Helleborus

This page is devoted to all the Hellebores that I have. Hellebores are now setting seeds. In fact, some seeds have already exploded and ants are having a feast!

All gardens need some forms of constants - plants which will appear and reappear year in year out. Hellebores fill this role admirably as they are evergreen and will magically flower in deep, dark and dank winter. It's like fairies appearing in the gloom, when you're depressed, seeing no end to the miserable cold cruel days!

Why hellebores?

Hellebores are great naturalisers and they clump readily. Indeed, they need to be separated every few years. If you have clay soil, you will find that they are hungry feeders and big clumpsters. When dug up, you will have huge holes in the ground as their rootballs are huge. If you're lucky, you can tease out the numerous plants easily, but sometimes, you need to have a knife to carve them out into new divisions.

Once established, irises more or less look after themselves. Hellebores love a dry head, so it's a good idea to plant them under a deciduous tree which will shelter them from strong winds or rains. Yet, when winter comes, the bare tree will allow sunshine access the helleborus crowns, encouraging flowers to form and preventing a virus weakening and afflicting the plants with black spots.