Garden Photo of the Day

Coral Bells and Hybrids

Heucherella Gunsmoke H Paprika
Heucherella Gunsmoke H Paprika

Tim Vojt is pushing coral bells and hybrids today. Great sales pitch!

“As a self-appointed plant PR person, I’m pushing coral bells and hybrids today. I think Heuchera and Heucherella look best this time of year, with fresh, expanding foliage and lush colors and silvering. Some even have really great flowers that humming birds enjoy. I’m a sucker for a riot of color, especially when it comes to foliage and these plants create a great, low tapestry in partial shade. Some look quite very different as the seasons pass, or in different growing conditions and temperature. I put together three photos of the exact same plant, Rio, taken in spring, summer and autumn. (The May photo was before I moved it across the sidewalk to where it lives now.) I must live in the coral bell sweet spot because most are no trouble for me. Occasionally one will up and die or perform in a less than stellar manner. I find them to be very low maintenance. I pull off the flower wands if they are ugly, deadhead when nice flower heads are done blooming to keep them tidy, and periodically divide when they get too woody. Generally I just dig them up, cut them apart and stick pieces back in the ground, whether or not they have roots. Sometimes frost-heaving in late winter is a problem in my zone 6ish garden, which will push a plant clean out of the ground if it is not fully rooted in. If they don’t grow well in the ground for you, they do great in a container. You need some.”

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Yellow, green, purple, red coral bells along the front porch border
Front porch border
Heuchera glitter in a container outside
Glitter
Heuchera Rio in May, June and October
Heuchera Rio composite
Heucherella Brass Lantern
Heucherella Brass Lantern detail
Heucherella Gunsmoke + H Paprika, Caramel, Dale's Strain
Heucherella Gunsmoke + H Paprika, Caramel, Dale’s Strain

close up of colorful heuchera in the garden

Heuchera Lava Lamp with tall flower wands
Lava Lamp, No ID with tall flower wands

green heuchera

Paris Heuchera
Paris

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Comments

  1. frankgreenhalgh 05/27/2016

    Greetings Tim - The colourful displays are great and worthy of your 'pitch'. Nice work.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Frank. Some of the color combos even verge on garish, but it sort of fits me!

  2. jeffgoodearth 05/27/2016

    They all look great! I use them quite a bit in containers but seem to have very few at home. That needs to change

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Goal achieved. Hopefully you'll find some that perform great in TN.

  3. user-3565112 05/27/2016

    Tim, Your post today is perfectly timed. I was heading to the garden center today to find border plants for the N.W. corner of my garden. The soil ranges from wet in the corner to moist down the line. My plan was for Astilbe,Dicentra & false Solomon Seal. The Heucherella will fit into this plan seamlessly & as a bonus my Grandmother's name was Cora Bell. Thank you for this post & good luck, Joe

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Joe. This is Tim, occasionally known as Joe! I hope you find some great plants today and your grandmother has a wonderful name! When I was a kid, my aunt was an amazing gardener and an inspiration, and she had a couple of green leaved Heuchera with red flowers and I HATED them! Funny how things change.

  4. User avater
    meander_michaele 05/27/2016

    OK, all you professional huechera hybridizers...give this man a raise. He has single handedly raised the awareness and lust level for this delightful plant. I am ready to forgive and forget the many heuchera carcasses that have been deemed fit only for my compost pile and to try again! Your selections and combinations are simply drool worthy, Tim. I really appreciated seeing the threesome of pictures showing the change in coloration that can happen throughout the season. Love the deep orange red of 'Brass Lantern' but also am drawn to the ones with flares of chartreuse. Great displays...thanks for the pep talk!

    1. NCYarden 05/27/2016

      Hi Michaele, while we're on this topic and speaking of chartreuse tones, I got lucky the other day and grabbed Carnival Limeade for $1 on the Lowes' sale rack in surprisingly great condition. A couple of days of watering to perk it up, and going in the ground today!

