14 inches tall x 24 inches wide
White flowers on 22" stems
Ruffled foliage emerges dark burgundy and ages to include green tones during the summer.
Genetics most likely include micrantha, villosa, and americana
Introduced by Gerard Darques.
The name 'Dark Secret' is apt as it perfectly describes the background of this plant. I've seen the following people listed as breeders: Gerard Darques, Luc Klinkhammer, and Dirk Sheys. And I've seen it listed as a hybrid of 'Frosted Violet', 'Crimson Curls', and 'Obsidian'. The following information is from the actual patent. "The inventor discovered the new cultivar, `Dark Secret`, as a naturally whole plant mutation in his garden in Lorgies, France in spring of 2007. The parent plants of `Dark Secret` are unknown, however Heuchera `Frosted Violet` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,085), Heuchera Crimson Curls (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,729) and Heuchera `Obsidian` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,836) are possible parents based on the characteristics of `Dark Secret` and their proximity in the same growing area."
The plant originated in the garden of Gerard Darques, the patent holder, and was introduced by Luc Klinkhammer of CNB Greenteam. Despite the patent describing this plant as a whole plant mutation, it is almost certainly a seedling. My own personal opinion is that the parents are probably 'Crimson Curls' and 'Obsidian'. Despite 'Frosted Violet' stated as being nearby I don't see many of its traits (very fuzzy leaves and stems, open mound, large mature size, very tall flower stems) in this plant. This plant has a very slight silver veil, but that could come from the americana in the background of 'Obsidian'.
