Scrapbook image

Your scrapbook

Forgotten your details?

Enter your email address and we'll send your username and password to you

London

  • CloudyToday
    9°C/17°C
  • CloudyTomorrow
    7°C/15°C
  • See Gardeners'
    7-day forecast

Our Gardeners' 7-day forecast warns you of changing weather conditions (including frost, high wind and drought) and suggests actions to take to protect your plants.

Gardeners' World magazine - 3 issues for £1

Save 25%

Subscribe now

Advertisement

Gardeners World blog

RSS RSS | What is RSS?

Plants

Oriental hellebore

Posted by: Adam Pasco, 04 February 2008, 11.01AM

Hellebore It's worth getting out into the garden even when the weather is so cold. I find I've been missing out for the past few weeks; there's a plant doing its own thing while everything around it is dull and dormant - the hellebore. The oriental hellebore, in particular, is a stunning sight in winter gardens. A single plant spreads nicely each year, and mine now forms a bold clump covered with flowers. These cry out to be touched, begging for an individual flower to be turned over to reveal its hidden glory. Who could resist their charms? Petals surround a bold clump of stamens, looking so clean and productive that they're certain to pollinate and produce seed.

That northerly wind is cold and bracing, and while I'd love to stay outside and admire them for longer the warmth of the kitchen beckons. But I'm not returning alone. A single pure, perfect flower is carefully plucked, to be floated in a small glass bowl of water and used as decoration for the dinner table. The whole family can now admire its beauty without donning coats and boots. They ask "why would a plant produce such beautiful flowers in the middle of winter?". Sorry, I don't have the answer, but I'm glad they do!

I remember speaking to somebody from a nursery at one of the flower shows last year about a new variety of oriental hellebore being developed, with an upward-facing flowerhead. Unfortunately I can't remember who I spoke to! Once I've remembered I must get some more details and write about it further.

Comments

  • Lorrie Flannery

    04 February 2008, 05.35PM

    I know just what you mean. I have a beautiful, pure white one, which is a mass of flowers and it is right outside my lounge window. So whilst I can't look into the flowers from inside the house I do have the joy of seeing such a lovely plant every day.

    I also have a deep red one further down the front garden and three or four others in varying shades of pink and white in my back garden. Another feature I love about them is the ease at which they self seed and the surprise you have to look forward to when the self seeded ones flower for the first time as you have no idea what colour the flowers will be. You are right, hellebores really are a joy to behold.

  • impis

    07 February 2008, 06.13PM

    I have never grown hellebores before this year, and now i remember why. Agreed, the flowers are beautiful, but unless you are a worm on the ground beneath them, looking up, you cannot see their beauty. [Unless you handle them, of course] To me, they just look wilted and sad. Still, maybe when they clump up a bit, they'll look better. I hope so anyway.

  • Roger Twigg

    07 February 2008, 07.56PM

    I agree hellebores are underrated. They are lovely and all the more so because they flower at this time of year. Some of mine have been out for a few weeks whilst others are yet to come. I noticed I have several seedlings. I wonder what colours they will be? White and yellow colours dominate at present,the darker reds are just coming into bud.

  • Marie

    07 February 2008, 10.18PM

    Wasn't is Ashwood Nurseries near Kingswinford that are developing the upward-facing flowerheads?

  • Liz

    08 February 2008, 09.25AM

    I was a bit uncertain about the flowering of my hellebore. I bought a 6-pack one from the local garden centre. They were small and I was assured they would flower around jan-march. I bought them for a friend who wanted a flower to plant in bloom in memory of someone who had died.

    However after planting them nothing has happened. I keep looking at photos of hellebores thinking it should look like that but they haven't flowered and aren,t showing any signs of flowering. Any suggestions.

  • Lorrie Flannery

    08 February 2008, 07.21PM

    You need to keep them well watered and feed them regularly in the summer to encourage them to flower in the winter. I have a number of helebores that I planted in spring/summer 2006, they did nothing last year but this year they are a mass of flowers. Another tip is to remove most of the big leaves when they start to flower so you get a better view of them.

  • margaret

    10 February 2008, 07.08PM

    Can you divide the clumps? If so when would be the best time to do it?

  • Catherine of Manchester

    10 February 2008, 09.21PM

    I too have been admiring my Helebore, which has been blooming for 2 or 3 weeks is beautiful but remains very small even though in its third year. I believe known as the lenten flower, or easter lily, and as it has been blooming early, do you think the plant knows that lent is early this year!!!?, but more importantly, what should I feed to encourage growth?

  • Lorrie Flannery

    11 February 2008, 04.22PM

    I feed mine with a high nitrogen fertilizer in the summer to encourage leaf growth - I use sulphate of ammonia sprinkled round the plants at the rate stated on the packet and forked into the surface. I would also water it in if the soil is dry.

    Then in the autumn and winter I would switch to a high potash fertilizer, such as tomato food, to promote flowering.

  • John

    11 February 2008, 06.44PM

    I have a border just outside the house and most of the day in its shadow. The Hellebores love it there though and we can see them from the window. Mine are mostly dark coloured (one is almost black) and I have planted snowdrops among them. A lovely contrast. Later in the year I will plant some little begonias there for the summer.

  • Linda

    17 February 2008, 05.16PM

    I shall be leaving the uk in 2009 to live in Czech Republic and love Hellebores. The temperature has been -20 there for the past week and I wondered if these wonderful flowers had any chance of surviving in these very cold conditions.

  • Helen Peachey

    29 March 2008, 05.37PM

    I have just redesigned a border to incorporate hellebores and hostas. The plants really complement each other and the hellebores make me smile every time I see the beautiful variety of the blooms.

  • carglo

    08 May 2008, 11.25PM

    Oh how I agree. Hellebores are a joy to grow. Obliging,satisfying and very beautiful. Be patient they will grow taller and stronger each year.

  • Margaret Wirral

    10 May 2008, 10.22AM

    I have had a wonderful display from my Hellebores from late winter until the recent warm weather. They are planted in a large pot in semi-shade. However, they have now wilted. Does anybody know whether I should cut them back completely and repot them or simply feed and water them through the summer?

Leave a comment

We'd love you to post a comment, but please be aware of our Code of Conduct.

Please email gworld@bbc.co.uk to report any comments you feel are inappropriate. Please detail the post title and the comment you are referring to in your email. We'll take a look, and take appropriate action.

By submitting your contribution to this site, you confirm your acceptance of the website terms.

Thank you for your comment

Thank you for your comments. All comments will be looked at by a moderator, however, due to the numbers of comments we receive, we can't promise that all will be posted on the site.

 

Subscribe to the magazine

May edition of Gardeners' World Magazine

In May...
The May issue is on sale from 29 April. Subscribe today and receive the next three issues of Gardeners' World magazine for just £1.

The UK's number 1 gardening magazine

Our show

BBC Gardener's World Live

Gardeners' World Live, 11-15 June 2008

See details

TV & Radio

Television icon

What's on this week

Find out what gardening programmes are on TV and radio this week. And read more about the Gardeners' World programme.

Offer

Planter

Buy a Felco pruning set for just £44.99

BBC Magazines

© BBC Magazines Ltd. BBC Worldwide Ltd.

The BBC Gardeners' World Magazine word mark and logo are trademarks of BBC Worldwide Ltd.

BBC Magazines is owned by the BBC and our profits are returned to the BBC for the benefit of the licence-fee payer.