      1. User avater
        Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

        OOH, I'm jealous. I've had Carnival Watermelon on my list, but have not seen any of the Carnival series here locally. Good find!

        1. User avater
          meander_michaele 05/27/2016

          So, there's a "Carnival" series, huh. Off for a quick minute to research. Well, well, I ended up on Ball Seed website and it seems like the Carnival series is referred to as a "Darwin Perennials Introduction". By golly, I think I feel fate giving me a nudge to go find some to buy since I have a my very own Darwin as a spouse.

          1. User avater
            Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

            As self-appointed Heuchera-Heuchella PR person of the year, I would agree that your fate is sealed!

          2. NCYarden 05/27/2016

            Sounds like a meant-to-be scenario. Go shopping! make the holiday even better.

          3. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

            ;-)

      2. User avater
        meander_michaele 05/27/2016

        Ooh, 'Carnival Limeade'...what a fabulous name...I'd buy it for that reason alone and I can just imagine what a gorgeous color it is. OK, had to google image it and confirm...yes, it's a beauty and it's so great that you rescued it from a likely death by sales rack.

    2. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      It's so much fun that these plants are now coming in a rainbow of leaf colors to try out in combos. Throw in some of the amazing silvering and really, it hardly gets better than that for a plant that is perfectly hardy! I'm looking for hybridizers to pay me in the near future......

      1. user-3565112 05/27/2016

        Fond memories they are Tim. My grandmothers garden was a victory garden about 2x8 & it was apropos. The view from the garden was the side of Victory ships being built 100 yds. from the back door at the Key Highway shipyard in Balto. Md. Sorry about butting in I did.nt realize I was in Meander's space. I must be invasive

        1. User avater
          Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

          It's not butting in on this free-for-all comment section! You're not invasive, just 'vigorous'! That is a great memory.

  5. NCYarden 05/27/2016

    Well dang, Tim, You couldn't get one or two more in there? That is a sweet collection you gave gathered in your garden. It looks as if Heucherella 'Solar Eclipse' is just beginning to eclipse that photo of Rio? I have really enjoyed that one. They all blend so well with the ferns and hosta. Really can't have enough of these gems. The color blast looks fantastic, Tim. Now go try to tuck another one in there somewhere. Enjoy the holiday and extended gardening weekend.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Oh, there's room for more! And I only shared about half of my collection....I love Solar Eclipse, although that name sometimes escapes me. It's reaching to get some light as it is smothered by Rio and Helleborus 'Pink Frost', but I have plants from the original division stuck all over! Hope you have a great gardening holiday weekend!

  6. user-4691082 05/27/2016

    Wowsa! Tim you have nailed this! My favorite photo is your front walkway, although they are all gorgeous! We have a winner, folks!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Rhonda. That little front walkway bed is getting mighty crowded, which is how I like it. I actually had rescued a couple of plants out of there a week or so before I took that photo!

  7. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

    Tim, what a beautiful display! I confess, I own one. And it languished in many places in my gardens until I placed it under the dogwood. There it languished and some critter decided it was very tasty. Nearly at death's door, this winter I read in a vintage Fine Gardening mag that they enjoy lime...so both my sad coral bells and lady's mantle received a dose along with a sprinkle of Jobes and this spring they both are singing praises!
    You are indeed the Heuchera whisperer...awesome images! Diane

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      I'm so glad your Heuchera has found a happy home and some lime. Is your soil generally acidic? I'm trying to 'whisper' a trailing Heucherella back to life, based on some suggestions on this blog from Kevin Kelly. I'm hoping it works!

      1. NCYarden 05/27/2016

        Tim, Christine and I have been attempting some similar soft words to our trailing heuchera as well. It seems to explode and retreat, and I'm beginning to think this might just be its habit. Just when I think it's done, it begins to wander again, albeit, a short "walk" considering.

        1. User avater
          Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

          Kevin said that he had two, and the one in lighter, loose draining soil did great. I had mine in two moist spots with heavy soil and it got smaller and smaller and smaller...good luck!

