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| Picture by Angelina Ho, Pixabay |
Stepping out my front door this Valentine’s morning in minus 6 degrees, I couldn’t help but notice the astonishing clumps of hellebores underneath a dusting of snow. Known as Christmas Rose (Heleborus niger) or Lenten Rose (H. orientalis,) my hellebores seemed impervious to the cold. Lenten roses get their name because they appear at the start of the Christian season of Lent. All winter long their leaves flatten slightly to the ground, but remain as evergreen perennials. Their new growth usually appears during late January and February, with their drooping cup-shaped flowers emerging soon after. There’s a reason these flowers sag down.
The drooping habit of Hellebores is a survival mechanism. According to the Colorado State University extension website (https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/hellebores/), these plants were originally native to Greece, Turkey and Russia. Rain, hail and snow in these higher elevations would normally kill the pollen grains, so the plant's natural defense against these elements is to droop so early insects can still pollinate them. They require shade or part shade and well-drained moist soil with a good amount of organic matter. Once established, hellebores are extremely cold hardy and very drought tolerant.
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| Picture by CityPeeps, Pixabay |
Interestingly, all parts of the hellebore plant are toxic. Deer, voles, gophers and moles won’t go near them, but humans and pets should
be careful. They’re easy to propagate by dividing in the summer or late fall.
Keep the transplants well-watered but with good drainage. Some of the varieties
are self-sowing. Three hellebore
varieties were trialed in 2015 and 2016 by the Colorado State University perennial
trial gardens: http://csuhort.blogspot.com/2016/03/helleborus-for-colorado.html
I've never tried using them as cut flowers, but I read that they're best cut short and floated in a bowl of water.
