New Project: The Heuchera Tome

In my last post I mentioned that I have some projects I'd be working on. One of those projects is a reference site for Heuchera, Tiarella, xHeucherella, and a few other saxifragaceae members titled The Heuchera Tome. This certainly isn't a unique concept; there are other "Heuchera encyclopedia" sites out there if you look. So why am I doing this? For a number of reasons.

Heuchera 'Georgia Peach'

1. I'm becoming an avid collector of Heuchera and am starting my own hybridizing program. That means I'm doing research off and on and taking pictures. I like to share what I find and this is a good way to do it. If you've been paying attention to this blog, you know I'm also a huge collector of Hostas. The Hosta Library is a massive pictorial reference site for that genus, and I want this to be similar.

Heuchera 'Spellbound'

2. Not all of the sites out there are easily browsed. Some don't have a good index, some don't have adequate information about growing them, some are nursery catalogs, some only use marketing pictures, etc. I want this site to be easy to search, easy to browse by variety, easy to browse by newest added, and I don't want people to have to look at sales pages to do that. Yes, I run a nursery and this site is attributed to Botanophilia LLC at the bottom and I may add an active link to our offerings in the future; but each listing won't be a pitch to sell you plants. (Nothing wrong with nurseries that are great Heuchera references! But sometimes they're tough to wade through). I also want pics to be representative of actual plants. I will probably include marketing pictures, but I also want to include pics from garden situations of collectors. Right now they're just my pics, but I will probably add a contribute link at some point.

Heuchera 'Caramel'

3. To educate. Despite their popularity and a number of sites promoting them, these plants are still misunderstood by so many gardeners. I want to help educate people about them and spread awareness about them as garden plants. Tiarella especially seem to STILL be flying under the radar here in the USA.

Heuchera 'Midnight Rose'

There are other reasons as well, but those are the big ones. The site is still in its early stages and I have many more varieties to add. But I've gotten a start and wanted to start sharing the site with all of you. Please check it out, I'm always happy to hear feedback about what could make it better. For the time being it's hosted here on blogger. I may move it in the future if needed and will almost certainly get a custom domain once it's big enough. https://heucheratome.blogspot.com/

Heuchera americana 'Green Spice'