        2. User avater
          meander_michaele 05/27/2016

          So, David, is your trailing heuchera either 'Yellowstone Falls' or 'Redstone Falls'? Just yesterday, I was just gazing at them on a mail-order site with lust and admiration.

          1. NCYarden 05/31/2016

            Hi Michaele, sorry for late reply. We have Redstone Falls. As of this weekend it seems to be going into retreat mode a little, maybe with the tropical air mass that has moved in. Haven't figured out exactly how this pant operates.

      2. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

        Yes, we are acidic here in central VA. Even the peonies enjoy a dose of lime every year in Jan-Feb. Temps are now 92 here today, so all those tender spring plants are either getting tough or melting...I tend to melt...D.

        1. User avater
          Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

          Sad: exact same temperature here today! I prefer 72°, personally....

          1. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

            75 is my ideal, just too pricey to move to Santa Barbara!
            Another question for any reader: A seed pal mailed some "hairy balls" seeds and I am not sure if I should plant them. I think I saw some at the market last year...rather bizarre. Do these annuals have a place in the garden?

          2. User avater
            Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

            I've never grown those milkweed relatives because they seem like more of a novelty than nice garden plant: but that's just me. Anybody else here grow them?

          3. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

            Tim, I do have a monarch waystation here and wonder if the grand migrators will lay eggs on them. Usually I have tropical here for them. Any ideas?

          4. User avater
            Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

            Here's your answer:
            http://monarchbutterflygarden.net/milkweed-plant-seed-resources/asclepias-physocarpa/
            Is your zone warm enough for the tropical milkweed grow all year round? I just read a monarch research article discouraging the tropical in areas where it grows all year because the monarchs choose to stay all year instead of migrate: I doubt you're in an area warm enough for that to be of concern. Here in my garden I have so many different milkweeds and the monarchs always choose the native A. syriaca and similar (but non-native) A. speciosa. Monarch researchers recommend the most toxic milkweeds be planted for the toxicity protection it confers to the butterflies. I think the other super toxic species besides those two aggressive spreaders is the Florida milkweed: the super-ornamental A. humistrata. Sorry if you already know all this. It just really interests me. cheers.

          5. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

            Tim, milkweed is an annual here. IF it were not for the Monarchs, I would never grow it, as those darned oleander aphids appear about the time of the monarchs. I have raised over 1200 monarchs here over the past few years, and if I do so this year, my techniques will be very different. All will be raised from eggs in individual deli containers until release. Big production if I have many eggs laid. Last two years less than five were released, as few adults and predatory wasp caused massive die off. Zone charts say I am in zone 7 yet in the foothills I say 6.

          6. diane_lasauce 05/27/2016

            Seeds are given to me or I save them, so never truly know their names.

          7. User avater
            Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

            My hat's off to you, ma'am. Good work. A. I hate the oleander aphids so much. B. I was shocked to find predators snacking on my monarch caterpillars. Indoors the caterpillars come! Have a great, hopefully cooler, weekend.

          8. User avater
            Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

            Great link. Thanks!

  8. Quiltingmamma 05/27/2016

    I think I need to take a wander around my coral bells. They are unsung heros in my garden. I do the same - malign them and they just keep on working for me. They even succeed in my front bed which will eventually be semi shade when the tree grows, but much more sunny than they might prefer right now. There are always new varieties and yours are a lovely show. I love your back yard corner with Lava Lamp - and I see someone else is a rock collector. Perfect for gardens. Thanks for the great PR work!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      I got some more free rocks from a neighbor this spring, Maria! Yay!
      They really are heroes in my garden: this is only a sample of what I have. As for unsung, they seem to be singing quite loudly in the garden this year; maybe even off-key, but I like that jolt!

