Better Homes and Gardens (Australia)
Grow heavenly hellebores
Give your winter garden a boost of colour with these cool-weather beauties
are you looking for a plant that grows in dry shade, is frost and dry tolerant, has handsome foliage and flowers in the middle of winter? Then look no more! Hellebores are your answer. They really make a statement in the winter garden when planted in drifts and allowed to fill those spots where nothing will grow. They will cover areas under deciduous trees after just a couple of seasons. Traditionally, hellebores have pendulous flowers that are shy and retiring, but modern hybrids have upright blooms that look up at you. And with new varieties introduced every couple of years, it’s time we let these plants star in our gardens.
A rose by any other name
Known commonly as the winter, Lenten, snow or Christmas rose, hellebores are more closely related to ranunculus than true roses. The flowers come in a wide range of shapes and colours, from shimmering whites, greens, yellows and pinks through to deep, dark plum. Petals can be plain, flecked or marked. When not in bloom, they reward you with striking foliage – dark green and sometimes patterned with silvery green or purple veins.
How to grow them
Hellebores grow in the cooler regions of southern Australia, from Sydney to Perth and even as far as Toowoomba in Queensland. They don’t do well in humid climates but are frost tolerant and, once established, surprisingly dry tolerant. Give them regular water in the hottest months of the year.
Position To flower at their best, hellebores require full sun in winter and part-shade in summer, which is why they perform best under deciduous trees. They have a vigorous root system and require a bit of space.
2 Don’t have any deciduous trees? Don’t worry! You can grow hellebores, such as pink-speckled ‘Cinderella’, in decorative pots and use them as feature plants in courtyards and on patios.
3, 4 Old-fashioned hellebores
bloom face down and look wonderful grown in garden beds with daffodils, but that means you’ll have to plan ahead. Make a note for next autumn when you’re putting in your spring bulbs! Both flowers like partshade and there are daffodil varieties that bloom from midwinter through spring, so your hellebores will have company!
In the ground or pots, fill those empty, shady spots in your garden with heavenly hellebores