Enjoying all the beautiful hellebores that are just coming into flower around my garden has prompted me to take a closer look at caring for these winter beauties. The photos today are from a set taken for an “In A Vase On Monday’ post last year – they are one of my favourites and seemed perfect to illustrate today’s post.
Hellebores are herbaceous perennials that flower in the depths of winter when the garden can otherwise feel a drab and uninspiring place. They are rather romantically known as the Christmas Rose or the Lenten Rose. Helleborus niger have pure white flowers and often flower before Christmas and throughout January – hence this is the variety that is known as the Christmas rose although it is not often in flower in my garden in time for christmas. Helleborus orientalis (and the many orientalis hybrids) come in many beautiful shades and flower for a full 10 to 12 weeks between January and March – these are the flowers that are called the Lenten roses. Rather than dying back in the summer like many spring flowering perennials, hellebores produce handsome leaves after flowering which are at their best during the summer months.
When we moved to this house 6 years ago I had just discovered hellebores and had attended a few courses led by Roger Harvey of Harvey’s Garden Plants. Roger is a hellebore specialist and his talks and slide shows helped to fuel my growing passion for this stunning winter plant. Many of my hellebores were bred by Roger and I dug my first purchases out of the ground of our previous home before we moved and replanted them here. I am still adding hellebores to the woodland area of my garden and imagine I will continue to do so for some time yet – I am looking forward to the day when a winter walk along the woodland path will be filled with these beautiful flowers!
Hellebores prefer to grow in a rich friable soil which is neither too dry nor waterlogged. They like sunny conditions during their flowering period, but appreciate a bit of shade during the summer. A woodland edge is ideal as the deciduous canopy offers protection from the summer sun but allows in the light after the canopy has dropped. Hellebores work well interplanted with snowdrops and spring bulbs and I am also adding ferns and hardy geraniums to my woodland borders for summer interest.
Hellebores are usually purchased and planted throughout the winter months – I like to buy mine in flower so that I can see the shapes and colours. It is best to dig a large planting hole for a hellebore and incorporate plenty of organic matter – my preference is to add leaf mould, which I also use as a mulch around the plants. Hellebores have a large root system and for this reason are often pot bound when you purchase them. Gently tease out the roots before planting and fill the planting hole with water before back filling around the roots to make sure there is plenty of moisture. You will need to water your new hellebore throughout dry periods during the following summer after which it should grow quite happily whatever the weather. On occasions I have bought immature plants that have been on offer through mail order sites and I have found it best to grow these on in a pot ready to plant out the following autumn when they have a larger root system.
Hellebores are hungry feeders and I usually feed mine with fish blood & bone twice a year – in the spring after flowering has finished and again in late August/early September as the plants prepare to start flowering again. After feeding I mulch around the plants with leaf mould, taking care not to cover the crowns. Hellebores self seed freely, so if you would like to increase your own stock do not remove the old flower heads in the spring. With a bit of luck when you tidy up the old leaves you will find quite a few babies growing underneath which can be potted up and grown on.
In December or January I cut off all the old leaves which will be collapsing on the ground around the developing flowers. The old leaves can harbour pests and diseases so should be burned (rather than added to your compost heap). Removing these leaves allows the beautiful flowers to be seen more clearly and fresh new leaves will soon grow in spring. A little feeding, mulching and tidying of old leaves will reward you with a winter full of stunning flowers in almost as many shades as are found in your summer borders.
Although hellebores are very easy plants to grow they are best planted into the ground. Generally they do not thrive well in containers, primarily because of their large roots. Having said that I do often keep newly purchased plants in their pots in view of the kitchen window for a few weeks so that I can enjoy the flowers at close hand – you do need to keep the pots well watered though or you risk losing your new additions before they even make it to the garden bed. Once planted hellebores are very hardy, coping well with frost and snow.
After growing undisturbed for 6 years now some of my plants are fairly substantial and I am considering dividing them for the first time in the autumn. As this will be a first for me I will probably start with one plant this year and see how easily the divisions re-establish themselves.
I am looking forward to choosing some new hellebores to add to my garden this winter. I am determined to plant some Helleborus foetidus this year. Known rather unpleasantly as the stinking hellebore, this is a beautiful plant with small nodding purple edged pale green flowers – I had a large clump in my last garden and failed to bring any with me – I have missed them ever since. I have also seen a beautiful double flowered Harvington hybrid helleborus niger on the Crocus website – I will certainly be adding this one to my garden!
Do you grow hellebores? I would love to hear about your tips for success (or problems!) and any recommendations for varieties you love.
