Foam flower (Tiarella 'Pink Skyrocket')
Grown for its airy, pink, brush-like blooms, Tiarella 'Pink Skyrocket' (Foam flower) thrives in shade.
Scroll down to discover growing tips, care requirements, companion plants, and more
Complete Plant Information
Overview
Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ is a highly effective, clump-forming perennial celebrated for bringing delicate color to deeply shaded garden spaces. As a hybrid Foam flower, it offers significantly showy blooms paired with richly marked foliage that provides textural contrast throughout the growing season. Gardeners value this plant for its low-maintenance nature and ability to thrive where many other flowering plants fail.
This selection exhibits palmate, deeply dissected leaves that emerge shiny green and are often highlighted with dark red or black markings near the veins. The structure of the plant creates a neat mound, rarely growing over one foot in height, making Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ an excellent choice for foreground planting or as a uniform groundcover.
The airy, brush-like flowers appear in May and June, displaying an attractive shrimp-pink hue that adds subtle interest. Its successful culture relies on keeping the soil consistently moist and rich, mirroring the woodland conditions Foam flower naturally prefers.
Fast Facts
- Plant Family: Saxifragaceae
- Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
- Hardiness Zones: USDA Zones 4-9
- Size at Maturity:
- Height: 0.5-1 ft
- Spread: 0.75-1 ft
- Bloom Time: May to June
- Bloom Description: Pink
- Sun Exposure: Part shade to full shade
- Water Needs: Medium
- Maintenance Level: Low
How to Grow
Plant Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ during the cooler, moist times of spring or fall, ensuring it avoids the stress of summer heat immediately after establishment. Optimal locations provide consistent part shade to full shade, sheltered from intense afternoon sun which can scorch the foliage. These perennials thrive best in humusy, organically rich, and moisture-retentive soils.
Maintain medium water needs by ensuring the soil does not dry out, essential for keeping the foliage lush. Avoid overly wet or poorly drained areas, particularly during winter, as saturated soil can prove fatal to the root system. Little fertilizing is needed if the soil is amended well initially with organic matter.
Routine maintenance is low for this Foam flower. Deadheading (removing spent flower spikes) after the bloom period will enhance the neat appearance of the foliage mound. Depending on winter severity in your region, the foliage may be only semi-evergreen, offering subtle color retention.
Landscape Uses
Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ excels as a shade-loving groundcover or border front accent due to its refined texture and modest size. It is an excellent selection for creating continuous, low-maintenance coverage beneath deciduous trees or along north-facing walls. Consider mass planting this Foamp flower variety to achieve a unified carpet of green and seasonal pink.
This perennial naturally belongs in woodland garden settings, where it complements native ferns, hostas, and fine-textured ground covers like wild ginger. Furthermore, its preference for consistent moisture makes it well-suited for naturalized plantings near streams, ponds, or moist slopes where other plants struggle with wet feet. It also performs admirably in attractive containers when paired with upright shade lovers.
Standout Features
Flower Qualities
- Showy
- Fragrant
Noteworthy Characteristics
Tiarella is a genus of about 7 species of herbaceous perennials from East Asia and North America, making them staple plants for woodland gardens. ‘Pink Skyrocket’ is a clump-forming hybrid foamflower known for strongly dissected, shiny green basal leaves marked with dark centers along the veins. It produces brush-like heads of delicate, shrimp pink flowers held elegantly above the foliage mound, growing between 1/2 to 1 ft tall.
Tolerances
- Deer
Potential Problems
Serious insect or disease issues are rare for Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’. The primary concern to scout for is powdery mildew, which usually develops when air circulation is poor or humidity is consistently high. Management often involves improving air flow around the plants or applying appropriate fungicides.
Slugs and root weevils are occasional visitors that can damage the attractive foliage. Proactive monitoring and the use of standard garden controls—such as slug baits or appropriate insecticidal soaps for weevil larvae—will keep the overall health and appearance of your Foam flower plants high.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zones is Foam flower suitable for?
Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ is reliably hardy across USDA Zones 4 through 9, offering versatility across many climates.
How large does Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ grow?
This perennial typically reaches a height between 0.5 and 1 foot tall, with a similar spread ranging from 0.75 to 1 foot wide, forming neat clumps.
What sun exposure does Foam flower need?
Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ requires part shade to full shade to thrive; providing too much direct, hot sun will likely result in leaf scorch.
When does Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ bloom?
This variety displays its beautiful, brush-like pink flowers annually from May into June.
Conclusion
Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’ offers irreplaceable texture and enduring low-light performance, cementing its value in any shade garden plan. Its low maintenance requirements and distinctively marked foliage ensure year-round interest beyond the stunning display of pink blooms. Check your local USDA zone compatibility and plan to install this wonderful Foam flower variety in rich, moist soil this coming spring or fall.
Companion Planting in Shade
When designing a woodland garden featuring Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’, select companions that share similar demands for shade and consistent moisture. Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian Bugloss) offers silver or variegated foliage that contrasts beautifully with the dark markings of the Foam flower leaves. Astilbe varieties, with their feathery plumes, bloom later in summer, extending the season of color once the Tiarella fades.
Consider using Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass) near the front edge of borders where these two plants meet. The arching, bright green blades of the grass provide soft movement that complements the mounding structure of Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’. Ensure all companions are generally tolerant of low-nutrient, humusy soils typical beneath large trees.
Seasonal Care Calendar
Spring provides the essential cleanup period for your Tiarella ‘Pink Skyrocket’. Remove any dead or damaged foliage left over from winter dormancy before new growth aggressively expands. This is also the ideal time to top-dress the base of established clumps with a fresh layer of compost to replenish rich organic matter.
Summer care focuses strictly on hydration; while maintenance is low, consistent watering is crucial during dry spells. The goal is to keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy, especially as the plant is established. Avoid fertilizing during the extreme heat of mid-summer.
In the fall, the dark markings on the leaves become highly pronounced. If you notice leaf burn from summer stress, it is acceptable to cut back tattered foliage to tidy the plant before winter sets in, though in mild climates, most foliage will persist semi-evergreen.