  9. cheryl_c 05/27/2016

    Hi Tim, Thanks for the great PR job and the beautiful photos of your gardens and heuchera.
    I am also a heuchera-phile, but have learned that for this very hot humid part of southwest Missouri, I have much greater success with the villosa hybrids. The parent plants, as I understand, were native to SE US, whereas many of the first brightly colored hybrids were of PNW parentage, and didn't handle our summers well at all. Now that I know how to pick'em, I've got them in every bed and they just keep coming back stronger. Yours are an inspiration. I KNEW I needed to get some more!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Rhonda. I'm glad to hear you confirm what I've heard and have told folks in hotter areas about the villosa parentage's contribution to heat tolerance. Michaele was sharing with me that she had seen trailing Heucherella 'Redstone Falls', and it has villosa blood. I don't often see parentage in hybrid descriptions. Do you have a source that gives you that information readily? Thanks for sharing your great experience!

      1. cheryl_c 05/27/2016

        Tim, I've seen both heuchera and heucherella that claim villosa parentage. I have found the listings of named varieties with villosa breeding either by Googling 'heuchera villosa hybrids' (or you could use heucherella, if that is your preference). I also recently happened upon Walters Gardens web site on one search, and they list a good number and assortment of villosa hybrids. Of course, they are wholesale only. They are good at mentioning the ones that have that parentage, perhaps because others are also discovering the intolerance to heat of some of the earlier hybrids. Several of mine with villosa strains also are the ones that bloom in very late summer - I don't know if that is a characteristic of the species or not, but if so, that might be another clue in the plant description. Thanks for asking!

        1. User avater
          Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

          Thanks for taking the time to reply and share the info. This blog is a great source of insight and inspiration, but many of us garden in such different climates. What in the world did we do before google?!

  10. wittyone 05/27/2016

    These are just gorgeous. I have a few but never think to bunch them up with mixed colors like you have. Fortunately I have a space that I just cleared out in a semi-shady bed that might just be perfect for a few of the beauties.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      They really play well with each other, so bunch away. It's always fun to come up with a solution when you've cleared out a little patch, isn't it?

  11. Sunshine111 05/27/2016

    Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I am going to steal some of these ideas… ☀️

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Steal away, Lily! I know someone will be stealing from you and the giving goes on and on!

  12. sheila_schultz 05/27/2016

    Perfect timing for this post, Tim! As I was contemplating getting up this am I was thinking about the Heuchera Kassandra we bought yesterday for client containers and thinking how stupid I was that I didn't pick up another 6 to spread around my own gardens! Your collection is extraordinary, but what makes it so special is the way you marry the different varieties into a visual wonderland.
    PS I agree with Michaele, hybridizers need to contact you to test new varieties of these underappreciated plants!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      I don't have Kassandra: she looks similar to Caramel and I am crazy about those in the orange-red-bronze range. You need to start some sort of system where you get one new plant for every client purchase!
      I do feel like I'm in wonderland when they puff up and weave into one another and it gets even better if I see a hummingbird!
      I'm searching for sponsors soon!

  13. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

    Aren't they great plants with which to work, Diane? The Heucherella with the limestone globe and Japanese painted fern is "Sweet Tea". One of my favorites. It keeps a more consistent color than Brass Lantern, which is looking much more green brown today because of the recent heat. I have only tried a couple of Tiarella and have not had great success, but the Heucherella have all performed really well for me. The Tirarella parentage really adds some great leaf shapes to the lineage. Love them and you gotta get some!

  14. GrannyMay 05/27/2016

    Well done Tim! I love Heucheras and use them all the time, but admit that I have not given them the billing they deserve. In my mind, they have been the chorus, never the stars of the show. Heuchera 'Snow Angel' is a recent favourite.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      They play so many roles, May: either setting the stage or stealing the show, depending on their compatriots. Love them. I bought a stunning specimen of Snow Angel a couple years ago and promptly killed it. I'm not always successful with them....Did I just admit that in public? :)

      1. GrannyMay 05/27/2016

        We'll keep your failures a secret. I think Snow angel is worth a second try. She's in a container here, in a supporting role to a camellia, but keeps drawing the attention to herself.

