Thank goodness it’s finally March!

Walk through the Garden and you’ll see many blooms starting to pop open—some that have been around for a while and are still holding their beauty are Hellebores.

Any plant that is brave enough to bloom during the dull, gray month of February is greeted with joy.  Hellebores have been my favorite for years and with the high cost of these plants in garden centers I can see there is a call for them.  In the early years of growing these plants the color of the flowers was a dusty rose-pink and greenish-white freckled with spots – not unattractive features but not pure gleaming white.

Most hellebores are native to mountainous regions of Europe in open oak and beech woodland, scrub and grassy meadows and rocky slopes.



Helleborus orientalis in the landscape

Hellebores grow from thickened, slow-creeping rhizomes with thick fleshy, sparsely branching roots which grow horizontally at or under the surface of the soil.  Most hellebores are deciduous in the wild, though in gardens with the abundance of moisture and nutrition they can be kept green and growing all year.  Honey bees and other small bees are the primary pollinators of the hellebores visiting frequently and spreading pollen throughout the garden.

Hellebores can be increased by one of three methods: seed, division, or micro propagation. The only one I have been successful with is letting nature help me with seeds. Taking seeds requires soaking, refrigeration and gathering them at the right time. I have been putting compost loosely around the plants and when the plants release their seed they seem to germinate in the compost. The plants are grown in compost so I do not compact the soil that is added.

Cut Hellebores require conditioning before putting them in a vase or other container, otherwise they will wilt. The process of putting the stems in near boiling water will cure them. They will last for two or three weeks in an arrangement.

Happy gardening!

Grace Lynch is a volunteer at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

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