Heavenly Hellebores
Now is the perfect time to buy flowering hellebores to plant in your garden.
With their beautiful nodding flowers in such a wide range of colours and petal combinations, nothing perks up your early spring garden quite like Hellebores.
From green to pure white through delicate pinks, deep burgundy reds and almost pure black the large nodding flowers take on many forms, they can be simple saucer shaped flowers or many petaled double headed varieties.
Hellebores are such a valuable garden plant. Large deep green leaves through most of the year, long lasting winter flowers, shade tolerant, frost hardy and easy to grow… what more could you ask for?
Hellebores belong to the ranunculus family so are related to the more delicate summer flowering buttercups, delphiniums and anemones but hellebores are different; what we see as the flower petals are actually sepals, they are thicker and fleshier than true petals which is why hellebore flowers are so long lasting.
And its not just the flowers that are beneficial for your design, hellebore leaves die back just as the flowers come into bloom, so cut away the old leaves in late winter to reveal the new flowers in all their glory. Then in spring as the flowers begin to fade the fresh new foliage will grow, creating a lovely clump of large, glossy, dark green leaves which form a fabulous backdrop for any summer flowering blooms in your garden.
February is the perfect time to buy flowering hellebores to plant in your garden. Most garden centres will stock a range of plants and there are many online suppliers but if you are in Wales I recommend the fantastic
who specialise in ‘Helleborus orientalis’ hybrids.
Hellebores prefer a semi-shaded position in moisture retentive soil.
Dig in some peat free compost or leaf mould when planting. Established clumps can be lifted and divided in late autumn or early spring.
Whenever you buy new plants for your garden have a good look at the plant, make sure it is healthy with no greenfly, black spot or other disease or damage.
Happy Planting x