Gardening: Heavenly hellebores,
They’re known as Christmas roses and will f lower until spring . . .
EVERY month has its special flower. Roses are spectacular in June, tulips in May, but for February it has to be the Lenten rose: hellebore. And thanks to inspired breeding, these winter beauties are lovelier and more varied than ever. Hellebores belong to the buttercup family. There are just 15 species, all native to Europe and west Asia, with two growing wild in Britain. Of these, Helleborus foetidus is most widely cultivated despite its common name, stinking hellebore.
I allow H. foetidus to seed freely in our gravel and love its maroon-edged green flowers. A foolproof shrubby kind, H. argutifolius endures our cold climate despite being Corsican, and produces apple-green winter blooms.
These are background plants rather than stars. For richer colours and a long-lasting show, hybrid hellebores offer more. The best result from crossing largeflowered species, including H. orientalis. You’ll see these label led H.x hybrid us but most people just call them orientals.
Herbaceous rather than shrubby, these can be cut back to ground level at summer’s end. It is fine to plant them now, when they are in full flower.
RIOT OF COLOUR
YEARS ago, colours were limited. Flowers could be green, white or ran through dusky pinks to purple-black. Clean, bright hues were scarce. But, in more recent years, i nspired breeding has resulted in a wider range of varieties with evenly shaped blooms in beautiful shades.
The finest results are being achieved by plant breeder John Massey at the famous Ashwood Nursery in the West Midlands ( ashwoodnurseries.com).
John has expanded the colour range from grubby tones to mouth-watering hints of pink, peppermint green, buttercup yellows, snow- white and, for lovers of sombre hues, slate grey or black. Flowers can be single, anemone-centred or double.
There are more in the pipeline, but breeding hellebores is a slow process. New varieties take years to mature and speedy propagation is not an option.
That makes young plants expensive. Expect to pay £15 or more for the best seedlings from highly selected breeding stock.
Hellebores like these are not difficult to grow. But with extra care, they’ll provide a superb show and last many years. They prefer neutral or slightly alkaline soil and will thrive if plenty of compost or leaf mould is mixed into neighbouring ground.
Full light is best during winter months, but hellebores prefer partial shade in summer.
That’s easy to provide if you plant them near deciduous trees or shrubs whose leafless branches will allow in winter light.
EASY TO GROW
UNLIKE most other perennials, hellebores do not benefit from bei ng lifted a nd di v i ded frequently. Just trim away the old leaves each autumn to avoid disease carry-over and allow the plants to mature.
John Massey advises feeding with organic material such as seaweed fertiliser or blood, fish and bone in spring and again in early September. He also recommends using spent mushroom compost as a mulch.
If happy, hellebores self- sow freely and, within a year or two, you could have lots of brightly blooming offspring.
However, be aware that if you allow free seeding without strict selection, successive generations will drag down the quality.
To avoid that, keep only the very best seedlings. Destroy inferior seedlings and expect to save less than 1 per cent of each new generation.
That seems cruel to baby hellebores, but it’s kind to your garden which, after all, deserves nothing but the best.