  15. User avater
    LindaonWhidbey 05/27/2016

    Tim, you have certainly elevated what I used to think of as the 'lowly' Heuchera. It's all about the placement with these plants as they can either languish or thrive depending on location as I'm sure you know. My poor collection has been moved so often that I would sometimes be surprised as to where they'd come up in the spring. However, now that I have found the perfect spot, they are quickly becoming one of my favorites and I just added 7 H.'Limelights' to a shady Rhodie garden to give it some brightness. Love that last photo of 'Paris' and am curious about the big leafed plant in the lower right corner. Also, in addition to all of your lovely Heuchera, the rest of your plantings really look terrific.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Linda. Truly, when these plants thrive, you can't beat them for foliage color, texture and for playing well with others. They're easy to move, too! I love lime and chartreuse and I'm sure they brighten the rich texture of the rhodies. The large leaves in the the lower corner of the H. Paris photo are from double-flowering bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis 'Multiplex': A great plant and becoming much more easy to find. I ordered my original plants from Great Britain years ago when I couldn't find them mail order in the States. Some of my plants, in rich soil and shade get such huge leaves that they remind me of Astilboides.

  16. GrannyCC 05/27/2016

    Lovely Tim, you have combined some wonderful colours. Who needs flowers!! I need to add more to my garden. I love the combinations you have used.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Catherine. I know, right. I love love love flowers, but foliage is the mainstay of the garden. These stay looking fresh almost all year long.

  17. schatzi 05/27/2016

    I'm with you, Tim. I love Heucheras and Heucherellas and they do so well here in the PNW, as many are native here, like Tiarellas. I especially love Snow Angel and the dark wine colored ones, and the ruffly ones and.... Love the color, texture and leaf shape combos! You do have the most fabulous garden! Thanks for brightening the day for us. As for companion plants, my current favorite Hosta is Fire and Ice. Another with wavy leaves that I like is called Wheee! Who could not buy a plant with a name like that?

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      I know, Shirley, so much to choose from these days: dark, light, bright, colorful, green, ruffly, curly, cut. Something for everyone. I love Fire and Ice Hosta, but I can't recall for the life of me where it is in the garden...that's sad! I had a nice clump, moved and divided and it was not happy. Time to find and give it some love this weekend. Wheee!? Time to look that up; who could resist? Cheers.
      So Heuchera and Heucherella cope well with the sort of mediterranean climate of winter wet-summer dry in PNW?

      1. schatzi 05/27/2016

        Yes they do. Now if I could just get the deer to stop eating the new leaves as they come out...it seems they try something new ever year. Speaking of losing things, We had our deck rebuilt last fall so a great many pots had to be moved and ended up all over the yard. I totally forgot I had bought a yellow Itoh peony until I saw the first flower! It is gorgeous! It seems so happy where it is now I'm afraid to move it!

        1. User avater
          Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

          I guess it's sort of fun when you lose something in the mix and discover it. My 'Garden Treasure' is in full bloom now, and although the flowers don't stand up well, it's so gorgeous that I just don't care. And the flowers are stunning in a vase. I've divided and moved once and it didn't miss a beat!

          1. schatzi 05/27/2016

            After a few unseasonably hot days, we have had a cool rainy spring, which has been great for iris flower longevity - I had beautiful iris bouquets for over 2 weeks, and now the peonies are going gung ho. Peony bouquets smell so good as well as being beautiful. We have 2 native Heucheras, 3 native Tiarella, Tolmiea, Boykinia and 2 Mitellas in the PNW. All Saxifrage family. My go-to native plant book is "Plants of Coastal BC including WA, OR and ALaska". I have native fringecup - Tellima grandiflora all over my yard. The Tolmiea menziesii is often used as a houseplant called piggy-back plant.The common name of Tiarella trifoliata is foamflower. I have those too. This is a great place to garden!
            Altho you and many others do quite well in your zones too.

