Who would be without a hellebore or two in the dark months of February and early March, when we long for the onset of spring? Their generous, characterful flowers bring colour and hope to the garden when we need it most, and they really don’t need much to keep them happy.
Hellebores have been cultivated for thousands of years, even as far back as Greek and Roman times, when the plant that we now know as the Christmas rose or the black hellebore (Helleborus niger) was used in medicine. Containing powerful compounds that can be poisonous in large quantities, the roots were believed to be a cure for mental disorders. Britain’s only wild hellebore is Helleborus viridus, which is found in small pockets of the country, particularly on chalky woodland. It is a beautiful plant, with half a dozen or more nodding flowers, their outer petals the same fresh-green as the leaves, with clusters of creamy stamens inside. The Corsican hellebore, H. argutifolius, also has green flowers – paler, and held together in clusters – while H. foetidus, the stinking hellebore, has tough, dark green leaves that contrast with a tallish stem bearing numerous pale green bells.
H. x hybridus ''Frostkiss Glenda's Gloss'
But these wild species of hellebore are less showy than the hybrid plants that most people are drawn to. Known as H. x hybridus, these seed raised hybrids come in a seemingly unending variety of colours – from deep, luscious plum and buttercup yellow to slate grey and purpley-black, some beautifully marked with spots or blotches, others with extravagant double flowers or ‘anemone’ ruffles. In commercial terms, most of these hybrids are difficult to propagate vegetatively (by division) so they are raised from seed, meaning that the flowers
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