Heuchera, Tiarella and Heucherella (and propagation)

[@katherinespencer2073]

Funny that as a 3rd gen very commited & active gardener the it was just3 yrs ago that I first ever bought Heuchera and fall in love. Already bought some for my daughter to plant at one of the new houses I bought this summer. They are expensive but so worth it.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Katherine. I love the TerraNova varieties, but yes - a little pricey!

[@KenG557]

Heucheras are gorgeous perennials, native to my area of America.

[@olgakuchukov6981]

Zone 5 southern VT, no problems overwintering but they do heave out of the ground with their root stalks and quickly degrade, so I deem these plants “high maintenance” in my area. I have not had luck with growing various heuchera/heucherella cultivars in the growing season. I’ve moved them all over to more or less shade and they falter, get eaten by slugs, dry up. I do have success so far with a straight up species heuchera villosa, it’s doing great. A lime green heucherella did great in a dryish sunnier area (still part sun) but I needed to attend to it’s sticking out of the ground nature described above and didn’t in time. So the invasive jumping worms took up residence within the shade of its canopy, creating a way too loose of a soil structure made up just castings and fast moving very large worms. The shallow roots had no purchase, were lifted further up and started to dry. I pulled it all up and stuck pieces in soil to propagate. Very easy to propagate. They’re still in a pot because i don’t know where to plant them. Two very pretty cultivars of heucheras with the red flowers did ok in their pot and in the ground for one summer and then faltered the next and the next, barely growing through a way too wet and then a way too dry summer(s). The worms, the frost heave, too much shade? They’re still alive and I intend to actually take the rootlets out now when it warms back up again and stick into a pot w soil to overwinter heeled in or heel them in better in the ground and move them in spring. Somewhere on a better edge where I can attend to them. Next to the one doing better than any of the others which is a straight species heuchera villosa. It seems to not escape the conditions of the others but somehow found a perfect Goldilocks spot of good drainage on not too steep of a terrain. I have 2 clumping tiarellas - there are 2 species, the clumping northern sp (Tiarella cordifolia var cordifolia Zone 3-9, and the running southern sp. - Tiarella cordifolia var carolinna. Most stores and cultivars carry the running southern species. Here’s more about their taxonomy: “The genus is native to eastern North America (Tiarella cordifolia and Tiarella triphylla) and Asia (Tiarella polyphylla). The East Coast Tiarella cordifolia is further subdivided by some taxonomists into three varieties: Tiarella cordifolia var. austrina (Virginia south to Georgia), Tiarella cordifolia var. collina (Maryland south to Mississippi), and Tiarella cordifolia var. cordifolia (Canada south to Georgia). The varieties are based on leaf size, shape, and the presence or absence of stolons. Unfortunately, the plants don't always cooperate with the taxonomists, and the splitting of Tiarellas into these varieties simply doesn't hold up across their range.” I know that in the native plant Garden in the Woods in Mass near Boston, the tiarellas don’t do well with jumping worms churning up the soil. So that’s an issue for some folks who may not be aware they have these exotic earthworms. They’re everywhere now across North America, particularly in urban places. I’m trying to figure out a way to grow these heuchera/ellas. I’ve bought and lost many or bought big beautiful bushy plants and now have a sprig to show for it. But a very lively sprig that wants to live! For plants touted as being so easy to grow, they haven’t been at all for me and it has nothing to do with cold winters or wet or dry conditions. Thanks for your comprehensive videos!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks for adding your knowledge to the topic!

[@j.m.b.greengardens968]

I find that here in Central Virginia, zone 7, heuchera seem to do better in containers. Zone 5 might be too cold for that to work. In the ground they seem to be difficult to site well - for example, I have put in the cultivar 'Georgia Peach' in a number of clients' gardens - some have gone on for 6 or 7 years and others falter after one season. I still haven't figured out quite why.

[@olgakuchukov6981]

@@j.m.b.greengardens968 thanks for your comment, fyi, they do just fine in pots in zone 5. I’ve had a lemony yellow (don’t know exact cultivar name) heucherella in a simple large nursery pot going through a second or third winter, currently heeled in. Last winter the pot was in an unheated indoor space. If the pot is small enough I would do that again, if large I’d pile leaves & snow on top. All the cultivars are not thriving. The native heuchera is doing great. The native tiarellas are doing fine. I’m going to pot up the other 2 cultivars i have and see if i can get them to bloom in a pot. They’re in shade and still not thriving. It’s moist, no go. Full of jumping worm castings nutrition, nope. Pots it is.

[@flowerpixel]

Great info bc I was debating between huecherella and huechera

[@katiekane5247]

Heuchera Villosa " Caramel" is off patent, vigorous, amber with purple backs, fully hardy, easily divided. I wish more folks would grow it. I give away divisions all the time, have it in containers & in the ground.

