Published: March 12, 2024
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The Hybrid Hellebores are currently a real showpiece on the edges of the woodland setting at the Lakeside garden. Companion planting includes Cyclamen coum and Crocus tommasinianus.
The colour tones of Hybrid Hellebores are quite something to behold, rich burgundy, plum, deep black-purple, greenish tints, pink/white flowers, deep apple greens, some tinged with deep red, soft shell pink – deep rose. The overlapping rounded sepals and the double flowered forms have all created a more magnificent form of the already incredible Lenten rose ( Helleborus orientalis )
Research and interest in garden history informs me that Miss Gertrude Jekyll created a famous Nut Walk that was bordered by Helleborus × Hybridus ( natural and intentional )
The Hybrid Hellebores were planted at the Lakeside during the autumn of 2022, so they are now establishing into the second season. Amidst the selection of hybrids of Helleborus orientalis, one of the real eye catchers is Pretty Ellen White, Smokey Blue is another magnificent showcase specimen flower. If there are any sharp-eyed gardeners with identification skills that spot that's another Hybrid, please let me know!
I've been undertaking another seasons propagating of Helleborus orientalis, seedlings pricked out of the soil around the parent plants from March 2023. It's a great way of increasing the stock.
From experience, I've learned that growing on seedlings can produce sporadic growth rates. Within the process of growing from seedlings to plants, the Hellebores can suffer from phytophora which affects the root system, botrytis within the foliage, and nutrient deficiencies giving rise to slow growth rates. The plants that survive after the first full year often flower the following year, and within 2- 3 years established sizeable plants can be achieved.
When planting out I mix a peat free compost within the planting hole with a good dose of leaf mould for a soil conditioner. Hellebores will grow well within a range of acidic, neutral and alkaline soils, the latter being the preference.
Within a woodland setting, aside from the perennial borders theme, I always plant along the edges in dappled shade, my trials ( trial and error) if planting too deep within the bare framework of trees, can affect flowering performance.
Kevin Line is Head Gardener / Plantsman at the Lakeside Hotel Garden, Cumbria. Freelance Garden Adviser at the Field Studies Council, and writes for the industry magazine and website of ( Hort Week ) Member of The Hardy Plant Society since 2013.
