Helleborus dumetorum | CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS

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January GBBD: Hellebores on Parade

Posted in Camellias, evergreen, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, garden to visit, hellebores, Shade Perennials, Shade Shrubs, snowdrops, winter, winter interest with tags Ackerman hybrid camellias, Carolyn's Shade Gardens, Christmas rose, fall-blooming camellias, Galanthus 'Potter's Prelude', Galanthus elwesii, Haverford College Arboretum, Helleborus "Double Purple", Helleborus 'Pink Tea Cup', Helleborus dumetorum, Helleborus foetidus, Helleborus niger 'Jacob', Helleborus niger 'Praecox', Helleborus x 'Snow Bunting', Helleborus x 'Snow White', Helleborus x ballardiae 'HGC Cinnamon Snow', Helleborus x ballardiae 'Pink Frost', Helleborus x ericsmithii 'HGC Winter's Song' on January 11, 2012 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

I have had this gorgeous double purple hellebore in my garden for several years but it has never bloomed this early. Photo 1/7/12

It is the middle of the month and time to participate in Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day hosted by May Dreams Gardens (link available on December 15) where gardeners from all over the world publish photos of what’s blooming in their gardens. I participate because it is fun and educational for me to identify what plants make my gardens shine at different times of the year. This month I hope that my nursery customers and blog readers will get some ideas for plants to add to their own gardens to extend their season through winter.

My garden is located in Bryn Mawr (outside Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, U.S., in zone 6B.

‘Mrs. Betty Ranicar’ is usually one of my first hybrid hellebores to bloom but this is early even for her.

Last January, the whole garden was under snow, and I didn’t even participate in GBBD. This year couldn’t be more different with 7 days in the 50s (10C) and 6 days at 60 degrees (16C) or above since December 15. Frankly, I find it extremely worrisome, but it means that I didn’t have to go searching for plants peaking between December 15 and January 15. There are a few other plants worth featuring, but my hellebores are all blooming early so I call this post Hellebores on Parade. For the benefit of my customers, I will note which hellebores will be for sale at Carolyn’s Shade Gardens (CSG) this spring.

‘Pink Tea Cup’ has the best pink color of any hybrid hellebore and was the first to come into bloom this season ( for sale at CSG this spring). Photo 1/9/12

‘Jacob’ Christmas rose just keeps going and going with new white flowers appearing and mixing with the older pink flowers for a gorgeous effect, see below (for sale at CSG). Photo 12/31/11

‘Jacob’ Christmas rose with Camellia x ‘Winter’s Joy’. Photo 1/2/12

Flowers are emerging on the hellebore species cross ‘HGC Pink Frost’ (for sale at CSG). Notice the dark red to burgundy highlights on the leaves and stems and the amazing color of the buds. As noted in Cutting Back Hellebores, I leave the foliage on to make a nice backdrop for the flowers. Photo 12/31/11

‘Praecox’ Christmas rose is also blooming at least a month earlier than usual. Photo 12/31/11

The hellebore species cross ‘HGC Winter’s Song’ is now fully in bloom. Photo 1/10/12

The rare species Helleborus dumetorum (no common name) continues to bloom (for sale at CSG). It is deciduous so all the “leaves” in the photo are actually flower bracts. The leaves will come up later. Photo 12/31/11

This beautiful, pure white, outward-facing hellebore called ‘Snow White’ (aka ‘Snow Bunting’) is an extremely rare cross between hybrid hellebore and Christmas rose—something that was thought to be impossible (for sale at CSG). Photo 1/9/12

The lighter chartreuse buds of bearsfoot hellebore, H. foetidus, are becoming more prominent and will remain ornamental through May (for sale at CSG). Photo 1/10/12

Another look at the hybrid hellebore “Double Purple” (for sale at CSG). Photo 1/7/12

My new favorite this year, hellebore species cross ‘HGC Cinnamon Snow’ (for sale at CSG). I like it so much that I decided to put it in a basket by my front door. Photo 1/9/12

There are some other plants looking great in my garden besides hellebores. Most of the fall-blooming camellias still have viable buds but no flowers open to show you. They will continue to bloom if the weather cooperates. Here are the non-hellebore stars:

My un-named Korean Camellia japonica, which blooms in the spring and fall, continues to produce flowers. Photo 1/9/12

Camellia x ‘Elaine Lee’ also has buds, and look at those shiny leaves. Photo 1/10/12

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Joy’ has been flowering since October and is still covered with buds but none are open right now.

