Hellebores, one of winter’s few dramatic bloomers, haven’t always been the most popular plants among gardeners.
Common varieties, though hardy and reliable, have given the genus a reputation for foliage that can get mangy and flowers that droop.
Times have changed for hellebores, also known as the Lenten or Christmas rose.
“Right now is when the hellebores are shining,” said Jeff Mason, a plant salesman at Briggs Nursery, a grower near Olympia. “I think there are a lot of folks that have decided that hellebores are relatively easy to manipulate. They’re trying to do a bigger spectrum of color.”
Indeed, breeders have been hard at it, creating improved varieties that feature blooms that are more upright as well as interesting and with tidy leaves.
Skagit Gardens, one of the largest plant growers in the region, is busy propagating a new variety called Double Queen, featuring double blooms in an array of colors due out this spring.
Skagit Gardens horticulture writer Rhonda Jennings, meanwhile, couldn’t say enough about Ivory Prince, which produces blooms that keep their faces turned up instead of down. Buds emerge in a delicate pink profusion and eventually open to creamy white and green blooms.
“Ivory Prince lets you sit up and take notice,” Jennings said. “Everyone needs that plant.”
Like most hellebores, it’s an evergreen perennial. It’s hardy to 30 degrees below zero. It stays smaller than species varieties, growing to only 12 to 18 inches high and about 24 inches wide, making it a great choice for containers as well as borders.
It performs well in light shade and its foliage comes in attractive whorls of five leaves each. It’s also been out for about five years so the price has come down to less than $20 for a gallon plant.
“It’s the closet thing to a perfect plant,” Jennings said, adding that her Ivory Prince at home flowers from December to April, much longer than more common or species varieties. “That bloom range has expanded.”
Then there are the hellebore mixes.
They offer some of the best bloom colors, including the Royal Heritage mix of velvety pinks and purples, but they are somewhat unpredictable if you are looking for an exact color.
Unless you buy a mix hellebore in bloom, you’ll have to wait until the flowers emerge to see what color you’ve purchased.
That applies also to the new Double Queen mix, one of the latest hellebore breeding breakthroughs.
The 100 percent double-flowering strain produces a variety of brilliant colors, including whites, pinks, greens and yellows and some speckled varieties too.
But because it takes a while to turn a hellebore seed into a flowering plant, many nurseries will be selling “green” Double Queen hellebores, which means you may have to wait until next winter to see what flower color you’ve serendipitously acquired.
“But they’re all pretty,” said Skagit Gardens marketing manager Debbie Hewlett, who added that Double Queen flowers are all guaranteed to be doubles. It’s just the color that’s up in the air, despite painstaking breeding work.
If you’re a foliage fanatic, hellebores definitely have something to offer your texture garden.
The Silver Lace hellebore features blue-green, silver-veined spiky leaves that look positively prehistoric, while the Pink Marble hellebore has red and white veins in the leaves for a dramatic effect.
Briggs’ Mason said gardeners should keep an eye out for Heronswood hellebores, including Kingston Cardinal, a double red; Snow Bunting, a pure white hellebore with an upright flower; Goldfinch, a single gold, not pale yellow, flower; and Green Heron, a vigorous, prolific bloomer.
When searching for less common hellebores, you might also keep an eye out for plant sales such as the Northwest Perennial Alliance’s open house and plant sale featuring hellebores next month in Bellevue.
“People that are really particular about what plants they add to their landscape really look forward to coming to this sale to get the various hybrids,” said Kathy Gehrt, an alliance board member. “There are doubles and there’s a variety of colors. There’s a variety of speckling patterns. A lot of these are not commonly available if you go to regular nurseries.”
Gehrt recently became enchanted with hellebores. She bought one for her porch last year and it’s been blooming since early January, despite the recent snowfall.
“It’s amazing how hardy they are, but they are delicate and sweet in the garden,” she said. “It’s such an exciting plant.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, or e-mail sjackson@heraldnet.com.
How to grow hellebores
Cut them back: Cut old foliage to the ground in December or January, or whenever it starts to get ratty. This will allow new flowers and fresh leaves to emerge unobstructed. Be careful not to remove new foliage or flowers growing near the center of the plant.
Light: Hellebores, though widely considered mainstays of the shade garden, are now available in a variety of slightly sun-tolerant varieties. Check light requirements before planting.
Planting: Give hellebores a vertical lift by planting them in containers or in elevated areas.
Water: Moisture needs vary by species, but some are drought tolerant once established.
Fertilizer: Plants will benefit from feeding once or twice per year.
Soil: Hellebores thrive in soil that is well drained and rich in organic material. Most, but not all, prefer slightly alkaline soils, but they can tolerate neutral to slightly acidic conditions, too. Some can tolerate clay soils.
Hardiness: Though many hellebores may have sagged a bit during recent storms, they should pop right back up. Many varieties are hardy to zero degrees or below.
Transplanting: Don’t disturb hellebores once they are planted. They resent moving and typically need two or more years to become established.
Self-propagating: Most plants will eventually self-sow seeds to produce new offspring, which can be transplanted in early spring. New plants may not be exactly like the parent plant, but flowers are usually still desirable.
Poisonous: Though hellebores were used for medicinal purposes in parts of Europe for centuries, all parts of the plants can be poisonous if ingested in large quantities.
Buying: Expect to pay $15 to $50 for a gallon-size plant with higher asking prices for rare finds or newer introductions, such as Double Queen. Some nurseries carry them year-round, but it’s easier to find more varieties this time of year.
Great Plant Picks: This regional program recommends many hellebores for their easy care, including stinking hellebore, Corsican hellebore, sternii and the many hybrid versions of the Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis. Search www.greatplantpicks.org for details.
Photos: Explore many varieties at www.hellebores.org, www.heronswood.com or www.tandlnursery.com.
Source: Sunset Western Garden Book, Skagit Gardens, Briggs Nursery, Emery’s Garden
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