A Hymn to Hellebores
By kowhai
11 comments
I promise that this is the last blog on hellebores!
Slowly over the years I’ve been trying to encourage the spread of hellebore along the shady border. As hellebore are prolific self sowers, I’ve brought on seedlings and transplanted them. (I’ve also given lots away so that other gardeners with shaded borders can do the same.)
Gradually, the plants are coming on and providing surprises because there’s no knowing what the flowers will look like as the plants are the result of cross breeding among different colours. Some of the new ones look as if they could be a mixture of pale and dark varieties, for instance.
Despite the harsh winter, the hellebores seem to have done well this spring. I fed them during the autumn when they’re setting buds for the spring, so that may have helped. And in early spring, I cut back the leaves when the buds are well advanced, as the leaves can be diseased and are usually tatty. Removing them means that the flowers are more visible. And of course new, healthy leaf growth is encouraged.
The problem with hellebores is that they have very bashful flowers (which also makes them very difficult to photograph actually growing in the garden). Ideally, they are best grown on a raised bed so that the flowers are more visible. A neighbour has done this (see below), which in comparison with my low lying bed means that you almost look the flowers in the eye in the raised bed.
My latest acquisition, Helleborus Walberton’s Rosemary, is doing well, although like all hellebore it wilts under frost, but fortunately recovers once the frost is thawed. ‘Rosemary’ isn’t quite the heads up flower that was promised, but it is a definite pink and is an excellent addition to the hellebore bed. I hope that it survives, as not all the hellebore I’ve planted have done so (and £16 is a lot to pay for a plant that only survives one season!)
The hellebores have quite a long flowering season and are a really cheerful presence at this time of year. And once they’ve finished flowering, they produce lots of handsome, glossy foliage. So, for a shaded border they provide an excellent solution to the eternal problem of what to do with a plot that receives very little sunshine. Also, their foliage combines well with that of ferns, so together they provide a very effective solution to coping with a shaded border and unlike ferns, they also flower.
And that positively is my last hymn to hellebores for the season!
9 Mar, 2011
9 likes
More blog posts by kowhai
Previous post: Snow Drops : a spring bonus
Next post: Blossom time
Comments
I too would be interested in growing hellebores in pots. They are a beautiful plant and on my "wish list."
9 Mar, 2011
Hi Kowhai - do the pretty hellebores need any more care than the more ordinary ones, as I would like to grow some but need something that does not need a lot of looking after ? Your expert advise please ?
9 Mar, 2011
If you click on H at the bottom,and go to a blog by Spritzhenry 'Shy but Beautiful', on the 26th January,2010....I asked about Hellebores in pots.Alzheimer replied,on the 28th,with very helpful information ,which you may find useful.I did,and will be potting mine later on.At the moment they are newly planted in a border,but will need to move them.Its a lovely blog,with great photo's,so nice to look at,even if you have seen it before..
9 Mar, 2011
Mine have never produced any seedlings....any tips?
9 Mar, 2011
The deer ate all of the leaves off of my hellebore this winter before it had a chance to send up any buds - do you think it will survive?? I have been worried since I went out a couple of weeks ago and realized that all of the green leaves that were there the weekend before were gone and all that remained were several stems sticking out of the ground. :(
9 Mar, 2011
Thanks for feedback, everyone. I've sent individual messages in answer to queries. A big thanks to Bloomer whose directions to the hellebore enthusiasts' site is most helpful. And it's given me even more hellebores to aspire to. Spitzhenry's collection is quite wonderful and shows what an amazing variety there is among the species.
As to potting hellebores, that's a good idea. I will try this with some of my numerous seedlings this year and see how they go. I'd tend to treat them like all the other things I pot: John Innes No. 3 with some moisturizer. I don't know how damp or dry they like to be, but I tend to operate on the basis of water once a day in hot dry weather and then by rule of touch (if the peat feels dampish, don't water). The hellebore seedlings I pot up seem to survive very damp and very dry conditions so they must be pretty hardy -- a good thing in any plant, in my view!
10 Mar, 2011
Got you pm....many thanks.
10 Mar, 2011
They are gorgeous what a wonderful assortment you have.
11 Mar, 2011
thanks for comments. I went and counted the number of separate hellebore plants in flower the other day: 40! I was amazed. About 35 of them are ones that I've 'brought on' and planted out and I notice that there are lots of new seedlings around some of the well established ones. I know that self seeding plants can be a pain at times, but I'm very happy that the hellebores are so prolific. And the flowers on the new plants are always a surprise -- although you have to wait several seasons before they appear.
14 Mar, 2011
i think hellebores deserve a hymn ~ giving us such a pretty site
thank you for this useful blog, i shall put some ferns amongst mine now ~ i love ferns.
28 Mar, 2011
Recent posts by kowhai
- Touch of autumn in the air
31 Aug, 2012
- Roses, Landscapes & Borders
2 Jul, 2012
- THE GARDEN IN MAY
1 Jun, 2012
- Coffee Grounds
15 Apr, 2012
- Tulips & Daffodils & Wood Chips
14 Apr, 2012
- March into April
7 Apr, 2012
Members who like this blog
-
Gardening with friends since
14 Aug, 2008 -
Gardening with friends since
4 Dec, 2009 -
Gardening with friends since
27 Dec, 2009 -
Gardening with friends since
22 Aug, 2010 -
Gardening with friends since
8 Apr, 2010 -
Gardening with friends since
8 Apr, 2010 -
Gardening with friends since
1 Apr, 2009 -
Gardening with friends since
1 Feb, 2011 -
Gardening with friends since
10 Sep, 2010
Lovely :o)
Do you have experience of growing Hellebores in pots, for when we don't have space to grow in raised beds ? Any advice please on doing this ? Do we keep the pots damp or dry during the summer ?
9 Mar, 2011