The buds on my variegated winter daphne, D. odora ‘Aureomarginata’, are coloring up early. It is the sole survivor of five shrubs I put in this spring. Although I gave them excellent drainage, they just couldn’t tolerate all the rain we had in August and September. One by one they wilted from too much water and died, while this one remained healthy. Photo 1/9/12

If we have cold weather, winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, blooms in February, but right now it is opening flowers continuously. Photo 1/10/12

The only snowdrop in bloom right now is the giant snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii (for sale at CSG). Photo 1/9/12

My fall-flowering snowdrop ‘Potter’s Prelude’ has finished blooming, but I wanted to show you its beautiful leaves (for sale at CSG). Photo 1/1/12

On New Year’s Day, my husband and I went walking in the Pinetum at the Haverford College Arboretum, a wonderful local treasure. We saw two unusual conifers with great texture that I wanted to share:

Longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, is native from Virginia to Texas but is not usually found around here.

I love firs, and the texture of this Algerian fir, Abies numidica, really stood out.

I dedicate this post to Bob Stewart, my friend and horticulturalist extraordinaire, who died on December 16, 2011. Bob and his wife Brigitta started the amazing nursery Arrowhead Alpines in Fowlersville, MI. If you haven’t visited their site, you should by clicking here. Bob will be greatly missed.

Carolyn

If you would like to look at my photos all year round, please consider buying my 2012 calendar, available worldwide, 20% off through 1/20/12. For details, click here.

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.) or to subscribe to my blog, just click here.

Nursery Happenings: To view the 2012 Snowdrop Catalogue, click here. I am currently accepting orders—snowdrops are available mail order.

Look for an exciting new hellebore offering in February 2012. If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

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November GBBD: Prime Time

Posted in Camellias, Fall Color, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, Shade Perennials, Shade Shrubs with tags Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku', Ackerman hybrid camellias, Camellia oleifera 'Lu Shan Snow', Carolyn's Shade Gardens, coral bark maple, Cyclamen hederifolium, Disanthus cercidifolius, fall-blooming camellias, Galanthus reginae-olgae, Helleborus dumetorum, Magnolia x 'Yellow Bird' on November 15, 2011 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

I think Disanthus cercidifolius (no common name) has the best fall color of any plant in my garden. It is also in full bloom right now (photo below).

It is the middle of the month and time to participate in Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day hosted by May Dreams Gardens where gardeners from all over the world publish photos of what’s blooming in their gardens. I participate because it is fun and educational for me to identify what plants make my gardens shine at different times of the year. I also hope that my customers will get some ideas for plants to add to their own gardens to extend their season well into fall. I am also joining my friend Donna’s Word for Wednesday theme of texture and pattern at her blog Garden Walk Garden Talk.

My garden is located in Bryn Mawr (outside Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, U.S., in zone 6B.

The re-blooming tall bearded iris ‘Clarence’ is a star performer in my fall garden. It got knocked over by our unseasonable snow storm so it doesn’t look like this now, but it continues to bloom.

In colder months there is a tendency to include GBBD photos of anything with a flower, and I may do that in January. But fall is still prime time in my gardens (no hard frost yet) so I am showing here only plants that are at their peak between October 15 and November 15 (I do not take all my photos on November 15). This means that they bloom now (or are still blooming), have ornamental fruit, or feature exceptional fall color during this period. For more ornamental ideas for fall, see A Few Fall Favorites for Flowers and A Few Fall Favorites for Foliage and Fruit.

Let’s start with perennials:

Fall-blooming hardy cyclamen, C. hederifolium, continues to flower through November.

Yes, the snowdrop season has started with Galanthus reginae-olgae, which has been blooming since mid-October. Fall-blooming ‘Potter’s Prelude’ has just produced its first flowers as has the giant snowdrop, G. elwesii, but they will be featured next month .

When I was touring Chanticleer this spring one of the gardeners gave me a clump of this very late-blooming monkshood, Aconitum sp. I am not sure what species it is, but I am loving it’s dark violet-blue flowers.

‘Immortality’ is another re-blooming tall bearded iris that puts on a fall show. I appreciate these flowers much more now when most other showy blooms are gone.

