A.  Yes, Heuchera are relatively easy to hybridize but for every new plant that is released the breeders have probably rejected thousands if not millions of seedlings as being ‘nothing special or different’.  The advent of tissue culture has allowed plant breeders to bring new cultivars to market years sooner than with vegetative propagation which involved cuttings and stock plants. Is the newer plant ‘better’ than the older one?  Not necessarily.  First of all are they coming from the same breeder? If so, they may share the same breeding and ancestry but several generations removed may have bred in some improved traits and vigor.  In addition, the earlier breeding of Heuchera placed a lot of focus on improvement of foliage, size, color, etc., often ignoring flowers or even sacrificing bloom appearance and/or quantity.  More recent work has concentrated on the flowers.  Many of the newer cultivars have similar foliage to their ancestors but their flowering potential and show has been improved immensely. Now if the plants are from different breeders or even breeding lines, all bets are off. The similarities may be coincidental.  Also bear in mind that as with many other plants Heuchera improve with age, the young plant in the container at the garden centre, will most likely improve with age in the garden.