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Dolce Peach Melba Bells foliage

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Other Names:  Coralbells, Alumroot

Description:

Dainty spikes of cream colored bells rise from a compact mound of tan to peach-pink foliage, color is more orange as season progresses with dark coppery-orange veins, amazing contrast to other plants; keep soil moist in the heat of summer

Ornamental Features

Dolce Peach Melba Bells features dainty spikes of creamy white bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from late spring to early summer. Its attractive crinkled lobed leaves emerge tan in spring, turning peach in color with distinctive coppery-bronze veins the rest of the year.

Landscape Attributes

Dolce Peach Melba Bells is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Dolce Peach Melba Bells is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Dolce Peach Melba Bells will grow to be about 8 inches tall at maturity extending to 15 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 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 does best in partial shade to 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.

Dolce Peach Melba 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.