New pink Hellebore.

O Spritz this is a Beautiful Colour:)

Thanks, Jacque - I bought it from Crocus via this site!

ooohhh this is lovely Spritz, unusual colouring, i was looking at Cherry trees on Crocus, the other day, they do have some lovely bits, not bad prices.

I do like the doubles, Angie. Can't wait for last year's one to flower!

That's stunning, Spritz.

Thanks! I agree... ;-)

Gorgeous! Mine are a bit behind yours Spritz - their first year though and I can't wait to see them!

Oh that is an absolute star.........stunning!

spritz this is beautiful

Thats a gorgeous colour........

~this is a lovely one~none of mine are in flower yet but I have lots of buds~can't wait!

Lovely Spritz.

Wow , it,s beautiful Spritz .............

Agree beautiful....

That's great. Not seen hellebore like this before. It looks like something that belongs in the summertime, not the depths of winter. Superb

Does anybody know who started breeding the doubles that are available now?

~Helen Ballard and Elizabeth Strangman began to Hybridise and produce different colours and spotted ones in the 70s but Ashwood Nurseries at Kingswinford have been experimenting for years and now sell thousands of double hellebores. A local Nursery Called Farmyard nursery also produces a lot of doubles but not sure where their strain originates ~intend to visit there soon as not too far from Swansea.

at the risk of being boring!
This info is from the Telegraph

Why is it that a flower so shy it hangs its head to the ground fuels such adoration?

Not everyone agrees, but I think the answer is just this: the fact that you have to turn hellebore flowers up to look them in the face and admire their colour and pattern is part of their charm.

In fact, if they did look upwards they would simply fill with rain and rot. Hanging down the way they do, they shed the rain perfectly.

In recent years hellebores have been transformed: they have come a long way since all we had were single-flowered forms in white, pinks and reds with unpredictable spotting.

Now we have singles in every shade (except true blue), including white; almost black; uniformly speckled or splashed with darker markings; there are picotees, dark-eyed forms and intriguing colour melds; and an increasing range of anemone-centred forms and full doubles. Shapes now vary from beautifully and symmetrically rounded to dramatically star-shaped. How did this come about?

Elizabeth Strangman, who ran Washfield Nursery in Kent, perfected a simple hybridisation and selection technique. Instead of keeping it all to herself, she published the details in the The Gardener's Guide to Growing Hellebores.

What was surprising was not how many but how few people followed her lead. Robin White of Blackthorn Nursery in Hampshire and John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries in Warwickshire were two early enthusiasts who picked up on her pioneering work, along with a few imaginative American hybridisers, and took it forward.

Roger Harvey of Harveys Garden Plants, whose exquisite hellebores are pictured here, was another.

Planting companions

Use hellebores as elements in a more varied tapestry. Back them with pieris, modestly sized rhododendrons and other evergreens (especially on exposed sites) and surround with primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentras, cardamines and other spring woodlanders, together with snowdrops and other early bulbs. Add ferns and shade-loving iris to provide contrast later in the season.

Hellebore 'black death'

Research at Washington State University has identified the cause of the one serious and incurable disease of hellebores. "Black death" reveals itself as black streaks and spots in the foliage and flowers.

Now this has been identified as "Helleborus net necrosis virus". The crucial piece of news for gardeners is that it is spread by aphids, so if you start with healthy plants from a specialist, and keep them aphid-free, there should be no problems.

Pick of the bunch

The Lenten rose, H. x hybridus, is the most widely available and the most colourful of hellebores, but look out for these: H. x ericsmithii Low, prettily marbled, evergreen foliage with pink-tinted green or cream flowers. Ideal along a path in partial shade. 'Walberton's Ivory Prince' has blue-green leaves and prolific flowers.

H. foetidus Tall stems are clothed in narrowly fingered, deep green foliage and topped with clusters of red-rimmed green bells. Good under trees. Wester Flisk Group has red-tinted stems. 'Gold Bullion' has yellow leaves but is not vigorous.

H. niger The classic Christmas rose - superb at its best but not easy to grow well. Appreciates rich but well-drained soil in partial shade. 'Potter's Wheel' has large flowers, 'White Magic' has smaller flowers but more of them.