          2. User avater
            Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

            Well, I'm jealous and satisfied at the same time. I love Tellima grandiflora "Forest Frost". It does well for me here, but not quite as vigorous as the Heuchera and Heucherellas. Hmmm. When is the Tellima-Heuchera hybrid going to be invented? :) I've heard of Boykinia and Mitella; I used to have Tolmeia as a houseplant as a kid. Cool plant.

    2. NWAgardener 05/27/2016

      Shirley - those are two of my favorite Hostas, too. Fire and Ice line my front walk (the first Hostas I bought when I moved here five years ago) and Wheee (I initially bought it for the name) resides under my dogwood. 'Wheee' gets better and better with age. A couple more of my favorites are 'Liberty' and 'Blue Ivory'. Of course, I love them all and have started planting more small and miniature varieties because I'm running out of space. I am inspired by this Tim's post, however, to add more Heucheras.

  18. VikkiVA 05/27/2016

    Your Heucheras are so beautiful. I love a plant with such gorgeous foliage. I have a few and just purchased Lava Lamp in the picture on the right. There are 4 others in this picture but I don't know the names. If you know the names I would love for you to tell me what they are. Your walkway planting is amazing! Thanks for sharing the beauty. Vikki in VA.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Vikki. Nice combo. My Lava Lamp got off to a slow start, but is bulking up and is such a great texture and color. The chartreuse one looks a little bit like 'Citronelle' to me, but there are a lot of great golden-green ones. The chartreuse one in my photos is Lime Rickey.

  19. NWAgardener 05/27/2016

    Tim - thank you so much for focusing on one plant! I have learned so much from you and the other FGPOD followers from this post. I, too, love Heucheras, but have focused more on Hostas. I am inspired from your pictures to feature more Heucheras and to plant them in groupings. My thanks, too, to Cheryl for explaining why some of mine have not performed as successfully as others. I live in NW Arkansas (same climate as Cheryl) which has very hot humid summers. I had no luck with chartreuse Heuchera until my friend who works in a nursery recommended 'Citronelle'. I just looked it up and it's a villosa hybrid. That explains its success! My favorite picture above is the container with Japanese Painted fern and Heuchera 'Glitter'. What a great color echo - I'm going to copy you on that one.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      It was fun to put this together and I'm thrilled at all of the information we share on this blog. Cheryl's tips should tip you over the edge into Heuchera collecting! They go great with hostas! I love that sea foam color container, but it is a bear to get it to integrate into the garden. I think the silvery tones work well. There's another fern that didn't do so well this winter that is supposed to be filling in the bare spot to the right. (As you can tell, I'm never completely satisfied!). Good luck with the villosa hybrids!

  20. user-4691082 05/27/2016

    For great info, Google Mt. Cuba plant trials. They have a great list and list the villosa hybrids. I studied it before I bought more and you'd have thought I was going for a PhD!!! At the time, 'stainless steel' was hard to find, now it's at the local Amish farm.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Rhonda. I haven't looked at the Mt Cuba trials for a while, despite reminders. Great to know they list the villosa hybrids. I adore Stainless Steel. I was just eyeing mine this morning, thinking about dividing it in the fall so I could have more. Picture below.

  21. nenitafranck 05/27/2016

    Mine are about 2yrs in my garden. I was naïve when I planted the Hostas under Japanese Maples. Now, I wonder how to divide them without harming the roots of the trees. The Heucheras are beautiful and I like dividing them with their shallow roots. Thanks for the lessons and pictures.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      Thanks, Nenita. It's definitely easier to divide Heuchera than Hosta, especialy the big boys! Happy gardening.

  22. user-4691082 05/27/2016

    Thanks for the picture Tim. It was only $5 at the Amish nursery, but it didn't seem very special. Now I see its potential! Thanks!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/27/2016

      It's actually even less silver than when I bought it. I want to try it in a shadier area to see how the color changes. as it gets some direct sun now. The silvers and greys actually have a lot of interesting, if not challenging, potential in combinations. Black Mondo grass is one plant that always springs to mind, although I don't have them together (yet!).

