In 1991, Heuchera 'Palace Purple' was voted Perennial Plant of the Year. The newcomer, now a garden staple, ignited a whole new career for a familiar genus.

Florists and gardeners knew "coral bells" as a cheerful bouquet filler. But 'Palace Purple' was all about foliage. Designers called its dark mass "a hole in the border." Growers scoffed at a coral bells with no coral bells. But gardeners loved it.

Soon, Heuchera was almost exclusively a foliage plant. Over 120 varieties are patented, and most are grown for their leaves, in a staggering array of colors and forms.

And all these years later, 'Palace Purple' still holds its own, in trials and in sales, because it's a consistent performer - and economical, too. We have over two dozen newer varieties, and each is lovely. But so is the classic that launched them.