Chosen by Polly Nicholson of Bayntun Flowers Hellebores grow in sun or shade. Plant into well-drained soil conditioned with well-rotted garden compost and mulch annually in spring. Upright stems hold the hellebore flowers proud of the foliage, giving a perfect opportunity to appreciate their long-lasting display. Hellebores are easy to grow providing a few simple guidelines are followed. Plant with companions such as snowdrops, crocus, muscari, daffodils, phlox, trillium and bleeding heart. We are here for you. Everything you need to know about choosing the right hellebore for you. General guidelines are as follows: seeds need to be sown on seedlings immediately after their collection (they do not remain viable), in loose moist humus earth, closing up to a depth of about 1.5 cm (0.6 inch). When should they be fertilized? I plant them close to or under small trees in my small city garden, which gives them sun in the spring … We plant already grown plants of hellebore or its parts in pre-prepared (half-filled with compost) pits measuring about 25x25x25 cm (10x10x10 inches), with a distance of about 30 cm (12 inch) from each other. During planting, carefully hold the hellebore in the landing pit with one hand, the other filling the ground all the free space around it, tamp the soil, water the landing site. The papery blooms are gorgeous and long-lasting, making them great for the vase. Shoots of Helleborus will appear in March next year, and bloom the seedlings only 3 years later. Zones 4-8 Most of these will have muddy purple flowers, but just occasionally you find a gem of a plant. Dig up the whole plant, wash off the soil and use a clean, sterile, sharp knife … Find a Suitable Location. Join the RHS today and get 12 months for the price of 9. Micropropagation. Hellebores perform best when grown in very bright, filtered light. How to grow hellebores. A more reliable way to get results like this is to hand-pollinate your plants and sow the hellebore seed yourself. I fight this scourge with insecticides. Now a few words about what concerns the aesthetic side: planting hellebore better groups, so it looks the most advantageous against the garden. Make sure, however, that you plant them on the east side of your home (when possible) because the morning sun and the afternoon shade are the perfect environment for the Lenten roses. Hellebore an amazing beauty plant that was popular in the Middle ages: it was believed that hellebore protects against witchcraft, the evil eye and evil spirits, which is why it was planted near the entrance to the house or yard. We grow a superb range of hellebore species, inter-species hybrids and cultivars but it is our Helleborus x hybridus Ashwood Garden Hybrids that have won international acclaim, widely acknowledged as ‘simply the best’ strain of Helleborus x hybridus available today. ... gardening charity. Seed from some types of plants produce “true” to the parent. This hellebore makes a good cut flower once the seedheads have formed, especially if the tips of stems are seared. Valued for its early blooms of purple, red, yellow, green, blue, lavender, and pink, and its leathery evergreen foliage, Lenten roses contribute good color throughout the growing season. Chosen by Fleur van Zonneveld, of De Kleine Plantage. Helleborus x hybridus are the result of labyrinthine cross-pollination. Unlike most other hellebores, it likes a sunny, dry and alkaline soil. Hellebores are very fertile plants and they hybridise with ease, as the the crop of seedlings that appears around them testifies. I feed mine in November when I see the first new green leaves and again in February when the flowers appear. Hellebores need no more than a few hours of dappled light and grow successfully in shady areas. Position them where you can enjoy their flowers – on a bank perhaps, beside some steps or outside that basement window – a real harbinger of spring as we hide indoors in the grip of winter. The hellebore plant will return for many years; make sure the space will accommodate growth and has proper sunlight. Having lost its popularity a little, hellebore again became a favorite of gardeners only some 10-15 years ago, when it was talked about as a wonderful healer, able to cure various diseases. They do best in semi-shade. This selection from Harvington Hellebores has bloomed before Christmas for the past few years and produces little vignettes of sumptuous, white flowers, each blossom centred with a cluster of golden stamens. We salute UK plant explorer, Will McLewin, who, along with other hellebore enthusiasts, risks his life to regularly trek through these regions gathering hellebore seed and researching the genus with a rarely-seen dedication. In total, there are several varieties of Helleborus niger in nature, the most interesting of which are: Very effective and Helleborus orientalis, flowering which, in comparison with other species, begins quite late — in mid — March-April. When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. Quite often there are thickets of hellebore and in nature – on the edges of mountain deciduous forests in Central Europe, the Mediterranean and Western Asia. If you want to multiply hellebore division of bushes (namely, so it multiplies very simply), in the spring, as soon as it fades, just divide its root into several parts and put in pre-prepared pits. This compact plant, reaching a height of only 0.5 m (1.6 ft), it is just strewn with spectacular deeply dissected leathery leaves that look very exotic. Hellebores are the jewels of the garden come winter and early spring, and come in myriad petal forms and colours. It is about them, as well as the secrets of growing hellebore, that I will tell you in this article. In the wild most hellebores grow under the canopy provided by deciduous trees and shrubs, and this is the idea place for them in the garden. Although they will tolerate sunny situations they grow best in places that are shaded from midday sun. When planting from seed or division, place the hellebore into well-draining, organic soil in a filtered sun or shady location. Its fingered evergreen leaves are leathery in texture. Where to plant hellebores. Thanks to micro-propagation, attractive forms of this plants can be reproduced easily.