A lady at the garden centers today said the name as 'hukara'. Is that right? Funny thing is, in Dictionary.com, there is no pronounciation guide for this word. Please advise.
How does one pronounce "Heuchera"?
Hi Blue,
I was saying Heuchera the wrong way for so long that it's laughable now. If you look under the Botanary tab up top, you will find all the pronunciations you could ever want. Okay, since I couldn't get the link to work, here's what Botanary has for Heuchera: HEW-ker-uh
edited because I had a blonde moment
This message was edited Jul 10, 2006 10:13 PM
This message was edited Jul 10, 2006 10:16 PM
Hi Blue Ash,
Yep, it's pronounced HEW-ker-uh. For the longest time I pronounced it hew-CHER-a.
Erynne,
I've never used that Botany tab before. Thanks for pointing that out!
Sandy
That's exactly how I was saying it Sandy! Great minds think alike huh, lol..
Cool! THanks for pointing out the Botany Tab. Gosh, guess I am not the only one who's been saying that name wrong. Like you, Sanannie, I've been saying hew-CHER-a. I read that this plant is named after some German guy named Heucher. It makes sense that the "ch" sounds like "k", doesn't it?
Thank you both for sharing this potentially embarassing secret.
When I see some of these words with the correct pron. I write it on a card and repeat it a couple of times a day until it comes automatic. This is especially helpful if it is a word you have pronounced inc. for a long time. When just visiting and using it a change is hard to make stick.
I was also pronouncing it wrong until recently. It's really hard to get used to pronouncing it the right way.
I called it the same thing sandy did. In my neck of the woods they still do not know what your talking about unless to call it Coral Bells. And people around here do not distinguish between heuchera , heucherella and tiarella very well. when I am talking to them I say something like "heuchera are what a lot of people call coral bells". I sometimes get looks like what are you some snob,so I let them just go on and think what they want from the garden sign that says Heuchera are whatever.
oz, non garden people are hopeless,,,they just don't care,,LOL I don't let it get to me much anymore,,,until they tell me they have the same hosta I do,,,and I Know for a fact they don't,,,That still gets to me,,,LOL
LOL, Kelly, I have a neighbour who has a garden but doesn't know plants at all and doesn't care to learn. She's a great gal but I find myself rolling my eyes when I hear her coming. She waltzes in each spring and says "Don't forget me when you're splitting your hostas!", to the tone of all hostas simply NEED to be divided and she's doing me a favour by giving them a home. She'll go around and say "Oh, I have that one at home", pointing to a brand new hosta I just shelled out over $20 for. I know darned well she's never actually paid for a hosta in her life. She goes shopping at other people's gardens! LOL
But there's not much you can say without sounding superior, is there? I gladly share with someone that's truly interested, but I just can't seem to bring myself to share my brand new $20 hosta with someone who doesn't understand it's value. You gotta just chuckle to yourself...
Sandy
Sandy,
How true. I have a few friends that Really like hostas. They realize the cost, cultivars and appreciate them. I don't mind sharing with them. I won't share with just anyone. I have to make sure one of my babies offspring is going to a loving home,,,LOL
I wouldn't share with her either. Or, maybe next time she says that, tell her well, I just paid $20.00 for it, I'll split it if you'd like half for $10.00,,,maybe that would keep her from saying anything. Or, tell her I charge X amount for a division of that particular hosta,,,lol The look on her face would be priceless,,,,lol
I try So hard to keep my mouth shut cause I Don't want to sound like a hosta snob, but I so am,,,lol
Kelly------ These were garden people. Coral Bells is what they call them period.
Sandy----- I never have that problem. anything I take out of the hosta goes to the spring charity garden sale where some people get some awful good buys. I am getting ready to pull them and pot them as soon as we come back from Ohio. I think i am going to pull to mature Elegans, a Golden Tiara, a snowcap, a albo marginata, a kosheras regal, a royal standard and maybe a Francee. Plus the 2 fragrant bouquet and a couple others that are allready potted. Should yeild about 30 nice plants. But they sell them to cheap really. top will run about $5.
I have seen in a book once the pronunciation as hoi-ker-uh. I've never heard anyone say it tho.
