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The shade loving hellebore is stepping out into the limelight, as gardeners rediscover the `winter rose' which brings glorious color to the garden while other plants wait for spring.

The hellebore is a small evergreen flowering plant which has been grown for about 3000 years for its medicinal properties. Nowadays, hellebore is not recommended for use as an herb, as the root (traditionally dried and ground) is actually quite toxic. Better by far to grow hellebore as a color feature in your garden, especially in the shady but often bare areas beneath trees.

The most common species of hellebore are Helleborus Orientalis and Helleborus Niger. These are also known, respectively, as the Lenten and the Christmas rose because of the times they flower.

The Lenten rose, or Helleborus Orientalis, is a compact plant produces large flowers in shades of purple and pink, and white and green. Some hellebore flowers are spotted with red; some are striped with other shades. They cut well and look spectacular in a vase or flower arrangement. Being such a hardy plant, they will last as cut flowers for a week, especially if you dip the stems in boiling water before arranging them.

The Christmas rose, or Helleborus Niger, blooms with white flowers in the heart of winter in its natural European climate. This variety needs more care than the Lenten Rose, which is a far more hardy plant.

The newer hybrids have an even wider variety of flower colors and combinations of color, and a wider range of flower shapes. But they are still a compact flower and need to be planted in masses and clumps for the best effect.

Hellebores love cool, moist conditions, and a shady position, so they need extra care during the summer. Plenty of shade is a must, and they need to be kept moist and well mulched to stop the soil around them drying out.

You will not need to prune your hellebores much, just enough to keep the clumps trim and compact, and you can easily propagate more plants by dividing the clumps after the flowers have died down.

Sometimes you will seed pods forming in the center of the flowers. You can catch these seeds by putting a paper bag over the flower, and use them to propagate more plants. However, the plants grown from seed will take several years to flower, so the method of dividing the clumps is better if you don't want to wait for color in shady areas.

You don't have to fuss over hellebores as long as they are happy where they are planted, and protected from dryness in summer. In cooler conditions, they will flower profusely with little attention required, and provide a welcome spot of color in the garden, as well as a regular supply of cut flowers for the home.

Learn more about this author, Gail Kavanagh.
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