I’ve been waiting for my Helleborus niger to bloom for a while now. Of all my Helleborus varieties, the white Helleborus niger is my favorite. The flowers are so beautiful and they make such a glorious display against the backdrop of fallen oak leaves in my garden.
I became impatient a few weeks ago and decided to poke around under the “mulch” of oak leaves to see if there was any sign of flowers. I was excited to discover a multitude of flower stems with beautiful pure white buds just beginning to form. Oh boy, it wouldn’t be long.
Two days ago, I looked out and there they were – bright white flowers with their beautiful yellow tipped stamens glistening in the sunshine! My first flowers of the new season! These blooms are the finest and most long-lasting of any winter flower, persisting for 2-3 months! What a wonderful treat in the midst of an otherwise dreary winter!
Another cool hellebore is Helleborus foetidus. The flowers of this species are not nearly as impressive but the plant is interesting just the same. It actually has nicer foliage in my mind. The finely cut older leaves are an attractive deep green tinged with red at the base. The new growth and airy clusters bell-shaped flowers are a contrasting apple-green. These plants really stand out in the early spring garden when nothing else is growing let alone blooming. They are one of the earliest of the hellebores to bloom, sometimes blooming as early as December.
Helleborus foetidus comes up readily from seed and often pops up throughout the garden, a trait that may annoy some gardeners but I just let it go in this particular garden because it makes such an attractive display. Every once in a while I go through and thin some of them out but for the most part, I just let them grow.
Helleborus orientalis is another popular species and I have a few of these planted in my garden as well. It has a variety of bloom colors from white to pink to deep burgundy.
As an added plus, all the Helleborus varieties are very deer resistant and make an excellent evergreen ground cover that the deer just won’t touch! Years ago when I was teaching horticulture, we took a trip to visit some beautiful private gardens in Lynchburg, Virginia. I remember one garden where Helleborus orientalis was used as a beautiful ground cover similar to how people use Pachysandra or Vinca. It was gorgeous when I was there in May but I imagine it was really spectacular in February, March, and April when the bed was in full bloom! Wow!
Helleborus are particularly well suited for planting under tall evergreen shrubs like Rhododendron or in a mixed woodland border in combination with other shade loving perennials such as ferns, Hosta, Epimedium, and Pulmonaria. They also make attractive plantings along woodland paths or planted in the rich, moist soil near a pond or other water feature.
Look for some of these great plants to put in your garden. They are wonderful for the shade or bright shade garden and there are some really cool new cultivars available!
Until next time –
Happy Gardening!
I love Helleborus, too! I don’t have enough,though. I have a question—where are you located? I’m in W. Massachusetts and we still have several ft. of snow. Thanks for the article.
Maddy
We are in the central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Last year was our year of snow! I even got out in my vegetable garden this past weekend to spread straw and cover it with landscape cloth to help smother weeds and add some good organic matter to the soil. Yeah for no snow right now.