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Hellebores for newbies
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Posted by chris_ont 5a Ont (My Page) on Tue, Jun 21, 11 at 11:14
| Hi
I'm getting very interested in Hellebores, in part because they grow happily in places where my hostas just end up as slug food.
I picked up three at a good price a few years ago - a white flower which after many weeks turns light green. While two of the plants are absolutely beautiful, one just keeled over and died after a year or so (growing right next to the healthy ones and showing no sign of disease)
I'm assuming that hellebores are not as hardy as hostas. They certainly are more expensive and hard to find around here.
So my question is, if I were to order some more, which are some safe cultivars to start with? I like light-coloured blooms and they must have tough leaves.
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RE: Hellebores for newbies
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| You could take a look at the Pine Knot Farms website (www.pineknotfarms.com) and see photos of named hellebores. Any Helleborus x hybridus should be hardy for you, so it's really just a question of what you find beautiful. (Don't know why one of your 3 died. Do you know if it was H. x hybridus? If it was, lack of hardiness probably wasn't the problem.) There's an H. versicarius that isn't hardy in your (or my) zone. H. lividus too won't be hardy. And while I can grow H. argutifolius here in Zone 6, the flower buds aren't hardy (usually. I did get a few blooms this past Spring!). I don't think H. argutifolius would be at all hardy for you. Neither plant nor flowers. Take a look at Pine Knot. There are various colors and forms of Helleborus x hybridus and that's the plant that will probably be your best bet to start. Also try Helleborus niger --the Christmas rose, which blooms white. It's wonderful because it blooms at such an unlikely time of year. I think it would be hardy for you (but I'm not sure). I have only one H. niger and it started blooming before Christmas and lasted until early Spring --and I'm in Zone 6, New England. We have cold winters and NOTHING else ever blooms at that time for me. There are also species hellebores available. And new crosses. You might want to take a look at those. There are photos and there's hardiness info on the website. (And see the section: About hellebores for more info.) Anybody else have suggestions? (Or corrections if I'm wrong about anything?) |
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