Hooked on heavenly hellebores

Their names may not trip off the tongue, but the exquisite spring flowers of the Hellebore are a full-skirted feast for the eye, writes FIONNUALA FALLON

LIKE SO MANY other gardeners of my acquaintance, I am something of a hellebore junkie, an oddly addictive but relatively harmless habit that I first acquired in my teens. And so, in the way that others might crave the taste of a handmade chocolate or covet couture clothes, rare white truffles or Graff diamonds, I have slavered at the thought of growing the elegant Balkan species H. torquatus from seed, sulked when my H. niger plants upped and died, and drooled at the sight of the black double-flowered H.  ‘Midnight Ruffles’ (yes, the names are a mouthful). In fact, the only time in my life I’ve ever seriously contemplated grand horticultural larceny was while on holidays in Croatia, when I discovered swathes of hellebores (a species unknown to me) growing in mixed woodland on an Adriatic island, close to the ruins of a centuries-old monastery.  In the end, I didn’t, but oh, how I was tempted.

My fascination has a lot to do with the hellebore’s exquisite spring flowers, which resemble nothing so much as silk ballgowns in a Cecil Beaton photograph – intensely hued and wonderfully full-skirted, sometimes frilled or ruffled, daintily freckled or even picotee, so that the outer edges of the petals (more properly “sepals”) appear to have been delicately dipped in ink.  In a mild year, the Lenten rose (Helleborus x hybridus) can begin flowering in January and continue right through to March or even April. I like to pick the individual blossoms and then float them, upended like miniature boats, in shallow bowlfuls of water – a table decoration that always gives great pleasure. Its flowers aside, the Lenten rose’s evergreen foliage as well as that of the Corsican hellebore, H. argutifolius, and Helleborus foetidus are also decorative in the winter garden.

And then there’s the hellebore’s complicated breeding history (“taxonomically challenging” is an understatement) and that distinguished bloodline that stretches all the way from Europe to China – a source of fascination in its own right. There are also the individual stories of the many men and women – the famous “Helleborus Queen”, Helen Ballard, the nurserywoman Elizabeth Strangman, the botanist Sir Frederick Stern and the breeder Eric Smith amongst them – who have devoted their lives to breeding ever more beautiful hellebore hybrids while quietly commemorating themselves in the process.  Now, like living pieces of horticultural history, we have the Ballard strain of hellebores, the Washfield Doubles (named after Strangman’s now-defunct nursery), H. x sternii  and H. x ericsmithii.

Adding to all these charms is the fact that the hellebore is a long-lived and promiscuous little perennial, readily colonising the ground around it with baby seedlings.

Statistically unlikely as it is, every one of them carries the potential to produce something unique. For the gardener who likes to play God, you can shorten those odds by deliberately hand-pollinating the flowers using the pollen of chosen plants, then constantly reselecting the best plants from the resulting seedlings. But be warned that it takes skill, patience and the record-keeping capabilities of Gregor Mendel to become a true hellebore breeder. Bought seed can be slow and difficult to germinate, particularly if it’s become dormant or has been poorly stored, while hellebores are slow-growing and notoriously capricious when it comes to breeding true to type.

My own very brief and laughably unsuccessful attempts were soon stymied when my trays of H. torquatus seed stubbornly refused to germinate and the dogs decided that some much-treasured clumps of dark-flowered hellebores (their flowers, which were of the deepest, inkiest purple, had just set seed) would make a very comfy bed.

All of which means (sigh) that I’m almost back to square one as regards my own great hellebore adventure. But if you’re starting out on yours, here’s a few tips to keep in mind along the way.

Although hellebores are traditionally described as shade lovers, many will also do well in full sunshine as long as they’re given a fertile, moist but well-drained soil enriched with plenty of organic matter. Mulch plants with compost/leaf mould in autumn.

When purchasing hellebore plants, always try to buy them while they’re in flower (now).

Try to plant your hellebore plants on a raised bank or in a raised bed, so that you can easily appreciate the flowers without having to squat down on your hunkers.

Hellebores associate well with other spring-flowering plants. Try growing them with snowdrops, Eranthis hyemalis, Cyclamen coum, crocus and pulmonarias and with foliage plants such as ferns and low-growing grasses.

Cut back old foliage in late winter/early spring to prevent diseases such as leaf spot spreading to newly emerging foliage and flowers.

Aside from tissue culture, the only way to propagate a named hellebore hybrid so that the new plant is identical in every way to the parent is through division, using pieces taken from the outside of the clump (these are most vigorous).

Mail order suppliers of hellebore seed include UK-based hellebore specialists Ashwood Nurseries ( ashwoodnurseries.com), Phedar Nursery ( phedar.com) and Evolution Plants ( evolution-plants.com)

Two of the very best hellebore websites are hellebores.organd hellebore.com

DIARY DATE

The RHSI seminar Garden

Design – Innovative Practical takes place on Saturday, March 3rd (10am-4pm) at The National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. Speakers include Oliver Schurmann, Tim Austen and Tycho Mays. Cost: €65, to include morning coffee and light lunch.

To book, tel: 01-2353912

This week in the garden

Divide/move large clumps of well-established perennials where necessary

Prune roses (bush and repeat-flowering types)

Buy and chit seed potatoes

Sow (in a heated propagator) seed of tomatoes, chillies, aubergines, celeriac

Sow seed (into modules/trays, in gentle heat and under cover) of onions, lettuce, some brassicas, and bedding plants such as petunias, dahlias, lobelia, nicotiana