*Collectable Plants* ~ Heuchera

When i like a genus of plants, i usually want every cultivar there is of that particular plant. One of my favorites is the Heuchera (Coral Bell) family. When i started gardening (way back in the ancient times), there were just Coral Bells - a reliable small perennial with nicely shaped green leaves that bloomed in summer with tiny, delicate lily of the valley shaped pink (or coral) flowers up and down long stems.

 Then came "Palace Purple", with large dark purple leaves that glowed when the sun shone thru them! One drawback - the flowers were a sickly greenish cream color instead of the coral!

                                            Palace Purple

That happens often in the plant breeding world - new foliage shape / color results in loss of flower interest or new flower color or disease resistance results in loss of fragrance, as in our modern roses.

But we gardeners fell for the pretty new leaves (and the blossoms themselves never really were that interesting to me), and wanted more!

The breeders got going, and these days, i swear they come out with at least a dozen new leaf colors every year!

i just walked around my yard last night, and this is a list of the Heucheras (HEW-KER-AHS) I currently own:

Cappuchino

Peach Melba

Creme Brulee

Amber Waves

Midnight Rose

Mocha Mint

Velvet Night

Autumn Bride

Green Spice

Lemon Lime

Citronelle

Caramel

Cherries Jubilee

Crimson Curls

Palace Purple

Lime Rickey

And Sunspot
 (Actually she's a Heucherella - a cross between a Heuchera and Tiarella, looks very similar to a Heuchera, but the flowers are a little "foofier".)

                                                      Sunspot

...On top of that, Heucheras are long lived, well behaved, hardy, and evergreen (or whatever color they happen to be), and the flowers (pink or not) attract hummingbirds! Can't go wrong!