‘Zebrina’ hollyhock mallow, Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’, shows up in the most unlikely places in my garden, here my terrace stairs, and produces generous quantities of blooms through fall.

Gorgeous ‘Moudry’ black fountain grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’, is one of the most asked about perennials in my fall garden and is well behaved here, but it can spread aggressively in some sites.

Hellebore season has started too with this little gem that was sold to me as Helleborus dumetorum (no common name), probably mislabeled. Christmas rose ‘Josef Lemper’ has been blooming for quite a while but has no fresh flowers now. I will include it next month.

Here are some trees and shrubs that I would grow for their ornamental contribution to the fall garden from flowers or berries:

The award winning hydrangea ‘Limelight’, H. paniculata ‘Limelight’, continues to produce fresh flowers late into fall.

Pond cypress, Taxodium ascendens, is ornamental almost all the time, but I would grow it even if all it did was produce these gorgeous cones.

Native green hawthorn ‘Winter King’, Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’, has produced a bumper crop of berries this year, which the robins are just starting to enjoy.

The flowers on my evergreen ‘Sasaba’ holly osmanthus, O. heterophyllus ‘Sasaba’, are small but they make up for their size with their heavenly fragrance which perfumes the whole garden.

The berries of evergreen Japanese skimmia, S. japonica, persist well into spring.

Disanthus cercidifolius is in full bloom right now.

The scarlet flowers are interesting and beautiful, but you have to get quite close to see them.

All my fall-blooming camellias are covered with flowers. The first four pictured below are Ackerman hybrids, which are hardy in zone 6 see Fall-Blooming Camellias Part 1, and the final plant is one of their parents:

Camellia x ‘Elaine Lee’

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Joy’

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Snowman’

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Darling’

Fall-blooming Camellia oleifera was introduced to the U.S. from China in 1948. In 1980, Dr. Ackerman at the U.S. National Arboretum noticed that it alone survived the U.S. mid-Atlantic’s cold winters and began crossing it with non-hardy fall-blooming species to produce what are now known as the Ackerman hybrids. My camellia in the photo above is a seedling from the original C. oleifera ‘Lu Shan Snow’ at the National Arboretum.

There are dozens of plants that are vying to be included on GBBD because of their beautiful fall color. However, I have decided to showcase only the seven that I think are exceptional, including disanthus pictured above and at the very beginning of the post:

Our Pennsylvania native vine Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, is underused in gardens especially when you consider its fall look.

Many magnolias, including star magnolia, turn a lovely yellow in the fall, but native hybrid Magnolia x ‘Yellow Bird’ (named for its yellow flowers) is the most beautiful.

Redvein enkianthus, E. campanulatus

Pennsylvania native oakleaf hydrangea, H. quercifolia, is ornamental 365 days a year, but it definitely reaches one of its peaks in the fall.

Another woody with 365 days of interest, coral bark maple, Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’, has stunning and long-lasting fall color. For more information on this lovely tree, read Coral Bark Maple.

Pennsylvania native sugar maple, Acer saccharum, has gorgeous orange fall color. Pictured above is a sugar maple tree in my garden that turns red instead of orange. Sadly, when the iconic Princeton Nursery closed its doors, they had been evaluating it for seven years for possible introduction.

Enjoy your fall, Carolyn

Nursery Happenings: The nursery is closed for the year. Look for the snowdrop catalogue (snowdrops are available mail order) in January 2012 and an exciting new hellebore offering in February 2012. If you are within visiting distance and would like to receive catalogues and information about customer events, please send your full name and phone number to carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net. Subscribing to my blog does not sign you up to receive this information.

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The Sex Lives of Hellebores

Posted in hellebores, winter interest with tags Helleborus atrorubens, Helleborus cyclophyllus, Helleborus dumetorum, Helleborus multifidus, Helleborus multifidus subsp. bocconei, Helleborus multifidus subsp. hercegovinus, Helleborus odorus, Helleborus orientalis, Helleborus purpurascens, Helleborus torquatus, Helleborus viridis, Helleborus x hybridus, hybrid hellebores, species hellebores on March 26, 2011 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

The green halo in this beautiful hybrid hellebore flower probably results from the influence of H. torquatus, which is characterized by a pale collar around the center of the flower.