Insert your profile info here, by going to Users -> Your Profile -> Biographical Info. Profile image (avatar) comes from gravatar.com. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam faucibus ornare lectus nec cursus.
Julie, your flowers and photos are such an inspiration. Beautiful! Inspires me to grow more flowers and become a better photographer.
Thank you Valorie – that is such a lovely compliment!!
Thanks for the review. This year I dug some seedlings from around existing hellebores, planted them in pots and five of eight survived and are looking good. They will go in the ground soon.
It will be interesting to see what the flowers are like – you never know what you might get!
I so LOVE your photos, and I LOVE hellebores. I, too, am buying a few new ones every year. I would love to have a huge bed of them. Thank you for all your advice, as I’m not an expert. I bought some in pots a couple years ago and noticed that they were terribly root-bound, but I didn’t know then that it was normal for them. I’ll think of you whenever I admire my hellebores.
Thank your commenting Jeanette – I used to think the hellebores were badly cared for too until I understood them better. We will hopefully both have lots of hellebores to swoon over in a few years time – happy collecting!
I too love hellebores Julie. Your photos are beautiful! I have never noticed a seedling nearby any of my plants… perhaps I am too efficient a weeder! I am not sure I would know how to spot one…
I think you are weeding to well Joanna, although the seedlings often flower a muddy pink which is why I tend to leave it to the professionals and buy my plants.
I look after hellebores much the same as you Julie, I just use Rose fertiliser instead of FBB, when I have used that in the past foxes and badgers have tended to dig up where it has been applied. I enjoy propagating young seedlings to see what colour they develop into, usually washy pink!
Fortunately foxes and badgers are not creatures I have to worry about in my garden, although a visiting puppy did take the heads off a few hellebores last year where she could smell the FBB. Thank you for the seeds which arrived last week – they are much appreciated.
They are such a joy in winter, aren’t they?
Mine have tolerated division just fine, but they are usually old enough to pull apart without too much cutting. I’m at the point where I have selfsown plants coming of age and it will be interesting to see what turns up… but I suspect it is also time to do a bit of editing since many of the original plants were seed grown, and not quite as exciting as they could be.
I’m surprised by how much sun they can tolerate. They grow as happy as can be alongside iris and peonies!
Thank you for commenting Frank – it is reassuring to know that yours have survived division! You are right about the sun – I have a few plants in very sunny positions although I think if the area has poor dry soil they might struggle to survive. Mine are all in good soil which they seem to love.
Fabulous photos Julie. I’ve grown hellebores for some thirty years or so now and they are fabulous long lived perennials. My favourites (that I can put a name to) are probably ‘Walberton’s Rosemary’ and ‘Mrs Betty Ranicar’ but I don’t think that I’ve ever come across one that I disliked.
Thank you Anna and I will have a look at your recommendations. I agree that is hard to find anything to dislike so all are welcome in my garden! It is good to know that your hellebores have done so well over a long period – my oldest ones will be about 8 now.
A really interesting and informative post and your photographs are, as usual, fabulous. There were a number of hellebores in this garden when we arrived and I am slowly adding to them. All seem to be flowering early this year. I am interested to read about your feeding regime as I think mine may need feeding now as they are not flowering as prolifically as in past years.
Thank you Sue and I think you will find they will thank you for a little feeding. It might also be worth giving the leaves a spray of seaweed feed in the summer to boast the plants productivity.
Julie, I have very much enjoyed your site for a year now. I too love Hellebores. I am a cut flower grower and have used up all of my open land for cutting beds. However, I am now loading up my mixed woodland with shade lovers like Hellebores, Heucheras, and Dicentras. Thank you for sharing your brilliant mind and photography with all of us. It is such a gift!
Thank you Liz for your lovely comment!! I am so pleased to hear that I have inspired you – your growing woodland planting sounds beautiful.
Julie how do you condition the flowers you cut for inside. Any I try and use with a stem go all floppy. I’ve just lifted all my established plants to make way for an extension. I’ve tried to keep the rootballs as large as poss but they still don’t look too happy and I’ll have to see how they do but I’m hopefull given how they respond when you remove all the old leaves in the spring. My ltd advice would be to be ready to replant immediately post any divisions rather than try and pot divisions temporarily.
Hi
Unknowingly I’ve planted helleborus next to my brand new peonies. Will they survive together or should I move one of them ?
Hi Kamila – thank you for your comment. I have a large bed of white hydrangeas and roses which are interplanted with hellebores, snowdrops and tulips for winter and spring colour so I would leave yours where they are.