16 Stunning Hellebores for 2017

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Hellebores are one of our favourite flowers for the later winter and early Spring. Given our never ending winter, we had the opportunity to grab a few photos and showcase some of our favourites, some new and some old. If you haven’t planted at least one of these, your garden is missing out!
Hellebores

Royal Heritage Lenten Rose

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Royal Heritage’A strain of hybrids with long-lasting cup shaped flowers in a range of colours including purple, pink, green, white, near black all with contrasting yellow stamens. Some flowers are spotted or brushed with a contrasting colour. Each blossom has overlapping petals forming a cup-shape. Flowers in late winter. Dark green leaves are leathery and serrated. Grows 18-24 inches in height.

Pink Marble Hellebore

Helleborus lividus ‘Pink Marble’Pink Marble is shorter than many other Hellebores. It blooms in late February with rich pink buds and soft pink blooms on rosy-pink stems. Foliage is bluish-green and oval shaped with silvery veins. Excellent in a container as it only grows 10-12 inches in height. Deer resistant too!

Pennys Pink Hellebore

Helleborus ‘Pennys Pink’Pennys Pink Hellebore is one of our favourites this year. This variety features large, cup-shaped flowers that emerge mauce-pink, maturing to deeper pink. Leaves are blue green, evergreen and leathery with silver green veining. Prune off old leaves in winter. Grows 18-24 inches in height.

Hellebores

Spring Party Lenten Rose

Helleborus x hybridus ballardeaeSpring Party Hellebores feature creamy white flowers on rosy stems. Green, gray and white marbled leaves. These blooms appear late winter to early spring and make a great addition to a shady high profile area where they can be enjoyed peeping out early in the season. Grows 10-14 inches in height

Champion Hellebore

Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Champion’Champion Hellebore features large creamy white flowers with a dark pink reverse. Handsome, evergreen foliage. Deer resistant. Grows 8-12 inches in height.

Merlin Hellebore

Helleborus ‘Merlin’Merlin Hellebore features outward-facing, light pink to pink flowers that mature to a deep cranberry. Very dark foliage with dark stems. Deer resistant. Grows 12-15 inches tall.

Hellebores

Annas Red Lenten Rose

Helleborus ‘Annas Red’Plants produce bushy clumps of thick, leathery evergreen leaves with large cup-shaped flowers. This selection features single burgundy-red flowers on red stems over marbled evergreen foliage. Prune off old leaves late winter before the buds emerge. Grows to a height of 18-24 inches

Spring Sweetie Lenten Rose

Helleborus orientalis Spring ‘Sweetie’Large double, rose coloured flowers with purple dots. Bushy clump of evergreen leaves. Grows to 12-24 inches in height.

Spring Darling Lenten Rose

Helleborus orientalis Spring ‘Darling’Plants produce a bushy clump of thick, leathery evergreen leaves. Flowers appear in a wide range of soft pastel shades. Features large, upward facing, single flowers in antique rose-pink with faint white veins and a central green flare. Great in containers. Grows 14-16 inches in height.

Hellebores

Spring Diamond Hellebore

Helleborus orientalis Spring ‘Diamond’Flowers on this stunning variety are large in a wide range of soft pastel shades. This one is double in white to pale pink highlighted in green, each petal edged in rose. Plants produce a bushy clump of thick, leathery evergreen leaves. Grows 14-16 inches in height.

Peppermint Ice Winter Jewels Hellebore

Helleborus Winter Jewels ‘Peppermint Ice’Peppermint Ice Hellebore forms a mound of leathery, evergreen foliage bearing upright stems of large, saucer-shaped blooms from late winter through spring. Features double blooms in shades of white and rose-red with a rim of darker pink edging. Deer resistant. Grows 15-18 inches tall.

Spring Velvet Lenten Rose

Helleborus orientalis Spring ‘Velvet’Spring Velvet is a rare and unusual variety. Plants produce a bushy clump of thick, leathery, evergreen foliage. Flowers are large, upfacing, single and violet in colour with darker violet dots. Early flowering. Grows to 8-12 inches in height.
Hellebores

Double Fantasy Christmas Rose (Winter Dreams Series)

Helleborus niger ‘Double Fantasy’Double Fantasy is a member of Winter Dreams Series of Hellebores. It produces beautiful, semi-double outward facing blooms with ruffled white petals and a golden stamens arranged in a circle. Stems are tall and are accented with handsome dark green leaves in compact clumps. Deer and rabbit resistant. Perfect in shaded woodland, native or shade gardens. Evergreen. Reaches 8-12 inches tall.

Cotton Candy Hellebore

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Cotton Candy’Cotton Candy Hellebore features large, double fluffy pink nodding flowers in shades of light pink.Dark green foliage is deer resistant. An ideal variety in beds and borders. Grows 12-24 inches in height. Created by One of the world’s top hybridizers, Marietta O’Byrne

Sparkling Diamond Hellebore

Helleborus ‘Sparkling Diamond’Sparkling Diamond is a member of the Winter Jewels series of double hellebores. This variety produces a profusion of double, pure white blooms. A delight in the winter garden. Shade tolerant and deer resistant. Grows to a height of 12-14 inches.
Hellebore foetidus foliage

Stinking Hellebore

Helleborus foetidusRounding out this collection is the classic Stinking Hellebore. It is an evergreen perennial noted for its deeply divided dark green foliage and late winter to early spring bloom. Clusters of drooping, bell-shaped, greenish-white flowers start in February. Grows 12-24 inches in height.

How to Grow Hellebores

Helleborus are evergreen perennials that thrive in shade or part shade, usually around 3-6 hours of sunlight per day. They prefer moist, but well drained woodland soils. They benefit from regular watering, weekly or more often in extreme heat. Somewhat drought tolerant once established. Enrich soil with leaf mold or compost for better growth. Mulch for winter. They typically bloom from late winter through early spring and most are hardy from zones 4-9. Remove old leaves as new spring growth begins. Hellebores are often used in the border, in the cutting garden, as a groundcover, a mass planting or in the woodland garden.

Thanks to Art’s Nursery Garden Centre for this blog!