Plant families are like human families in that successive generations of their members often have improved looks, health, longevity, and vitality.

This is certainly true of the latest versions of the heucheras, commonly known as coral bells. So many new heucheras are now available in many different foliage colors and combinations. The flowers themselves, spires of tiny florets that are raised high above the leaves, have not changed much but the leaves are almost unrecognizable when compared with the ordinary green leaves that this family of plants had in the past.

If you browse online you will be amazed by the new generations of this common shade-loving perennial. The fanciful names evoke wonderful visual images of each of the new heuchera varieties. For example, ‘Forever Purple’, ‘Georgia Peach’, ‘Cherry Truffles’, and ‘Carnival Limeade’ give one an idea of the single-colored purple, peach, cherry, and lime foliage.

But, there are also bicolor leaves featured on some of the new varieties. For example, ‘Red Lightning’ that has handsome chartreuse leaves with red veins and ‘Cinnamon Curls’ with cinnamon curly edged leaves.

The photos in catalogs and online of this new plant generation are irresistible. I plan to order as many as I can afford for spring planting!