Hybrid hellebores, Helleborus x hybridus (the Royal Horticultural Society approved name, previously called Lenten rose or Orientalis hybrids), are the most commonly available hellebores with the large, showy, nodding flowers in an amazing range of colors (click here and here to see photos). In my article An Ode to Seed Strain Hellebores, I explained my fascination with and love of the diversity found in hybrid hellebores .

I described how, unless tissue cultured, you can’t be sure what a hybrid hellebore flower will look like unless it is in bloom. But I pointed out that to me that is the magic of hybrid hellebores: each plant is a unique individual, with the potential for inheriting genetic material from any of the 9 species hellebores that could be its parents. In this article, I want to explain exactly where hybrid hellebores come from and introduce you to their parents. If you want to skip the technical discussion, photos of the parent species are at the end of the article. I won’t be insulted.

The leaves of ‘Metallic Blue Lady’ hybrid hellebore come out a deep glossy purple showing the influence of H. atrorubens, which can have the same attribute.

The genus Helleborus contains between 12 and 21 species, depending on who is counting, but I usually stick with the 15 described by Brian Mathew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in his authoritative work Hellebores (Alpine Garden Society 1989). Six of these species are not relevant to our discussion here. The other nine species are the parents of hybrid hellebores. They are H. atrorubens, H. cyclophyllus, H. dumetorum, H. mulitifidus, H. odorus, H. orientalis, H. purpurascens, H. torquatus, and H. viridis.

These nine hellebore species have crossed and re-crossed naturally and through human intervention by hellebore breeders over hundreds of years to produce hybrid hellebores. That is why hybrid hellebores are so variable: they can have the characteristics of any of these nine species in their background in infinite combinations. And it is impossible to be sure which species a particular hybrid hellebore has in its genetic makeup, although flower and leaf characteristics can often lead one to speculate that a particular parent might be predominant (see two photos above).

The species themselves are also incredibly variable in the wild, often freely crossing with each other, making them difficult to identify. For a discussion of just how variable, read Chapter 3 in Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide by J. Tyler and C. Burrell (Timber Press 2006).

This very beautiful but clearly hybrid hellebore was sold to me as H. purpurascens.

I was a hellebore fanatic long before I became a galanthophile (see my article Snowdrops: Further Confessions of a Galanthophile), and over the years I have collected, grown, and, in some cases, sold to my customers all 15 species, which are all very beautiful in their own right. In addition, I have attempted to acquire them from as many different sources as possible in order to get plants that I consider the most true to type. Many of my plants were grown from seeds collected in the wild by Will McLewin of Phedar Nursery in the U.K. You would be amazed at what I have been sold as species hellebores (see photos above and below).

These four plants were all sold to me as H. atrorubens.

So over the years, through trial and error, I have developed what I jokingly call the “U.S. National Species Hellebore Collection”, and I present them to you. But please remember that I have never actually seen these plants in the wild.

Helleborus cyclophyllus

Helleborus cyclophyllus is native to the open dry hillsides and woods of Greece, Albania, the former Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. Its name means with leaves in a circle. It is quite fragrant and not ornamentally distinct from H. odorus, fragrant hellebore. All the chartreuse-flowered species hellebores look gorgeous in combination with red- and purple-flowered hybrids.

Helleborus atrorubens

Helleborus atrorubens is native to dry hillsides and woodland margins of the former Yugoslavia. Its name means dark red, and it gives purple and red colors to hybrid hellebores. It can also contribute the desirable attribute of leaves that emerge dark purple.

Helleborus dumetorum

Helleborus dumetorum is native to the mountainous woods and thickets of Austria, Romania, the former Yugoslavia, and Hungary. Its name means of thickets and hedgerows. At 8 to 12″ (all the others are 12 to 20″), it is the smallest hellebore species and looks like a miniature. Its multiple skinny leaflets give it a feathery appearance.

Helleborus purpurascens

Helleborus purpurascens is native to light woodlands and meadows throughout eastern Europe. Its name means purplish, and it usually doesn’t exceed 12″ tall. It is my favorite of the species both for its gorgeous and unusual flowers and its circular, filigreed leaves. It must be more stable in the wild because every plant I have acquired looks similar to the photos above.

Helleborus odorus (Fragrant Hellebore)

Helleborus odorus is native to woodland margins and thickets of Hungary, Romania, and the former Yugoslavia. Its name means fragrant, and it is one of the more commonly grown species. On warm days, H. odorus and H. cyclophyllus perfume my whole species hellebore area. I have never noticed that this trait was passed on to any hybrid flower. As noted above, it is not ornamentally distinct from H. cyclophyllus.

