Poky, I think the plants you purchased are Heucheras and not Tiarellas. They are very similar in appearance, and require virtually the same care. The east side of your house sounds perfect for them. They like a nice, rich soil, with lots of compost, and good drainage. I have Strawberry Candy (is that the name of the one you got, because there is also one called Strawberry Swirl). I like it because it does well tolerating our Oklahoma heat. That can be a problem with the heucheras here. Water them good; don't let them dry out.

The flowers on Strawberry Candy are very pretty. Not sure about Caramel. If the flowers are insignificant, I'd trim off the flowering stems because these plants are primarily grown for their foliage. Flowering deprives them of some energy and they can get kind of ratty looking when it really gets hot here.

Also, they have the crowns have a tendency to "heave" out of the soil during our winter freeze/thaw climate. Just put some more soil around the base of the plant, but don't cover the rhizome. They sure have some pretty ones on the market today, and I've tried several and failed. My favorite was "stormy seas" because of the larger leaves. There is a heucerella (cross between Tiarella and Heuchera) called 'Viking Ship' that is supposed to tolerate heat more than some of them.

Congrats - you've got some beautiful plants!

Susan

Thanks Susan...sorry I didn't make that post clear. I did plant 2 coral bells. One was the Caramel and the other was Midnight Rose. It's red with splotches of black(or dark purple). I amended the soil pretty well and put them under a sycamore on the south side. The tiarella is on the east of the house and is a "Sugar and Spice". It looks fairly lonely by itself several feet away from some hostas. It also looks like should be deadheaded now as I assume it's already done flowering this year. I took some photos but am still working on shrinking them and playing with photobucket.

Your blooms are probably spent because the plants were grown in a greenhouse before they arrived at their destination (Lowe's), and hence they have flowered earlier than normal - which is okay since most of them, as I mentioned earlier, are grown for their foliage anyway.

I've seen those photos of Midnight Rose and it is GORGEOUS! Please keep me posted on how they do in summer. I'd love to get some more heucheras, and I know TLC carries a TON of them as well. They showed some of the newer cultivars on Oklahoma Gardening program a few weeks ago, and one had these HUGE leaves on it - I LOVE big-leaved plants. I grow alocasia macrorhiza (upright elephant ear), petasites japonica variegata, tetrapanax, and large hostas, e.g., 'Sum and Substance', 'Titanic', and 'Blue Angel', all of which have large leaves. Oh, and acanthus mollis (Egyptian urn plant).

I'll have to check out Sugar and Spice - not familiar with that one. I just dabble in a little of this and that, so don't have a great knowledge on any one particular thing. Good luck - I'm sure they'll perform wonderfully for you!

Susan

I've grown tiarella in the past few years. I lost them all... I loved these plants, but they didn't love me, or maybe it was my sandy soil. I had Tiarella 'Dark Eyes', 'Running Tapestry' and ÂSpanish CrossÂ. I haven't had good luck with Heucheras either. I've so far lost 10 out of 12 plants! I've grown them in both sandy and clay type soils and I can't seem to keep them happy here in our heat. I doubt I give up though. :) I like the color they give to my hosta beds, so I'll probably keep buying them. BTW, my hostas have grown more this past year at my new home with clay soil than they did in the past 15 years at my old home with sandy soil. They are looking sooo good this year and I am sooo happy!

wolflover...at 10-12 bucks a pop I hate to hear tiarellas and huecheras don't do well here. My hostas are doing well this year, also.

Poky,
I traded for most of my heucheras and all the tiarellas. I bought a few on sale at TLC, but the vast majority of mine came from trading with a GW friend in Indiana, where they grow to gigantic proportions up there in the land of cooler summers and mucho rain... She also traded me at least 50 named hostas, for plants I grow in abundance like elephant ears, banana plants, aquatic plants, and mostly tropical plants. We've become great friends and email every few days and talk on the phone a lot too. One of the main reasons I became such an obsessive plant collector was from trading on GW. But now that shipping costs are so outrageous, I have really limited my plant trading to trades with my favorite people. My friend in IN has now had to invest in a 10 X 36' greenhouse to hold all the tropicals I helped to get her hooked on. I have a 12 X 35' greenhouse too due to all the trading I've done on GW. So although I do recommend trading to get the plants you love, I hope you aren't as obsessive as Amber and I am. :)

I hope you have better luck with your heucheras and tiarellas than I've had. Last year may have been a fluke, with all the flooding. They may have just drowned. I do know my hostas are so much happier here in this clay soil than they ever were in my sandy soil. I'm so impressed with how huge they've grown in just one year here.

Most heucheras and tiarellas tout hardy to zone 8, but that could be the cooler zone 8s like the PNW. There are a few that have been bred to tolerate more heat, like we have here in Oklahoma. It's possible we will have a cooler summer than normal this year, and if you are able to get them well established this year, you may be okay. I usually do well the 1st year, and they poop out after winter due to the heaving we discussed. Strawberry Ice is the one that has proven to be the most tolerant of heat, and even it gets a bit on the "ratty" side by August-September. But it is one of the first to throw up that gorgeous foliage and cherry-red blooms in spring. So far, it has been a winner in the heuchera category for me.

Dawna, that is strange about your hostas. I have one, Sum & Substance, that is growing in a sandy soil and it loves it! Gets about 6' wide and 3' tall. But, I usually add manure to that bed every year, too.

I don't have traditional Oklahoma clay. The dirt in my yard is dark, rich brown. But it contains some clay and I always add composted chicken manure (my new found love) to it.

I have one heuchera that I grew from seed that is flowering this year for the 1st time. It's really pretty!

Susan

I grow heuchera and I have about 25 (at least). Some are in the ground and some are in raised beds-the raised beds do best. I break a few "edges" off in the fall and just stick them in a planter and I have nice plants in the spring.

One of the things I have learned is that they need nice sun-about half a day. I used to think they should have the same conditions as hosta, but I discovered that they don't do very well in shade and they require less moisture (soggy soil will be the death of them. I lost several last spring when it rained so much). Some of my best looking ones are in full afternoon sun- they are 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide and I have to break them back so they don't "eat" the surrounding plants.

And, BTW, I am NOT a super gardener. I can kill geraniums in a week! Give those heuchera another chance as they add some wonderful color to the garden.

IMP

IMP, you break off a piece of the rhizome and put it in soil and let it overwinter outdoors (wanna make sure I get this right because I would love to have more of the one I've got).

I gave you the wrong name, too, of my heuchera. It's 'Raspberry Ice'. I got it at the Herb Festival several years ago, and it's been the only one that has grown for me. I love the flower wands on it, because they are cherry red. Most have insignificant flowers IMHO.

IMP - you must be a SUPER GARDENER to grow them like you do!

Susan

Yes, I break off a chunk of he rizome wtih some of the leaves attached. Last fall one of the neighbor's cats dug around one and I just ripped off that chunk. It fell into four pieces and I just poked them into a pot of dead geraniums (see above post ~sigh~). This spring I had 4 nice sized plants the largest of which fit snugly in a one gallon pot.

BTW, tiarellas need more shade than heucheras. They grow pretty well here too. I do have more mixed results. They have the cutest little puffs for flowers.