[@amandavhb1630]

I appreciate your knowledge so much. I have these in my garden and just learning about them.

[@valeriezendiver263]

“Echibeckia?” Wow! (Adding to my wish list)

[@j.m.b.greengardens968]

Most heuchera, as you said, are grown more for foliage than flowers. Many cultivars tend to flower once or very occasionally, and the blooms are not all that showy, but one cultivar, that in my experience tends to rebloom and has small but brilliant very deep pink flowers is 'Glitter'. They look lovely with the purple/silver marbled foliage. There may be other cultivars with notable flowers of which I am not aware.

[@donnamack6797]

It's weird. I have tried to grow at least 20 different purchased heuchera, and tiarella lacquer leaf They all failed. Then, a good 20 years 4:05 found, in a JL Hudson catalog. Heuchera Firefly which has brilliant red flowers. And boom! I must have 20. I divide them in spring, and from the one plant I brought from my former home. In spring I dig them up, pull off the dead sections and replant them with lots of compost. It's different from most of the seed strains because the leaves are a brilliant green, not brown like most. I love the J L Hudson catalog.

[@dorothyandrews8872]

I have just moved a Heucherlla out of a bed since it was crowded out with Hosta. I am familiar with digging up plants to move or split, but not this one. One root was over 2ft long, I was shocked, and wasn't sure how deep to plant the main corm or bulb. There was already small shoots starting to show, so I had to be careful to get the roots in the soil, but not covering the shoots. Should I use transplant liquid to help, but I did get 3 pieces out of one plant. Do they like much fertilizer during the season, I bought a couple of Heuchera last year can they be divided so I can plant them around the garden in the same way you did the Heuchrella?

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

HI Dorothy. I plant the shoots just at or slightly above the soil line. Heucherellas don't like to be planted too deep. They're not particularly heavy feeders - a little compost goes a long way. I'm not sure which transplant liquid you're using. If it's something like superthrive, there's no harm in it. I'd avoid fertilizer until it establishes.

[@dorothyandrews8872]

@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks for getting back so promptly I will make sure tomorrow that they are not too deep

[@igrpetlnk7588]

Respect for keeping light on ! Thanks for true expert info and quick answers ! Ordered by your advice Hormodin N3 ! What do you think about Fish Plant food ? or Alaskan Fish plant food ?🌺🌹

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

I use a weak solution of Alaskan fish fertilizer on many of my new cuttings - at a low rate it doesn't smell too bad and doesn't burn the young roots.

[@barbll000]

I have tried these plants in my garden in Ontario 6A zone and they just won't overwinter for me. They do great all season long but when spring comes they're completely gone. I don't have deer so I'm not sure if other wildlife have eaten them. I am successful with palace purple and the regular coral bells. Because of the higher cost of the hybrids I've given up trying them.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Sorry to hear that Barbara. I don't always think of how lucky we are here in zone 8 - and I seldom have troubles overwintering heucheras in the ground. I've lost some varieties to crown rot in containers, but I put that down to poor moisture management on my part. You're right though about the price of some of these fancy hybrids - painful to lose them at those costs.

[@karinchristensen220]

Oh, that's not good news. I am in zone 5/6 and I just ordered 4 different kinds of heucheras. I was going to plant them as soon as they get here but now I wonder if I made a mistake. They are supposed to be okay down to zone 4.

[@sallyhamilton7202]

@@karinchristensen220 zone 5 here. Never had a problem wintering over the heuchera. I have many different varieties.

[@robinmoser7343]

@@karinchristensen220 oh that is some scary news. I just invested in over twenty different varieties in my landscapes. I’m loving them! I am hoping to have them for years to come and I’m in zone 6b. Thanks for the video on this. I really respect your expertise on Roses and horticulture. We are doing our Rose purchasing next year and doing some serious education on what to put where. This video was great for this moment!

[@telsclark]

My black huecheras flower then same if not more than my tiarellas and they flower all summer they have massive creamy white flowers on long purple stems have been flower for 4months and still more are coming up.

[@maycornelius3101]

Hi Jason i put my cutting in potatoe and i notice it rotted very quickly. Is potatoe good from SA

[@cleobc1]

Is it necessary to prune back a tiarella plug grown plant to bulk it up. I’m saying no but others said you have too to get it bulkier to fill the container? I disagree what is your advice ?

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Tiarella has a fairly low spreading habit, so I'd say no the pruning personally

[@MattMurrah]

Awesome video. Sound quality low especially in middle of video.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Matt. The wind kicked up, and I should have had the patience to wait for a calmer day. KZbin learning curve!

[@MattMurrah]

@@FraserValleyRoseFarm Thanks for the response. I REALLY like your videos and have found them to be so helpful!!!