I like the doubles Vicky.
I bought my first ever Hellebore about 12 months ago and it's a pink double - 'Harvington Hybrids' was the only information on the label, no other name, so i don't have much to go on !
It produced several flower buds within a few months and gave a really lovely display, it's got buds on now too so i'm wwaiting for them now :-))

I like them aswell. I have a few here but there is one with green flowers in my father's old garden, and I hope to bring it here before we sell the house.

Started a collection last year, bought a lot of new varieties, doubles and Blacks, etc, love them when in flower, but not so keen on them for the rest of the year, especially as many of them seem to be full of disease and the leaves get nasty! black patches all over them.

I didn't think that they would thrive in my garden as its very clayey but the lenten ones have settled well in a west facing bed protected from the north & east the double ones seem to flower for ages

We have one or two............hundred. They self seed all over our place. We originally bought a fair number from Farmyard Nurseries in Mid Wales. Ashwoods have a large selection of forms, but we find their prices far too much for our purse. Both these places advertise Hellebore Open days and are well worth going to.
Despite their sometimes poor reports we also were given 10 double Hellebores from Thomson and Morgans which have done well.
We remove all the leaves in January/February (from H. hybridus, leave the other types alone). This lets us see the flowers and reduces the amount of black spot on the plants.
If your plants do suffer from the dread Black Death, then soaking the plants with a systemic fungicide does help, as does removing the afflicted leaves and disposing off them in the bin.

mine were from there Owdboggy but the doubles don't set seed are they usually sterile?

Depends, some of the doubles have no stamen etc. as these are what make up the inner circle of 'petals'. However we do have a couple which are fertile, however they do not produce double flowered ones.

I like them but had to get rid as they were everywhere.

~I was at a Farmyard nursery open day earlier this year as it is less than 40 miles from me~one of my blogs shows some of them~truly hooked!

Love'em, Vicky - mine are just beginning to bud up - I hope to have a 'Christmas Rose' flower at the right time! :-)))

Thank you for your tales of hellebores
It s nice to know what other gardeners think
I love them but Richard isnt quite as keen he only like the doubles and only if they hold up their heads
I love some of the new varieties from USA
I managed to get rick to put about 4 varieties on the nursery he says people dont like them any more pleased to see he isnt totally right.
I like the idea of chopping off some off the leaves as they can stop you seeing the flowers.
When i get back I will show you some of the new usa varieties they are wowy!!
I love Ashwoods nursery he has done so much work with them
he also has amazig hepaticas. they are wowy too we dont grow them though rick wont let me!!!:(

Did you see that I got a new white Hepatica in my box of goodies (compensation!) from the Nursery that let me down recently? I was thrilled! I've got two blue ones already. :-)))))

I didnt see that spritz I havent looked at everything yet
I will look in a minute:0
Edrom nurseries also send for a lot from japan they are amazing :)

Iv 4 Different Varietys in my garden now as i think their lovely Vicky :)

Just discovered Helleborus purpurascens in flower, bit early though so it may well be damaged by the frost to come. Also got good buds showing on H. thibetana. I wish it would set seed like the others. H. foetidus is a bit of a weed plant with us as is H. lividus (?corsicus). I would love to get hold of H. viridescens. We also have one which is just labelled "Hellebore, the red stemmed one" that came from Harlow Carr, many years ago.
I have various forms of Hepatica nobilis in the shade garden, blue, pink and white. They self seed gently, but I find the seedlings very difficult to remove and pot on for planting elsewhere. The seed needs to be collected while green for good germination. It is odd as I used to sell them at one time so I must have been able to do it then.
I like the Japanese ones, but the prices....................sheeesh! £125 for one of them!

Wow! I don't think so, Ob! TOOO expensive! Hope your Hellebore flower survives, though. :-)

I didn't know that Hepaticas came in pink - SIGH - another one for the wish-list! ;-)

Many years ago, before I had a garden to keep my busy I used to make and decorate cakes as a hobby - one of my favourites was a Christmas cake with white flowers, holly and berries all made from sugar paste on the top - I didn't know it at the time but the flowers were hellebores - loved them then and love them now - lovely when created with sugar, better when created by nature!

There are no truly RED Hepaticas, they best is a dark pink.

You don't happen to know its complete latin name, do you please, Ob??

Hepatica nobilis or Hepatica japonica or Hepatica transylvannica.

Mine are H. nobilis and H. transsylvanica - both blue - my new H. nobilis is white and has a name - 'White Forest'... I was hoping you might know the name of the pink one. I can see one in my RHS book called H. nobilis 'Rubra Plena' - could that be it?

There are a lot of pink onse look on the Ashwood nurseries website they will amaze you.
You might find yours on the website spritz:)
Jhn Massey (I think thats his surname has a private collection second to none
Hellebores too
He opens in Feb and march and you can see all the hepaticas in flower them fantastic!
he also often shows at the halls at westminster RHS show in Febraury

~ I have been up to Ashwood a couple of times and they do have gorgeous plants but I must admit to loving the wander about the stock areas at Farmyard Nurseries~will be back just after Christmas !

rubra plena is a double pink

I kind of guessed that, Ob! LOL. That must be a spectacular one to grow! :-)

If my pink ones flower and set seed and I can remember, or you do, then I will send you some seed, if you would like to try. They do not produce much seed if I remember correctly. Will have to find and mark the pink one as they are all out together in the shade garden somewhere.
Slack Top Alpines near Hebden Bridge do a goodly selection at reasonable prices.

Thanks! I'll look. I did take a look at one Nursery today and the prices were astronomical! :-(((

Seed would be great. Thanks. :-))

The very expensive onse are usually the onse that are rare and unless you are really a collector its too much to pay
We will have some expensive heuchera soon and that is because we only have a few plants and can only take a few cutting each year also many of them would be no longer if we didnt have them in our collection.
Some dont have amazing coloured leaves but they are different in other ways like one is the only perfumed variety that we know about and it isnt available anywhere else. At this time I have 3 plants I never know how many cuttings I will get before i start and some will not make it:)

I looked at that Nursery, Vicky - I found some mouth watering Hepaticas ate astronomical prices, as Ob said. One was £150!!! I'd be scared to buy one - supposing a wood pigeon sat on it (they do!) - or a cat dug it up? :-((((

I know I wish I had some heucheras I would dare charge that for
It is only for the complete collection stuff:)
I dont think i could bring myself to pay that either!!!

Just found three double Hellebores in flower and one of the very pale pink with a picotee edge has been in flower for ages and it has seed pods on it. Wierd weather!
The self seeded stuff I potted up seems to be growing ok, hopefully some of them will be good plants. I have a double where the main petals are dark green, but the central parts are red. It also set seed so I am hoping that the offspring will resemble the parent.
Now if someone would just tell me how to get the seedlings from a lovely yellow self we have, to grow................