Save on Gifts for Gardeners!

Helleborus × hybridus:
2005 perennial plant of the year

Helleborus x hybridus or lenten rose - named as the 2005 perennial plant of the year by the Perennial Plant Association - is one of the most attractive and longest-blooming shade perennials.

Helleborus are evergreen, late-winter or early-spring flowering members of the buttercup family.

They are hardy in Zones 4 to 9 and can survive in Zone 3 winters with reliable snow cover.

Growing Helleborus - the 2005 perennial plant of the year:

Mature plants form clumps about 18 to 24 inches tall and 24 to 30 inches wide.

Their long-lasting blooms come in many colors and single or double forms. In a mature clump, you can expect as many as 50 or more flowers per plant.

Flower colors range from pure white to a deep plum, with in-between shades of pink, rose, magenta, cream, pale yellow or green. Flowers often show intricate contrasting spots on the inside of each cup-shaped bloom.

There are semi-doubles to doubles and some forms with picotee edging, almost like fancy stitching.

Hellebore flowers can last for two months or longer, followed by attractive seed pods. The plants have thick and sturdy leaves, divided into seven to nine segments resembling coarse leathery umbrellas.

The leaves add a nice texture to the shade garden, and create a perfect backdrop for bulbs and other perennials.

Caring for Helleborus × hybridus

Helleborus x hybridus grows best in partial to full shade, where it provides attractive color, texture and form.

Lenten roses are the easiest Hellebores to grow, preferring an average to rich, well-drained soil with plenty of added compost. In hot summer regions, the plants prefer the shade of deciduous trees, but where summers are cool they will tolerate a fair amount of sun.

Hellebores are easy-care plants. Aside from giving them a shady spot in compost enriched soil, all you need to do is water them through dry summer periods.

Although the foliage is evergreen, winter conditions make the leaves rather tattered by spring. The flowers appear at the first signs of milder spring weather, so prune all the old leaves to the ground in late winter, so the blooms and new leaves look their best.

Use gloves when you cut Helleborus back because contact with the leaves can cause mild dermatitis in some people. Fortunately, it's this same characteristic that keeps these perennials off the menu of hungry deer.

Choosing Hellebore cultivars for your garden

Most lenten roses are commercially propagated from seed.

Even specially-bred colour strains do not come 100 percent true, so it's best to buy plants in bloom if you're after a specific form or shade.

Established clumps will often produce lots of seedlings on the ground below, which appear in early to mid spring.

If you want more plants, move the seedlings to a new location while they still small; otherwise the leaves of your existing patch will smother self sown seedlings.

Your young seedling plants may take two or three years to reach blooming size. Don't be surprised if they flower in shades that are different from the parent plant, since cross-pollination by insects usually means that each seedling is unique.

You can divide mature plants in spring or fall, but they are slow to recover. It can take a couple of years for divisions to bounce back and flower well again.

The lenten rose is a great hellebore for beginners. The beauty of its long-blooming flowers, easy-care nature, and the fact that it thrives in low light makes this one of the most rewarding shade perennials to grow.

For more information:

Go from Helleborus x hybridus, 2005 Perennial Plant of the Year,
to main page on Shade Gardening

Success with plants in dry shade

Hosta - the classic shade perennial

More tips on gardening with perennials

Flower Gardening Home