  23. marlenemullet 05/27/2016

    Gorgeous displays! Love the heucharellas!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/28/2016

      Thanks, Marlene. How's your garden growing this year?

      1. marlenemullet 05/28/2016

        My gardens are doing great, thanks for asking! We have had plenty of rain and a cool spring, which is what the plants want:) Fine Gardening might feature some of my gardens here in the next day or so.

  24. user-7007498 05/28/2016

    Hi, Tim. Just got home from work. Looks like I missed out on some great conversations today.

    Excellant post. Heucheras are such awesome plants. You have created some terrific combinations. I especially love the 7th photo (the one with the globe and the athyrium). Stunning. Your skills as a photographer also were very much on display today. Great pictures.

    I struggled mightily early on in my garden with the Pennsylvania clay, which was not helped out by the builders stripping off all the topsoil when they built our house. Heucheras consistently rotted in the winters. After years of adding leaf compost, my soil has improved, and the heucheras perform so much better (not that I still don't kill a few).

    The Carnival series has been mentioned earlier. I started being able to get them 2 years ago. They are all growing very well, and look vigorous.

    Love your picture of H. gun smoke. I have never seen it locally. I am going to have to find it and fit it in.

    Thanks again.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/28/2016

      That's a long day of work, Kevin! At 55, I've decided I've got to slow down. Of course by that I mean, doing less freelance work so I can work more maniacally in the garden and around the house!
      I wonder if my Ohio clay is related to your PA clay? :) Sometimes I dig and I could truly create ceramics in the airless, organic-matter-less lumps of pre-pottery.
      I realized I misspoke when I said I failed with Gold Cascade; it's Copper Cascade, but anyway, three of the four little pieces I rescued are growing and here's to hoping the loose soil in which they have been planted does the trick!
      Thanks for sharing your experience, knowledge and great collection.
      Have a good weekend and don't work too hard at real work!

  25. annek 05/28/2016

    Ahhhh Tim. The colors¡! Not much I can add to the previous praise and eloquent observations except that it's 9:00 at night and I'm running outside to see if I can emulate any of your amazing combinations. You are the heuchera king!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/28/2016

      So do you garden with a miner's light on your head, Kielian? :) Although, further north you've got a little bit more daylight than I. The gloaming is a great time to be in the garden. Have you had the up and down weather that so much of the country has? I'm surprised anything is growing here. I assume your garden is as gorgeous as ever. Thanks for the compliment: I've been called the king of a lot of things and not all of them that nice! Have a great weekend!

      1. annek 05/28/2016

        Ha! Yes, believe it or not, we still have daylight at 9 pm. By the end of June, the light lasts til 10:30pm....one can get in a lot of gardening in one day. And yes again, we have had some roller coaster weather with considerable rain and cloud cover but that makes it easy to harden off plants.

        I loved your term gloaming...brought to mind all kinds of lovely, leisurely, non-compulsive, non ADD roaming through the garden, sipping on a glass of wine and admiring the fruits of labor. Maybe by next year, I'll be ahead of garden chores enough to enjoy the gloaming time.

        You should know that I've googled every one of your heuchera/heucherella choices/preferences, admired and tarried over each description and put an order in for 6 of them. Yes, your PR ambitions were successful! Ode to the King

        1. User avater
          Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/28/2016

          Either we are kindred spirits or you are quite impressionable!
          :)
          Enjoy your holiday weekend and garden!

  26. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/28/2016

    I'm in the same boat, Diane: no more room. But then something dies or I decide I am tired of something and more room for new plants. This year I've also realized I have a lot of plants that are divisions that I've just stuck in the ground here and there, so occasionally they get the axe for something new. Have a great weekend!

  27. keith_stiles 05/28/2016

    Absolutely stunningly beautiful. I have a large number of varieties myself. My love affair with Heucheras started the first time I saw a grouping of them in a local greenhouse. Thanks for sharing your beautiful gardens.

