Hellebores can flower as early as January and continue on until late April producing lovely nodding, saucer-shaped, flowers in many colours. Their foliage is virtually evergreen, just cut down the old leaves during January or February to show the flowers off to their best. They are very low maintenance and they don’t mind the shade. Most prefer heavy soils with plenty of organic matter added each year.
In our garden we have Helleborus argutifolius (Corsican hellebore) which is evergreen and has spread very easily to form a large clump. It just needs to be cut down in autumn to keep it tidy and then it comes up a lovely bright green each spring. It has quite an unusual scent which is not for everyone but I quite like it.
Hellebores are a favourite of Crocus.co.uk, here’s why they like them: “Low maintenance, virtually evergreen with a long flowering period and tolerant of dry shade, these plants should play an essential part of the winter garden. Mix them with ferns, Anemone blanda or hyacinths to create a naturalised woodland carpet, or pot them up and make a seasonal feature of them on the patio.”
Here is just a small selection of the varieties available; visit Crocus for more details:
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