Lots of plants are pronounced differently by different people. Clematis is one. I try not to even say it.
Gwen
If in doubt say Coral Bells!
oz,
LOL very surprising to me. Lucky people at the plant sale.
when someone says it -Heuchera- i always say God bless you! ;)
I lost a Peach Melba and a brunnera this past few days in this constant heat. I have a notion brunnera do not fair well in my area.
Oz, I was just saying the same thing on the a hosta thread! I have 2 Brunnera Jack Frost and they look like something ran over them. As soon as any significant heat comes along, they do the droop and badly at that. One of them is deeper shade where the soil takes a good long while to dry out and that one is doing better than the one in another shadier but drier spot. No matter how much I water, they just can't take it.
Erynne
I am sure of it Erynne. We are not goign to try them anymore down here. I expect to see the other two I have in deep shade drop this real vsoon as we have a whole week of 100 degree weather in front of us.
I'm pretty sure I lost my Jack Frost also. Will be checking today on one of my 15 min outside excursions. Boy, this heat sure takes the fun out of gardening,,,lol
I don't know if mine are dead yet but if they do croak, I won't be buying more either.
This afternoon, we're supposed to hit 35 degrees celsius but with humidity, it will feel like 45 which converts to 113 Farenheit. There is no way anybody should be out gardening in this.
Erynne,
LOL that 45 sounded mighty good until you converted it to Farenheit.
Just came in from another 15 min. outside. Got the 16' x 4' bed finished now. Yeehaa. Earlier, I got one of the 8'x4' beds done. Now I only have 1 - 16'x8' and 2 - 8'x4' to do for the veggie beds. Then it's on to the new bed in back. I did a bit in that one last week, so it's not too bad.
Kelly, you are a very brave woman to be doing stuff out there in this heat! Do you have air conditioning? (I sure hope so!) Hey, how come you get to garden today? No work? You closed on Mondays?
Erynne,
Yep, Salon is closed on Monday's. I work Tuesday thru Saturday. Yes, I have Central Air,,,but couldn't get cooled off very quickly a couple times I came in. I suppose those were the times I stayed out too long. Maybe 16 minutes instead of 15,,,LOL
I would have loved to have just one weekday off this week to do something in the garden. We had one day off last week but that was for a family situation and have worked from morning til night (7am until near midnight) everyday since with the exception of a few hours on the weekend to go to the lily farm. I'm so burnt out! I've glanced at the garden for a few mins here and there but had no time to get even a little bit of dirt on my hands......I'm going into withdrawal! And to top it all off, I leave for the cottage on Saturday for 7 days. I don't want to go to the cottage anymore!!! I want time alone in my garden (stamping my foot & crossing my arms like a spoiled brat).
I want to be a lady of leisure in my next life......
Erynne,
Poor thing, just when you need your garden therapy really badly, you're too busy. Can you opt out of the cabin and stay home?
Only if you promise to come and kidnap me!!!! :D
O.K.,,,as long as I don't get in trouble,,,LOL
Just now wandered over to this forum now that I have something like 7 or 8 different varieties. Nothing compared to my hostas but ....
Anyway, I think you would find that anyone with a background in German language might be likely to sasy hoi-ker-uh or hoy-ker-uh. But I also heard a nursery person say who-ker-uh.
Ann
Hear it for yourself fist:
http://www.provenwinners.com/plants/detail.cfm?photoID=7993&doSearch=1&searchKeywords=Heuchera%20&f=VO%20122004_98.mp3
Cool ah
This is Spanish.
I'd just like to add a couple of things to this talk about pronunciation. I don't like the 'uh' for 'a' - that 'uh' could be pronounced a bunch of ways, but I guess the intent is to sound like 'huh'. In botanical Latin that final 'a' is always pronounced like the 'a' in 'about' - short and clipped. It's the upside down 'e' in the phonetic alphabet. so 'Hoo-ker-a' is about it.
Worth adding that the British, always different, do pronounce the 'ch' soft, since they have a general aversion to using 'foreign' pronunciations! So if you hear it that way in the UK, it isn't 'wrong'.