    Keith
    Waynesville, NC

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 06/01/2016

      Thanks, Keith. A savvy nursery can really whet our whistles if they put some nice combinations on a table for us to view up close, can't they?! How do they do for you in NC? Do you need to grow the villosa hybrids to cope with the heat, or are you in a cooler area? Do you have a current favorite?

  28. perenniallycrazy 05/28/2016

    You're killing me again Tim! You know I have a weakness for heucheras and I am definitely drooling over your collection. I'm having trouble growing the yellow varieties so I'd appreciate any tips you might have with yours... BTW, do you treat your heucheras, heucherellas and tiarellas the same way?

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 06/01/2016

      I've only grown two Tirarellas, Cherry. One did not last long, and the one I have now I don't really like-so obviously it is thriving! From conversations with Kevin Kelly, I think a big failure I had with the trailing Heucherella Gold Cascade, was putting it in really moist, heavy clay soil. Otherwise I do treat them all the same, which is pretty ruthlessly. The orangey yellow ones like Caramel burn quite badly, so I try to keep them out of the sun. Most are in somewhat loose, amended soil and I use a little pine bark mulch, but I don't fertilize. They don't seem to need much watering in my climate, but if it is super hot and dry, they get some supplemental water when I water the whole area.

  29. cindyhewatt 05/28/2016

    I have never seen so many beautiful and healthy looking Heucheras all together, your garden is amazingly gorgeous!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/31/2016

      Thank you, Cindy. I should post some pictures of some of the bare spots and problem areas, lest you get the wrong impression!

  30. greengenes 05/29/2016

    Totally awesome Tim! All so colorful and happy plants! Great compositions! It does make me want to buy some more for the gardens here......

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/31/2016

      I've still got a few more on my list. If I run out of space, I can get rid of duplicates I have from division. I'm not the kind of person who objects to having one of everything! :)

  31. janeeliz 05/30/2016

    OMG! I'm sorry I can't pick a favorite, Tim...they are ALL gorgeous! What a collection... and what an eye you have for arranging them so beautifully! I'm sad to admit that I have not had success with heucheras in my mostly clay garden but you have inspired me to try again in a few different places...east and north along foundations where it is sandy and I can easily amend soil.
    What is that big handsome leaf in the left corner of the 'Glitter' photo? Is it a podyphyllum?
    Great conversation you've got going...fun and very informative! Sorry I'm late in joining it. I'm passing your lovely photos and comments on to my son and daughter who both do very well with heuchera, too.

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/31/2016

      Thanks, Jane. Good luck with siting those new Heuchera in your future! Sounds like you've got a good plan. I have clay soil too, and perhaps some of my failures were where it was not loosened and amended enough. I should do a little yard survey to see which ones are thriving in heavier soil. Of course there is always frost-resistant containers.....
      Yes, that big leaf is Podophyllum pleianthum. It got a little nipped by our late freeze, but looks pretty good.

  32. user-4691082 05/31/2016

    Tim, I'm still studying your photos! Is that creeping Jenny in the first picture? If it is, how do you keep it contained? I've been sharing your garden with friends, and they all love it! Can't stop looking!

    1. User avater
      Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 05/31/2016

      Thanks, Rhonda. It's been so hot here lately that things look totally different, including some crispy critters! :( The somewhat golden, low foliage in the first photo is Sedum ternatum.

  33. user-4691082 07/11/2016

    Congrats Tim! As I opened my new Fine Gardening magazine today, they were featuring an ad for GPOD. And whose garden was featured? Why, yours of course! I have studied those photos so much, I knew instantly where to find them. I moved them to my important folder! Congrats!

  34. cynthiamccain 07/23/2016

    I saved up most of the GPODs for when I had time to view them; I'm sure glad I kept this one, Tim. Looking at your compositions of color makes me wish I had more shade to plant more heucheras, as I do love them. The frame with Gunsmoke, Caramel, Paprika and Dale's Strain is absolutely gorgeous.

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