Hellabores Galore
I'm not a slave to the fashionably new, but when so many new hellebore cultivars were made available last year, I was frustrated when I was unable to find them for sale. To make matters worse, here in Southern Ontario, most of the nurseries and garden centres don't get going until May, by which time my own hellebores have been in bloom for several weeks.
This frustration is compounded by the fact that the plant material from nurseries is wintered over in hoop houses and are in bloom even earlier than those in the ground. The result is that most plants that are available in the Spring are way past their best when they go on sale, and since hellebores are one of those plants that need to be selected when they are in flower, this is a very disappointing prospect.
In many other parts of the (tremperate) world, nurseries organize hellebore sales early in the year, when the plants look their best, but again in Southern Ontario there is no such activity, and so this year my friend David Leeman and I have decided to organize our own, starting this weekend ( April 2-3) we will have Hellebores Galore, for sale in my own garden( details of this in the sidebar).
David at the wholesale nursery. Yes that is snow outside!
Helleborus 'Jade Tiger' strain.
Another form of H. 'Jade Tiger'.
This frustration is compounded by the fact that the plant material from nurseries is wintered over in hoop houses and are in bloom even earlier than those in the ground. The result is that most plants that are available in the Spring are way past their best when they go on sale, and since hellebores are one of those plants that need to be selected when they are in flower, this is a very disappointing prospect.
In many other parts of the (tremperate) world, nurseries organize hellebore sales early in the year, when the plants look their best, but again in Southern Ontario there is no such activity, and so this year my friend David Leeman and I have decided to organize our own, starting this weekend ( April 2-3) we will have Hellebores Galore, for sale in my own garden( details of this in the sidebar).
David at the wholesale nursery. Yes that is snow outside!
Helleborus 'Jade Tiger' strain.
Another form of H. 'Jade Tiger'.
Comments
Good luck with your event, it is a fabulous idea. We canadians need more of these, spring starts way before May 24th!
I will try to visit on Sunday - thanks for doing this!
Wish you were here. Maybe next year we'll do this again.
Hope to see you on sunday and that you'll introduce yourself. It would be nice to actually meet in person.
So sorry but this is a single, personal shopping event.
You might check out an Ontario nursery called "Floral and Hardy' who ship hellebores.
The doubles have been developed in the Oregon nursery of Ernie and Marietta O'Byrne. Pretty spectacular aren't they.
We did very well, sold out by about noon. Not sure how to tell the people who show up tomorrow??
Sold out already? LOL!! Just goes to show you how popular these wonderful gems are, and as you mentioned, with so few nurseries open and having them available when they are blooming, you have definitely hit pay dirt!
I too adore the Marietta O'Byrne series and witnessed my own Jade Tiger's bloom last summer - fabulous chartreuse with a luscious deep purple infusion on the edges and reverse of its petals! Sublime!
You will have to double your inventory for the next event for sure. Congrats on your combined success!
Curiosity begs me to ask which was the most popular? I cannot keep H. ballardiae 'Pink Frost' on the benches at work!
I can't get enough of these guys...wish I had hit your sale!