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| Photo Credit: Lane Greer |
| The hellebore’s nodding flower gives the plant a distinct, almost shy appearance. |
Just when you thought that flowers were limited to spring, summer and fall, you stumble upon this lovely group of winter bloomers – hellebores. And I don’t mean “sometimes bloomers” or “early spring bloomers” – these guys bloom in the middle of winter, apparently unaffected by the cold.
This small group of woodland plants waits until all the leaves are off the trees to take advantage of wintertime’s short sunny days. Though hard freezes might do a little damage to new leaves or tender petals, for the most part these plants form the basis for the winter flower garden. Hellebores belong to the genus Helleborus, which has 15 species, all belonging to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). In the wild, they’re found in the forests of Europe and western China. Since they bloom around Christmas and Lent, they have common names like Christmas rose and Lenten rose. They include some of the showiest green-colored flowers found anywhere, mostly in the bear claw or stinking hellebore group, H. foetidus. New colors and flower shapes are developed each year by careful breeding, some of which takes place at nurseries in the Southeast. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: John Buettner | | Green flowers, like this Helleborus hybridus, are considered a novelty among serious gardeners. |
Though most people grow these plants in dappled shade with rich woodland soil, most hellebores in the H. foetidus group can handle full sun and even gravely free-draining soil as long as they get watered regularly.
The biggest complaint most gardeners have is that most Lenten rose flowers are nodding. In other words, the flowers look toward the ground and not up at the gardener. But newer cultivars have somewhat upward-pointing blooms. The flower colors range from white to deep purple, with all shades of pink in between. Winter doldrums are easy to suppress when you can walk out to the garden and enjoy these lovely perennial blooms!
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