Sunday 22 March 2015

More on Hellebores

Although I only have a total of 9 Hellebore plants (and two of those are very tiny), I am really happy with their performance this Spring.


Just look at the number of blooms on this plant!


I am currently very enthused with Hellebores, and one of the reasons for this is the sheer variety of different types available. This one is called "White Spotted Oriental Hybrid". From above / the outside, the flowers are definitely pink.


When you look at them from underneath / inside though, they are much paler (verging on white) and definitely spotted:




This one (on the same plant) is almost green.




My next photo shows two blooms on another plant, one seen from above and one seen from below, which illustrates again the colour difference.


Most of my photos of Hellebore flowers have a finger in them, because I have had to hold the flower in such a way that you can see its inside.


One of the reasons I have been pleased with the Hellebores is that they have provided a splash of colour in the garden when little else is out. Many of the flowers appeared before the Spring bulbs began to appear, and it looks as if they will still be flowering when the bulbs have finished.

This lovely dark one was recently given to me by my blogging friend Alice, who runs Lock Cottage Flowers. Being a single one it relies on colour rather than shape for its dramatic effect.




In the next few photos you can see something of how the seeds develop.








I have heard that Hellebores self-seed easily, so I hope mine do. It would be nice if I had a whole bed of them!

11 comments:

  1. I like those last ones a lot. Sadly I don't have any here. I had a few hellebores at my last house that were given to me as a gift. Though around here they don't bloom much earlier than the bulbs. Once the ground unfreezes everything takes off at once.

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  2. Those are just lovely - I especially like the multitude of ruffled petals.

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  3. I love hellibores as well and we have quite a few in our garden. My efforts at photos are not quite as good as yours though. We have had a wonderful display this spring and probably have about twenty plants. I picked up the idea of floating the flower buds in water from Monty Don and it is certainly a great idea in order to see them properly. Just started following your blog and finding it most helpful gardening-wise as I am not really a gardener but do like pots and have been following your advice about re-potting. About to try and re-pot a fig tree which is 3/4 years old. That should be interesting!

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    1. Hello "Foreveryoung"! It's always nice for me when a new Follower introduces themself. It sounds as if you ought to have a look at my post(s) about re-potting Bay trees (use the "Search this blog" facility in the sidebar.)

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    2. Thanks Mark. I have already re-potted my bay tree following your blog and plan a similar operation for our fig tree.

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    3. I did my Blueberries this year too. Quite a big job, but hopefully it will boost the yield considerably. And of course the herbs get re-potted every year in early Spring. What are your favourite plants?

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    4. I think hellebores are my favourites actually - just counted them and we have 16 plants at present, but I think there are some others appearing in the undergrowth. I also like daffodils and of course they are everywhere at present.

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  4. Fabulous. I do like the one which Alice gave you and the speckled one is very lovely too. I love hellebores, I just wish they'd hold their heads up so that we could see all their beauty.

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  5. Lovely, Hellebores are beautiful, but as you have seen, photographing them is not easy! But I do like the thrill of upturning the flowers and seeing if they are spotted, doubles and so on.

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  6. Hellebores certainly earn their place in the garden not only do they flower when little else is about but they keep flowering for ages

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