Learn about a perennial cold season bloom

Hellebore

Helleborus x hybridus

By Ethan Johnson, Plant Records Curator

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Berry Swirl’ at Holden Arboretum west of Blueberry Pond

Acharming perennial for its cold season bloom, this member of the buttercup family thrives in partially shaded locations. Also known as Lenten rose, hellebores usually start to bloom in February or March at both Cleveland Botanical Garden (CBG) and the Holden Arboretum (THA), finishing in late April. Colors range from purplish to greenish to pink or cream and some are speckled or bicolored. Most hellebore cultivars are raised from seed so variation is to be expected, even with double flowered forms. The parents of Lenten rose are native to the Caucasus, n. Turkey, e. Bulgaria and ne. Greece.

Depending on the richness of your soil plants will reach 1 to 2 feet in height. The leathery evergreen foliage is attractive, but it is susceptible to winter burn in our climate. I cut the foliage of my plants at home during a thaw in January or February. Simply clip and bag any unsightly foliage just before new leaves and blooms appear.

At CBG hellebores may be seen in the Campsey-Stauffer Gateway Entrance Garden, along the C.K. Patrick Perennial Border, the Evans Restorative Garden, Hosta Hillside, the Waterfall Garden, along the edges of the Hershey Children’s Garden, by the Terrace in the Western Reserve Herb Society’s Garden, and in the courtyard outside the gift shop. At THA the Corning Visitor Center Courtyard, the Hedge Garden, Display Garden, west of Blueberry Pond, and the Helen S. Layer Rhododendron Garden is where the hellebores are.

Helleborus orientalis, also known as Lenten rose, is a primary parent of the hybrid. To get exactly the flowers you are looking for, visit garden centers early to select plants in bloom. For a wider selection, mail order plants must be chosen early since the most attractive hellebores sell out quickly.

Prepare the soil or bed ahead of time. Wash as much of the potting soil off the roots as is practical before planting and plant them with their crowns even with or slightly above grade. To avoid rot don’t put mulch on their crowns. Irrigate during establishment. All parts of the plant are poisonous containing cardiac glycosides with a burning taste, so deer and other creatures usually shy away.

Hellebores can be appreciated more fully when sited near a walkway, patio, or window. A site that receives a lot of winter sun is important for earliest flowering. Hellebores may be planted with early spring blooming bulbs or early spring ephemeral wildflowers for maximum late winter and early spring floral interest. Their seeds ripen in late June or early July and are equipped with a tasty little elaisome so they may be dispersed by ants. Seedlings can be culled as they compete with the mother plant and may not have the flowers you desire. Plants may be divided in late summer/early fall or early spring.

PLANT FACTS

LIGHT: part shade SOIL TYPE: Moist, well-drained

SIZE: about 1.5’ tall and wide

BEST LOCATION: USDA Zones 4-9

SOURCE: Garden centers or mail order

MEET THE STAFF

Ethan Johnson is the Plant Records Curator. He learned to keep records while working for the Arnold Arboretum (1985-89) and Holden Arboretum (1981-82, 1989-present) while volunteering for the International Dendrological Research Institute, Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association Plant Selection Committee and the American Conifer Society. He was the point person when the American Association of Museums accredited Holden Arboretum as the sixth public garden in the U.S. as a museum in 2001, has curated the Storer Herbarium, mapped, labeled and inventoried Holden Arboretum’s plant collection and starting in 2015, has been keeping plant records at Cleveland Botanical Garden.