Hellebores are the Perfect Shade Plant
If I had to pick a super-hero garden plant, it would be the hellebore. These plants are the perfect combination of tough and beautiful. They’re deer resistant, evergreen, and grow in shade. I’ve seen these plants bloom when it’s snowing. They’re seriously tough.
In this article, I am sharing photos of the hellebores blooming in my garden. Night time temperatures are still below freezing, but these plants are made to take our brutal Michigan spring. Super-hero plants. No doubt about it.
Helleborus ‘Madame Lemonnier’
This hellebore has clusters of outwardly facing pink flowers. The foliage is a deep emerald green and the flower stems are a deep burgundy. This hellebore has sterile blooms (i.e. does not set seed) which is a bummer. I was hoping to grow more, but then I noticed this is a patented variety. Asexual reproduction is strictly prohibited according to the plant label. The hellebore police are watching so be careful.
Helleborus ‘Yellow Finch’
This is a yellow hellebore with a reddish center. This hellebore set seed for the first time last autumn, but I neglected to pay close attention and when I went to collect the seed, it already fell to the ground. I’m on the look out for seedings. Keep your fingers crossed.
Hellebores from Trader Joe’s
I have a couple unknown varieties of hellebore I purchased from Trader Joe’s. I jokingly refer to them as Helleborus ‘Trader Joseph’. Honestly, if I didn’t save my plant tags, I’d forget all the cultivar names. Not knowing their names doesn’t make them any less beautiful. One has deep burgundy flowers and the other is white with a green center.
Hellebores are also great cut flowers and they bloom when gardeners are most desperate for signs of life in the garden. If you don’t grow hellebores, these plants are worth adding. You’ll be glad you did.
How do you “set seed” from a grocery store arrangement? Is be interested to learn more about that!
Hi Kayla,
It’s pretty fun to grow hellebores from seed. Once the flowers are pollinated, you will see that the seed pods will start to swell in the center of the flower. They will get fairly large. Once those pods open up, they release the seeds. My Yellow Finch hellebore set seed last year and I have 5-7 baby plants growing this year. I also got some seeds from a friend on Instagram and they started growing this season too. They will take 4-5 years before they get big enough to flower so it is a hobby that requires patience. Here is a link if you want to learn more about Hellebores https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/lenten-rose-helleborus-xhybridus/.