How to Care for Your Hellebores
Keep them happy, and hellebores will enliven dappled shade with their elegant good looks
Hellebores thrive in dappled shade in soil that is well cultivated, fertile and always moist during the main growing periods of spring and autumn.
If you’re buying plugs, plant them into a deep, one or twolitre container for the duration of the growing season. Keep them in cool semi-shaded conditions, not a greenhouse or conservatory, and plant them outside the following spring.
If you’re using pot-grown hellebores, plant them as soon as possible after buying them. Dig over the ground and add some compost or well-rotted manure before planting. Take care not to damage the roots and gently firm the soil around the plant. Water your plants straight after getting them in the ground and ensure the crown of the plant isn’t covered up.
Hellebores are hungry plants. Give them a liquid seaweed feed every two to three weeks in April and May and again in September. As autumn approaches, top dress them around the root zone with bonemeal, but avoid the crown of the plant. Add a balanced, slow-release, pelleted fertiliser, such as Vitax Q4, in late winter.
Cutting o the foliage in December helps to prevent hellebore blackspot. Don’t do this to newly planted hellebores in their first year because they’ll still be getting established.
Seed ripens in June and should be sown straight away. Like many members of the Ranunculaceae family, the seeds have a short period of viability. Deadheading is recommended though if you don’t want to collect the seed.