Helleborus x hybridus 'Blue Metallic Lady'

Ranunculaceae

Hellebores are all excellent garden plants, ranging from the small Christmas rose (H. niger) up to some substantial herbaceous perennials, and flowering from mid winter (a highly prized virtue) through spring. Even after the flowers are over, many of them have persistent lime green calyces, which will happily pass for flowers. The tough, leathery leaves persist all year, but it is a good idea to cut them back just before the new ones emerge, so that their beauty can be enjoyed without distraction. Add humus to the soil in autumn.

		Helleborus argutifolius has also been known as Helleborus corsicus and Helleborus lividus subsp. corsicus, which gives a hint about its likings. It will tolerate hot, dry Mediterranean-style (if only!) summers and cool wet winters. It is a robust plant, with tough, glossy leaves divided into three leaflets and large, bright greenish yellow flowers in terminal clusters.
		Helleborus cyclophyllus produces leafless flower stalks in late winter, with large yellow-green flowers. The leaves, when they appear, are large and divided. An outstandingly good, architectural plant.
		Helleborus foetidus is one of the plants that is usually in flower in our garden on Christmas day, or very soon afterwards. The leaves are tough and deeply divided, and the flowers are cups of pale greenish yellow, persisting for a very long time.
		Helleborus x hybridus has a variety of flower colours from white to cream to mottled pinks. Foliage is evergreen unless there is a long, very cold spell. Likes to be in a sheltered position and soil needs to be kept moist in summer.
		Helleborus x hybridus black-flowered have velvety flowers in shades of dark purple and black. The foliage is evergreen unless there is a long, very cold spell. It likes to be in a sheltered position and the soil needs to be kept moist in summer.
		Helleborus x hybridus Sunshine selections are hand-pollenated F1 hybrids, produced in West Virginia. The parents are an amazing selection, with colours from virtually black to pale pink, and including spotted and picotee varieties. So expect some surprises.
		Helleborus lividus is a wonderfully coloured small species that in the wild is found only in Majorca. The flowers are cream to light green inside, and pinkish and purplish on the outer sepals. Combined with the mottled leaves, it has a most pleasing appearance. It is not reliably hardy in cold gardens, particularly if it is frosty for an extended period.
		Helleborus lividus 'White Marble' is an excellent variant of a first-class hellebore, looking great when in flower and for a long time afterwards. The trifoliate leaves are strongly mottled with white, and the flowers are also white. Most attractive.
		Helleborus niger is the Christmas rose, and often lives up to its name, but even if it doesn't it is worth waiting for. The flowers and leaves appear more or less together, the leaves with up to nine 'fingers' (or toes, since the botantical term is 'pedate'), and the flowers large, white bowls, sometimes tinged with pink. They tolerate the worst of the winter weather, and last for ages.