Hellebores to Try and They’re Heavenly!

If you’ve yet to take the plunge and add some hellebores to your garden, thinking they’re boring, I’ve spotted some hellebores I’ve not seen before which I think could convert you.

Read more: Hellebores to Try and They’re Heavenly!

Why Plant Hellebores

I think one of the reasons why lots of people don’t have hellebores is they perhaps think they’re all leaves. This is so unjustified. The hellebores have exquisite flowers which provide much needed January interest. Along with snowdrops, they brighten otherwise drab beds and dark corners and at that point we’re thrilled to see them.

But fickle gardeners that we are, come April and May we’ve forgotten all this. We’re distracted by other showier plants such as our tulips.

Hellebores’ humble blooms which are still going strong can’t compete with such glamour. That’s when we start grumbling about the hellebores leaves. The poor old plant has been working its socks off for five months and all we can say is “ooh aren’t they a lot of leaves!”

It’s so unfair. Added to this, as you can see in this blog how to care for hellebores, they’re easy-peasy to grow. They provide a fantastic early source of pollen to insects.

I’ve also read that their downturned flowerheads mean the pollen doesn’t get washed away by rains and protect the insects while feeding. What’s not to like about all that!

And now I’m going to give you six more reasons to add them to your garden. Six beautiful varieties of hellebores which are new to me… and some seem to be early flowering, providing colour from November through to April or May. That’s 7 months!

Ice N’ Roses Early Rose

First up is Ice N’ Roses^® Early Rose . It can be enjoyed from late autumn onwards and keeps going well into April. In November its flowers are this lovely combination pink, white and apple green. But then, apparently, its flowers turn a dark rose colour as they age. So even after the initial flowering, the plant keeps offering you something new to enjoy. It can cope with semi shade but this long-lived hellebore also is fine in full sun.

Ice N’ Roses Early Red

Early flowering too, but a stronger red colour from the get go, I think this is a wonderful variety of hellebore to try.

Again happy in sun or partial shade, you can expect this luscious colour from early as November and it won’t fade. Growing about 50-60cm tall, I think this hellebore looks lovely on its own but the experts suggest planting it with hebes, heucheras, bergenias or heathers.

Helleborus Monte Christo

If you’ve had enough of the reds for a moment then let me sooth with you this beautiful hellebore, Monte Christo. Not only are the flowers cool and gorgeous, but it has leaves worthy of a mention. My photo doesn’t do them justice so let me describe them. They’re a slightly shimmery silvery bluish (evergreen as are all hellebores). These set off the clusters of flowers which appear typically in early December through to spring. They’re carried on strong, red stems.

Creamy, green tinged with with a bit of a pale pink, almost apricotty edge to them, the flowers will brighten a shaded spot. And that’s what this variety prefers – partial shade to be precise.

Rosado

If you are after a bi-coloured hellebore, then this is well worth a look. Rosado has large flowers that appear from February until well into April. They’re white at the centre and then become deep rose almost raspberry towards the edges. This is another of those hellebores to try for its leaves. As after flowering, it produces new dark green glossy leaves which are tinged reddish on the undersides. So even when the blooming is done, it’s still adding drama and impact to your beds and borders.

Malory

I think the way the pale pink softly suffuses the creamy, green flowers takes some beating. Compact and slightly lower growing, (40-50cm tall) Malory produces a constant supply of these glorious blooms from December to March.

Barolo

Sorry I couldn’t keep away from the reds for long! What I love about this one is the robust extra large claret-red, flowers rising imperiously on showy long stems. The backs of its leaves also look a bit like beetroot leaves to me. Anyway, I think it’s a stunner. Barolo copes with sun or partial shade, so almost all of us can grow it. I think it could look really good with a red or black heuchera such as Wildberry.

Hellebores to Try in Containers

If your reason for not having tried hellebores so far is that you just have a patio area, then let me leave you with a couple of container ideas involving hellebores.

Pink Hellebores

I saw this planting at a garden centre and loved it. I’m not sure of the variety of hellebore they’ve used but I think Rosado, Monte Christo or Malory would work beautifully. Here they’re planted with a heuchera, the variety lime marmalade would be super. Then a grass like Pennisetum Shogun, adds height and feathery softness to the whole display. And if you look closely the grass also provides a further hint of pink to complement the colour – so clever!

Red Hellebores

Barollo or Early Red would work brilliantly in a scheme like this.

Once again this isn’t my handy work but a clever planter I spied at a garden centre. Here the red hellebore is being combined with a heuchera, but this time it’s a red one. My favourite red heucheras are Root Beer, Fire Chief and Wildberry. The display has the added limey interest of Skimmia Finchy for good measure. (It’s a plant I’ve used in autumn or winter containers often in the past, it’s such a useful plant). I can see a smaller Hellebore in this planter too – it looks like Verboom Beauty. But there are so many you could use. Joshua is a lovely compact early flowering variety, as is Diva.

Smaller Display

Don’t have room for a large container? Well how about this sweet little container packed with nothing but Hellebores Verboom Beauty?

Hopefully this small selection of six (new to me) hellebores together with some container ideas will inspire us all to find a home for another hellebore (or two) in our gardens.

Happy hellebore gardening – x