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Happy Hellebores

May 11th, 2016

In my Ohio garden I had one hellebore (aka Lenten Rose) and I loved it. It grew beautifully and seeded down in a few spots. Eventually, I’d love to have a dedicated hellebore garden, until then I’ll make do with the few that I have here and there in the garden.
heleborus spring promise conny 1
heleborus spring promise conny 2
I have a lovely white and pink one, a dark purple one, and a green one that I brought from Ohio. I’m hoping that they’re finally mature enough to start producing seed so I can start growing my own seedlings. If you want to read more about these beauties and see lots of lovely images of a wide variety of colors, check out The Layered Garden. Even if you aren’t into hellebores, you’ll love the beautiful garden featured in this book.
heleborus spring promise purple
lenten_rose
green hellebore
Hellebores are fantastic because they are evergreen and they bloom super early in the spring. I’m looking forward to having a dedicated hellebore garden someday in the future, they should do very well in one of the woodland areas. I should be able to cross pollinate these three plants to get a few interesting colors/varieties. Perhaps I’ll just move them all to one area of the garden and see what mother nature does on her own.

Do you have any plants that you are looking to have a garden area dedicated to?

3 Comments to “Happy Hellebores”
  1. bonnie knox on May 11, 2016 at 8:42 am

    I have been thinking of getting a hellebore plant or two, but I hesitated when I read that the optimum pH is near neutral. The area that I have where I considered planting them appears to have black root rot in the soil, a pathogen that does better at a higher pH, as well.
    However, from what I’ve gathered hellebores seem to do reasonably well even in acidic soil. Have you found that to be the case with yours?

    Reply to bonnie knox's comment

    • Kyle on May 11, 2016 at 9:27 am

      Mine are thriving in acidic soil in Western Washington. When I bought my house, I didn’t know what a hellebore was and they had planted one in the lawn. I kept accidentally mowing over it for two years! I eventually dropped a big tree in the area and mulched that section of lawn with the wood chips. That little hellebore sprang back to life and said HEY, I AM STILL HERE! I added about 20 more this spring, working slowly towards a hellebore garden.

      Reply to Kyle's comment

  2. Sara on May 11, 2016 at 10:43 am

    Those are lovely, I’m not familiar with those! I have added that book to my hold list, and wanted to say thanks for all your great reading recommendations. After checking them out from the library several times I finally bought Living Seasonally and A Year at North Hill so I can re-read them every year :)

    Reply to Sara's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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