Helleborus torquatus

Helleborus torquatus is native to light deciduous woods and clay soil of the former Yugoslavia. Its name means with a collar, referring to the pale ring around the neck of the flower, which you can see in the photo above. Its leaves have 15 to 25 long tapering segments giving the whole plant a unique spidery look. It produces double flowers in the wild and also contributes purple and blue color and metallic highlights to the hybrids. It is the rarest of the species in this article, and I have only been able to acquire it from one source.

Helleborus viridis (Green Hellebore)

Helleborus viridis is unusual culturally and geographically because it is native to the moist deciduous woods and meadows and clay soil of western Europe and the U.K. Most of these species hellebores require well-drained soil and are native to eastern Europe. Its name means green, and its flowers are certainly the best green of the species. I find them quite beautiful.

Helleborus orientalis (Lenten Rose)

There are three subspecies of Helleborus orientalis, the Lenten rose. The photos above are of a plant sold to me as H. orientalis subsp. abchasicus. However, because of the green carpels and spotted flowers, I am inclined to think it is subsp. guttatus. The seed came from well known hellebore expert Will McLewin. It is native to open fields as well as scrub and woodlands of the Caucasus Mountains where Europe meets Asia, which explains its name meaning of the Orient. Most hybrid hellebores are derived at least in part from H. orientalis, which is why they were originally called Orientalis hybrids.

Helleborus multifidus

Helleborus multifidus is native to the deciduous woods and open scrubland of Italy, the former Yugoslavia, and Albania. Its name means much divided, referring to its beautiful frilly leaves. I grow three of its four subspecies, which I treasure for their foliage, and two are pictured below.

Helleborus multifidus subsp. bocconei is a variant from central and southern Italy and Sicily named for a Sicilian botanist. It is said to be a better garden plant than the other subspecies and certainly makes a gorgeous lacy statement in my gardens.

Helleborus multifidus subsp. hercegovinus is native to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is definitely harder to grow but well worth the effort for its extraordinary leaves, which can be divided into 100 leaflets.

I hope you have enjoyed my photo gallery with short descriptions for each of the nine hybrid hellebore parents. I have spared you many details that interest me as a collector. I felt that this was enough to take in in one article. I should probably also mention that none of the photos above picture the true leaves of the plants, which come out after the flowers. What you are seeing above are the bracts, which are part of the flower stem and often reflect the leaf characteristics. If readers are truly interested, I could photograph the leaves, which in many cases are extraordinary, for a later article.

I would really appreciate reader feedback on your experiences with these species, and I would especially like to know if you think any of them are mislabeled and why.

Caroly

This is part of a series of articles on hellebores, one of the specialties of my nursery. Here are links to the other articles:

Part One Hellebores for Fall

Part Two An Ode to Seed Strain Hellebores

Part Three Christmas Rose: The Perfect Hellebore

Part Four Dividing Hybrid Hellebores

Part Five The Sex Lives of Hellebores

Part Six Double Hellebores

Part Seven Cutting Back Hellebores

Notes: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information. If you want to return to my blog’s homepage to access the sidebar information (catalogues, previous articles, etc.), click here.

Nursery Happenings: I sell several of the species hellebores pictured above so if you are interested send me an email (no mail order). My next nursery event is Bulb and Native Wildflower Day on April 9 from 10 am to 2 pm.

Thanks from Tara:

In my post I Need Your Help, I asked you to send cards to Tara, the five-year-old daughter of Kartik whom I profiled inNew Year’s Resolution to Edit the Garden. Tara had recently been diagnosed with leukemia. As a result of your generosity, Tara received cards from all over the world and has sent you one in return.

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Hellebores for Fall

Posted in Fall, Fall Color, hellebores, Shade Perennials with tags Bearsfoot Hellebore, Christmas rose 'Jacob', Christmas rose 'Josef Lemper', fall-blooming hellebores, Helleborus dumetorum, Helleborus foetidus, Helleborus niger 'Jacob', Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper', Stinking Hellebore on December 4, 2010 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Bearsfoot hellebore growing in my manure pit wall

Hybrid hellebores, the variety of hellebore that most gardeners grow with the big, nodding, showy flowers in beautiful colors, are generally not fall-blooming plants. They give depth to the fall garden through their evergreen foliage, but they are not thought of for flowers (except a rogue hybrid bloom now and then). In the mid-Atlantic, they bloom as early as January, but generally start to flower in February. But there are a few species (as opposed to hybrid) hellebores that flower in fall, and my late fall garden has been much enhanced by their addition.

