GARDENER'S READING ROOM
The Art of Gardening
Perennials

Hellebores Are Here!

We have an abundant assortment of the unique and wonderful Hellebore in stock. Many of our plants are displaying plump buds, ready to burst into bloom - just in time to add some color to your garden during our gray winter.

Besides many varieties already popular with the Hellebore-lover, we are offering some exciting new cultivars. One is H. argutifolius ‘Silver Lace,’ which shows off pretty pale-green flowers in late winter. Its striking silver, leathery, tooth-edged leaves make this plant a wonderful year-round foliage accent in the garden and in containers.

Another stunning variety is ‘Ivory Prince’. This particularly abundant-blooming Hellebore begins to flower in mid-winter and lasts all spring, displaying blooms with green streaks and rosy pink tints.

Of the H. foetidus variety, two strains available now are particularly noteworthy. ‘Gold Bullion’ is a seed strain with showy, bright-golden evergreen foliage and milky green flowers. The ‘Sunbeam’ variety is similar, but has unique gold- and green-streaked leaves and variegated blooms.

H. orientalis, also known as the Lenten Rose, is a vigorous Hellebore with tough clumps of evergreen leaves. Its nodding flowers come in a glorious array of shades of white, cream, pink, rose, and maroon, frequently tinged with contrasting colors. A new orientalis hybrid called “Ballard’s Group” has large outward-facing petals that display splotches of the above colors. Another orientalis hybrid, ‘Sunshine Selections,’ shows off shades of cream, rose, and burgundy, often with speckles.

Also available this season are the hybrids in the ‘Lady Series’: ‘Blue Lady’ has bluish, dark purple flowers; ‘Red Lady’ has deep red blooms; ‘White Lady Spotted’ shows off petals with deep red markings on white; and ‘Yellow Lady’ displays yellow petals with dark red markings.

These are just a few of the Hellebores available in our Flower Shed, ready to add color and texture to your garden or container. Most Hellebores are happy in shade to partial shade, and, once established, are somewhat drought-tolerant. (Be sure to check individual tags for more exact requirements.) As a bonus, you may be fortunate to find that your Hellebores will self-seed, offering up new little
perennials for future transplanting.

By Judy Boersema
Skylights Spring 2005, Vol 19, No. 1

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