Hellebore season

Our weather has been so up and down for so many day that some of my Hellebores are fully up and blooming while others are barely pushing up buds. This is only a sampling of the crazy numbers of this plant I grow.

In my Zone 5 climate, there is no other plant that rivals it for early arrival, flower color and size. Unlike spring ephemerals, it makes a statement in the landscape. Note that I used thin twigs to hold most of the flowers upright in order to photographic them.

Helleborus 'Sandy Shores' from the Honeymoon series. This plant is a significant size having only been planted in 2020.

H. hybrida 'Cotton Candy'

H. 'Red Racer' 

I think the outer petals of 'Red Racer' are even more glorious than the inner ones. 

H. orientalis 'Ivory Prince' has somewhat smaller flowers but they're outward facing. 

And the flowers are equally attractive on the other side and the leaves are beautifully patterned.

I bought three plants of H. hybridus 'Jade Tiger' after seeing it in Loree Bohl's garden. Well, actually her garden blog posts!

Luckily the reverse of the blooms is equally beautiful as these guys are really hanging deeply downward this year.

H. hybridus 'Pine Knot Selected Foliage Forms'. I adore this one as the color is so different from any of the other Hellebores I'm growing. 

Here's the reverse.

H. torquatus 

H. hybridus 'Mardi Gras Black'

H. 'New York Night' from the Honeymoon Series. I'm waiting for H. 'Onyx Odyssey' to bloom so I can determine which of the three is the darkest color.

Comments

[Kristin]

You have such gorgeous hellebores! I adore the dark ones, but that Pine Knot is calling to me. It's stunning. I appreciate your sharing your twig trick. I always have fingers in my hellebore photos. I'll give this a try.

[Linda Brazill]

KRISTIN - I got the Pine Knot ones about 7 years ago and I’m not sure if the nursery is still in business. They had some unusual ones for sure.

[Kris P]

A beautiful collection, Linda! The twig trick is a great idea.

[Beth@PlantPostings]

You have an amazing collection of Hellebores, Linda! I have a few, but I need to do a better job of maintaining the tags--the squirrels (I think) tend to dig them up and sometimes carry them away. ;-) I agree that they're a welcome group of early spring bloomers. And with the cold we're having, the blooms will last even longer...one benefit, I guess.

[Linda Brazill]

BETH — This weather seems to prove what I was afraid of: No winter etc. would mean it would arrive on the back end and we'd have a frustrating spring. The rain has been the one good thing. ​

[Christine]

What a beautiful collection. And the Pine Knot…oh my!!

[Linda Brazill]

CHRISTINE — That Pine Knot is swoon worthy. I checked their website this spring and couldn't find anything unusual. But they said to check back that they'd sold out a lot at their spring festival.