Jewel-toned hellebores glisten in shade

For many years, Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) and Lenten rose (H. orientalis) were the most commonly planted hellebores, but they appealed mostly to dedicated gardeners who searched them out for their late winter and early spring bloom. The names are a little confusing because few ever bloom as early as Christmas and none resemble the roses that most of us know.

These cold-hardy perennials with slightly nodding, saucer-shaped blossoms in white and pale purple have played only a minor role in gardens, but that is changing. In recent years, there’s been an explosion of new hybrid cultivars with double, even frilly blossoms in stunning colors to rival any other early spring bloomer.

The big innovation is a result of difficult and tedious cross breeding programs. Now, exquisite hues of pink and ruby red, yellow, white, and amethyst purple as dark as black are highlighted by a central cluster of yellow stamens and often bear contrasting speckles or streaks.

Some of the most exciting are labeled Helleborus x hybridus and were developed at the renowned but now defunct Heronswood nursery in Kingston, Washington. These cultivars are easy to recognize by names such as Heronswood Creamy Yellow Mix, and Heronswood Violet Red Strain.

Other breeders in Europe and the U.S. have been active, too, but omit their names from new hybrids such as Swirling Skirts, a creamy double flower bearing purple dots, and Party Dress, another fully double flower.

Close to home

Gardeners unfamiliar with either the original hellebores or the new hybrids need look no further than a well-stocked neighborhood nursery to find them. Sonoma Mission Gardens, Harmony Farms, and Empire Nursery stock them in limited quantities. Sonoma Horticultural Nursery offers seed-grown stock.

Emerisa Gardens carries several cultivars including a group from the Immanence Collection. These are long-lasting flowers that face more upward and outward than many others.

You may have to resort to mail-order nurseries such as www.forestfarm.com for more unusual forms such as Picotee Lady, Royal Heritage, and the Winter Jewel series.

EASY TO GROW

Besides the prospect of early and colorful bloom, hellebores are valued for brightening partial to deep, dry shade and for being deer proof. In cool coastal microclimates, they grow in full sun, but in more inland and hotter areas, late morning and afternoon shade is a must.

Blooms are carried atop thin stalks in small clusters from 7 to 15 inches high that rise directly from the ground. To keep up appearances after flowering, cut out dead flower stems and remove browned foliage.

As with so many other Mediterranean natives, hellebores thrive in soil amended with compost. Set new plants on slight mounds so that the base stands above saturated soil in winter.

Too much water will kill them but they must be kept moderately moist until established, which usually takes 1½ to 2 years. Then infrequent summer watering is sufficient, perhaps none for well-mulched plants in deep shade.

UNIQUE BLOOMS

We generally think of blossoms as composed mostly of petals, but in many species the petal-like sepals that enclose the bud are just as showy as the petals themselves. We admire them in tulips and day lilies and, in fact, can’t even tell the difference between the two. In other species the sepals are green and look more like leaves.

On hellebores, true petals are completely absent and sepals take their place. Collectively, the sepals surrounding the showy yellow centers are called the calyx.

This little botanical anomaly is interesting but far more meaningful to botanists than to home gardeners. The significance to us is that these flower parts are lovely, colorful, and make a delightful display in our gardens.

UNIQUE FOLIAGE

Two other hellebore species that are extremely well suited for our Northern California gardens are grown as much for their evergreen foliage as for their distinctive cupped, greenish flowers. Both are native to Mediterranean regions in Europe and are adapted to dry summers.

The Corsican hellebore (H. argutifolius) is taller and shrubbier that the newer hybrids and often reaches nearly 3 feet in height. Foliage is paler—bluish green, toothed, and marbled white in some cultivars—and tolerates more sun than other species.

One of the most decorative winter flowering perennials is bear’s foot hellebore (Helleborus foetidus), also called stinking hellebore for the smell of its infrequently crushed flowers and foliage. As long as you don’t use these large blossom trusses as cut flowers, there is no objectionable odor.

It’s the contrast of lime-to-chartreuse green flower clusters against the tracery of finely cut, deep green foliage that merits a place in our gardens. Each leaf bears 7 to 10 narrow, toothed leaflets. Stems grow about 2 feet tall, are many-branched, and arch about 2 feet wide. To most eyes, the foliage resembles a many-fingered hand far more than a bear’s foot.