Lenteroos rood plant". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

Helleborus x hybrid, Lenten Rose

Our first horticultural love – who can forget? Quickened breath and fluttering heart on seeing our beloved. I remember clearly the sunny spring morning when I first saw my heart’s desire: Helleborus x hybrid, Lenten Rose. 

Pull up a chair, pour yourself some tea, let me tell you how we met. I was a newish gardener, having moved from the city to the suburbs. It was March, and crystal-cold sunshine filtered through the branches of an Eastern Red Cedar. An experienced gardener brushed some fallen leaves aside under the tree and showed me a treasure –pastel-rose flowers growing bravely in the cold, bobbing over leathery leaves that survived the winter. Nothing else was blooming yet except daffodils and Siberian Squill, drama queens drawing attention to themselves.

Hellebores bloom in the coldest times of the year. Helleborus niger ‘Josef Lemper’ starts blooming in December until February, giving them the common name “Christmas Rose”. On one of the coldest days of November, my ‘Josef Lemper’ is spangled with fat white buds. Helleborus orientalis and their hybrid crosses bloom in that space between winter and spring when you just can’t stand it anymore, you have to see something, anything, growing. Go on, you want to prune something, grab your shears and cut back the spent foliage and allow the blossoms to show. Flowers generally face downward and are pastel pink or cream and chartreuse, often freckled; the choice of colors is expanding: ‘Winter Dream Black’ is a rich, inky gray, and ‘Goldfinch’ is lemony yellow with red freckles. 

Helleborus foetidus, or Stinking Hellebore, does, indeed, smell pretty bad when bruised, ensuring that animals leave it alone. Its finely cut, palmate foliage (“Palmate” like the palm of your hand, fingers all stretched out) and clusters of chartreuse blooms (March-April, usually) makes a handsome show when planted with Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’ or Autumn Fern in a moist, humusy woodland setting.

Helleborus argutifolia, or Corsican Hellebore –I’m breathless now, forgive me – has spiny evergreen foliage and pastel green flowers, and blooms in March and April. It’s unusual but not impossible to find.

I tolerate almost no complaints about my beloved, but I hear these two constantly – they can reseed themselves with vigor. Seedlings can easily be potted up and moved or given away. The other complaint is that the flowers face downward. But in the last few years, the Hellebore Gold Collection, a hybrid of H. niger, has been introduced, and its flowers face upward.

Hellebores are gorgeous planted with other spring bloomers like Epimedium spp., or with ferns to provide textural contrast, or in a mass on their own next to a boulder. Plant them near your entrance, or along a path, so you are likely to see and enjoy them as you hurry in from the cold – stop just long enough to fall in love with hellebores all over again.

What you need to know:

Hardiness: Generally Zone 5-8, but varies with species.

Exposure: Partial shade (4-6 hours of sunlight, preferably morning sun)

Water needs: moist, well-drained soil

Height: varies by species, but 12”-15” flower stalks are typical. H. foetidus can reach 20” 

Maintenance requirements: low

Deer resistance: deer generally do not damage this plant http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/deerdef/bridgen_list.pdf

Propagation: 

• Easiest from seedlings.
• Can be divided, with difficulty. Roots tend to be woody. Dig out entire plant with a garden fork, split plant carefully with a sharp blade. Plants will sulk after this and may not perform well for a number of growing seasons. Best done in late spring or early fall. Do not attempt with H. argutifolia or H. foetidus. 
• Can be grown from seed. Allow seed pods to turn brown on plant before removing, about May or June. Sow seeds as soon as possible onto the surface of compost, in a seed tray or in small pots. Cover with coarse grit, keep moist. Seeds should begin to germinate by late summer, early fall. Can be potted up individually in mid-fall, October or November, after first true leaves have formed. Plant outside in spring. Takes about two years for flower formation.
• Bodies of literature exist about how best to propagate, not all in agreement. Check with the Horticulture lab about best methods for your variety.

Pruning: Remove spent foliage in late winter, as soon as flower buds begin to emerge.

Varieties to look for: Helleborus Gold Collection ‘Cinnimon Snow’, cream and spicy pink. H. niger ‘Josef Lemper’, white, upward facing. H. x hybridus ‘Winter Dream Black’, ‘Goldfinch’, ‘Pine Knot Select’, ‘Painted Doubles’. Look for new double-flowered varieties. 

Additional notes: 

Hellebores are seldom bothered by pests; they are poisonous. The name “hellebore” comes from two Greek words, “elein” to injure and “bora” food. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellebore)

MGV Chris Shankar