Hello Hellebores

Hellebores herald the arrival of spring, often blooming as early as January with delicate cup-shaped flowers in a wide variety of colors.These evergreen perennials don’t usually

Helleborus Party Dress Picotee

Are Hellebores hardy in Scotland, of course they are. Today we are taking a look at two which have been in flower since mid January.

Plant a Hellebore in your garden and you will be hooked. Before too long, you will be searching for spots where you can have more of these Winter flowering beauties. Hellebores Harvington Pink Speckled is our latest find, and she is performing very well in a pot on our patio.

Hellebores are unique flowering plants with distinct colors and shapes. If you want to include them in your garden, select a unique specimen from theBest Types of Hellebores Varieties displayed below!

January is when I gradually work my way round the garden, cutting away the old hellebore leaves, carefully raking away the leaf litter to reveal the new growth, top dressing the plants with well-rotted leafmould and then mulching them with bark. The old leaves can carry disease, so when I cut them back I don’t compost them, but throw them away. I also dig up a

Last month, after sixteen years, I stepped down as Gardens Editor on Country Living magazine. I’ve had a brilliant time, but I decided it was time for a life with fewer deadlines and commitments, more time to spend in my own garden, to visit other gardens, and to travel abroad to see gardens as well as wild habitats. October will be my final issue, but with th

Hellebores don’t generally like being moved, but a combination of builders scaffolding and their border getting too shady convinced me the time had come to move them. Their new home is beneath the tulip tree where they will be shaded in summer, but only by the tree rather than low growing shrubs.

Hellebores of Every Hue I love the many colour variations you get with hellebores – even the less successful natural crosses that pop up in the garden look good when tucked in amongst the star performers. Many years ago I had the good fortune to visit Elizabeth Strangman at Washfield Nursery (sadly long gone) and was entrusted with a few plants (buying one was a bit like adopting one of her children).

Hellebore Futures I decided it was time to deal with the glut of self-sown hellebore seedlings and pot some up to grow on. Given that one trowel of seedlings produced 15 plants I could probably spend the rest of spring dealing with the remaining seedlings, but they are just going to have to take their chances where they are.

Heaving with Hellebores Everywhere I look in the garden the ground is thick with hellebore seedlings – I can scarcely credit there was a time when I really struggled to grow them, now I have to treat the majority of the seedlings as weeds or they will crowd out everything else and never amount to much themselves. So, I will transplant some into the shady areas where there is still space for a few more, pot some up to grow on and give away and hoe up the rest.

It’s August and I’ve photographed some things that are looking lovely.