is sometimes commonly called false miterwort because of its similarity to Mitella (miterwort). U.S. Plant Patent PP16,738 was issued on June 27, 2006.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Root weevils are problems in some areas.

Garden Uses

Shaded areas of rock gardens, woodland gardens, border fronts, naturalized plantings or moist areas along streams or ponds. Mass for an attractive ground cover.

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