Early days for Hellebores
Helleborus hybridus Clear Yellow.
Helleborus hybridus Dark Pink with Cream Interior.
Helleborus hybridus with Green Eye.
It's early days for the Hellebores but there are a few that have jumped the gun and taken advantage of the unusually warm Spring weather. They are , of course, at their best when they first open and before they have been pollinated, and so I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of these at this stage.
Comments
Indeed, they are most beautiful specimens. I must try and get a photo of H. thibetanus - one plant is all of 3-4 inches tall and two flowers already - white... here's hoping they turn pink with age! The weather has been too good to be true. Off tomorrow so I will be in the garden. Hopeful that a photo post will follow.
I think Hellebores are native to the northern hemisphere, I'm always so envious of your climate and the plants you cultivate, but this time I have a plant that you can't grow.
I'm glad you like my choices for the post, most of these plants came from Farmyard Nurseries in mid-Wales. The plants there are made up from stock from Helen Ballard.
Do you know the the book 'Hellebores, A Comprehensive Guide' by C.Colston Burrell? It has H.thibetinus on the cover. In his description of the plant he says that the flowers are white to pink, deepening in colour as they age. Maybe you have a white form?
I was interested to read that your hellebores are of Helen Ballard stock. Most of mine, as I wrote in an earlier posting, came from her. She was a remarkable nurserywoman.
The truth is that any Hellebore looks good when you get this close. They are all unigue.
The major difference in our climates are the low temperatures at night. Quite often we have the same day-time temps, but at night , here it can drop 10c to 20c, whereas for you a 2c to 5c is the norm.
I checked again the Farmyard Nurseries site and they write "Bred almost entirely from the famous Helen Ballard line of plants, acquired just before her unfortunate death."
Thanks, glad you like the pictures.
Lets hope breeders will start creating cold hardy Hellebores real soon.
Thanks for visiting my site. Do you have a suggestion for a new name for a flower garden that was inspired by the English, owned by the Scottish, situated in Ireland and admired by the Welsh? Your objection to "English Garden" makes a lot of sense. However, where do we go from here?