H. x nigercors Bold, spreading, dark green, evergreen leaves with green-and-cream flowers that often develop peachy tones as they age. Vigorous, prolific and adaptable.

H. x sternii Rather varied, but at its best carries the finest foliage of any hellebore, often with silvered, toothed leaves and pink tinted flowers. 'Boughton Beauty' is tall, with grey-green, pink backed leaves; Blackthorn Group is short with silver patterned leaves and pink-tinted pale green flowers. Good in full sun.

Where to buy

Harvey's Garden Plants, Thurston, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk (www.harveysgardenplants.co.uk, 01359 233363).

Elizabeth Strangman's Washfield Doubles are available from Thompson & Morgan (plants.thompson-morgan.com; 0844 573 2020).

How to grow

All hellebores are easy to grow. Any good soil suits them well and they thrive in dappled shade, partial shade or even sun if the soil remains moist.

In November, cut off all the old foliage to prevent black spot disease. Follow with a generous mulch.

Don't be tempted to split plants every three years as you would with other perennials; like hostas, they are best left to develop into impressive clumps with real presence.

Plant them on a shady bank and you will be able to look directly into the flowers. Those with pure white, pale pink or pale yellow flowers make the most impact from a distance; doubles, and prettily speckled kinds are better appreciated more closely. Choose the ones you like best when they're in flower.

Cut off dead flowers to prevent the plants seeding and cross pollinating. Three or four years after planting a selection of choice varieties, seedlings will usually be flowering all around. While this may create an intriguing tapestry of shades, named varieties of hellebore do not come true from seed. So the result will be murky colours and less impressive flowers. Better snip them off.

A study at North Carolina State University has shown that hellebore stems cut and placed directly into buckets of water containing flower preservative can have a vase life of more than two weeks. Try any professional preservative.

Bring the sparkling diversity of modern hellebores to your table by nipping off the flowers individually and floating them on water in an elegant bowl.

Interesting - thanks! Now I have several doubles, I'd like to keep them that way. So, snip, snip from now on!

~yes I was quite taken aback on reading this as I was was intending to get seed this year~the original plant can not change colour?~ must be the seedlings which don't come true!

Great colour Spritz. Our Hellebores are just coming into bud- much later than last year probably because it's been so cold this winter.We can see ours from the kitchen window in the raised area which is nice and shady.

They dont all droop but think they look great on a bank so can look up at the flowers.Is it the Corsican Hellebore with serated leaves and pale green blooms ? Love this one as grows huge and flower heads held upright for months on end.

I have lots of Helleborus foetidus in flower now - are they the ones you mean, BB? They fit your description.

i planted some hellebores last year but i've got leaves and no flowers :(
they are in dappled shade in the woodland garden hope they flower next year, thats a beautiful flower spritz, hope mine are as lovely when they do flower (if!)

Flowers look similar Spritz do yours have those leathery paler green leaves with serated edges ? Someone said Corsican hellebore -h.argutifolius but latin names confuse me so not at all sure.

Great info, Arlene - you should put it on a blog of it's own. Thanks a lot.

Oh, BB - Docbob sent me some baby H. argutifolius! I hadn't got any, now I have!

By the way, the pink double Hellebore is a Harvington hybrid - I found the order e-mail today.

Sewing, take a look at the bases of the leaves and see if there are any buds appearing from the soil in between the leaves. I have a number of Hellebores where they are only just coming up. Good luck!

Certainly a beauty esp at this time of year any colour welcome.

Arlene sorry to correct you but Johns Nurseries (Ashwood) is not in Warks but on the Staffs/ West Midlands/ Worcs county boundaries, he stocks some amazing Hellebores, most of our plants came from John's Nurseries, sadly not Hellebores. When we go to visit our daughter we go and have breakfast and buy a plant to take back to remind us, still to me the best nurseries in the country!
Spritz I have never seen a Hellebore like that, thought it was a dahlia......really lovely.

Wow, this is beautiful - maybe I will have one on my birthday list, after all.

wow...