Winter foliage of bearsfoot hellebore

If I had to choose a favorite hellebore, and I have almost every species and hundreds of hybrids, I would pick the bearsfoot hellebore, Helleborus foetidus. It wouldn’t be for its charming Latin name: foetidus speaks for itself. And not for its alternate common name, stinking hellebore, though it doesn’t deserve that name when you have to mangle the leaves to elicit a smell. Rather I would choose it for its substantial 2′ evergreen presence, like a miniature rhododendron in the garden. And for the interesting spidery texture of its always pristine dark green leaves. But mostly for how its chartreuse bell-like buds and flowers perch atop its beautiful foliage from November into May.

Fall buds emerging from bearsfoot hellebore

Bearsfoot hellebore grows in part to full shade and is the only hellebore that I am aware of that likes slightly moist soil. That being said, my grove—if they are happy, they spread—received no additional water for the entire summer of 2010 when we had the worst heat and drought I have ever experienced. Bearsfoot and all my other hellebores came through with flying colors. I grow all my hellebores with plenty of compost.

Fall buds of bearsfoot hellebore

Bearsfoot hellebore in full bloom

Two other fall-blooming hellebores are superior selections from the true Christmas rose, the species Helleborus niger. Christmas roses are beautiful plants and well worth growing for their outward-facing, starry, pure white flowers and elegant blue-green leaves. But the straight species is sadly mis-named. In the mid-Atlantic, it blooms in March at the earliest when Christmas has long past. However, the amazing plant breeders at Heuger in Germany who have produced the superior Helleborus Gold Collection have developed two Christmas roses that bloom from November into May.

Christmas rose ‘Jacob’

The first, HGC ‘Jacob’, is a compact and refined plant 6 to 8″ tall with graceful, smooth dark green leaves. It starts blooming in mid-November (it was a little late this year) with copious 2 to 3″ white flowers maturing to rose, and continues to produce buds into May. The second is HGC ‘Josef Lemper’, a 10″ plant with 3 to 3 1/2″ flowers and larger, lighter green leaves. It comes into bloom about two weeks later than ‘Jacob’ and also continues to May.

Christmas rose ‘Jacob’ coming into bloom in November

Emerging buds of Christmas rose ‘Josef Lemper’

Christmas roses are a little more finicky than hybrids. Like most hellebores, they prefer well-drained sites with plenty of organic matter. But they have a definite preference for the edges of beds in part shade as opposed to sunnier or shadier spots. My best stand is in an open area shaded by 100′ trees on a steep slope. I have never found that they needed supplemental lime as the books suggest.

Helleborus dumetorum

I am throwing in the final fall-blooming hellebore more for curiosity sake than for its ornamental value. Over the years, I have collected most of the hellebore species. I have tried to get them from more than one source so I could compare them. The variation is amazing, but no more than hellebore aficionados like Graham Rice will tell you to expect. One plant I have collected is H. dumetorum—it’s so obscure it doesn’t have a common name. Its small green flowers and ordinary leaves do not endear it to gardeners. However, I am including a photograph of one of my plants here because every year it blooms in late October and continues to spring.

For more information on hellebores, I highly recommend noted hellebore expert Graham Rice’s website. The book The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hellebores by Graham Rice and Elizabeth Strangman is excellent. It includes amazing pictures showing the variation within the different species. I will add both sources permanently to my sidebar so you can always find them. If you really want all the details about hellebores, try Hellebores by Brian Mathew (Alpine Garden Society). It is out-of-print but available at horticultural libraries, including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

Carolyn

This is part one in a series of articles on hellebores, one of the specialties of my nursery. Here are links to all six articles:

Part One Hellebores for Fall

Part Two An Ode to Seed Strain Hellebores

Part Three Christmas Rose: The Perfect Hellebore

Part Four Dividing Hybrid Hellebores

Part Five The Sex Lives of Hellebores

Part Six Double Hellebores

Part Seven Cutting Back Hellebores

Note: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information.