I lurve hellebores
Crocus? Couldn’t give a damn. They flop over in the first cold wind. Daffodils? Fine, in a big swath in a field, but kind of loud in a small garden. Snowdrops? Beautiful, but I don’t have enough yet to make a real statement with them.
Ah, but hellebores. Yesterday, I had one of the best hellebore discoveries I’ve ever had. I was cutting back the crappy old foliage and brushing it aside, when I uncovered a gorgeous cluster of blooms that had been entirely obscured by an assortment of yard debris. (As I’ve mentioned on Rant, I didn’t touch a leaf in the fall, preferring to deal with them in their far uglier spring incarnation.) What isn’t great about hellebores? They are among the first spring flowers, but, unlike the others, they last for a good six weeks or better. Then their foliage continues, making a grand show through frost. And they love shade. Is it any wonder Plant Delights is maniacally creating more and more and more hybrids of these? Well, here’s one person who will be buying them.
I actually have some PD hybrids in another area (these are just the common type), but they are first year and a bit dinky as of yet.
Comments
But I do "lurve" my hellebores, too. I just wish I had more shade so I could have more of them.
Liebe Grüße
Sisah from Germany
Don't ask what kind of gymnastics I needed to do to get this picture, if only they could hybridize to get the flowers facing upright. http://www.flickr.com/photos/shiraf/2398371669/
Hellebores are some of my favorite spring flowers. Can't get enough of them.
Layanee, it is the last weekend in July--26-27.
Sufficient moisture? Shade? Compost added? (not that I add much)
Even if it was a very small plant, you ought to have seen something the 3rd year. They will take 2 years, easily, I know, but the flowers come slowly. At first (3rd year) I just saw a couple.
Many of the plants sold by Plant Delights are larger than what I bought, so they give better results faster.
My crocuses are most welcome bits of color right now in a sea of brown.
Crocuses (croci?) are for the birds (or is it rabbits?)
Hellebores persist well into the good weather after the little ephemerals have disappeared and that is really why I'm such a fan.
Love hellebores, this is really only my second year with them...once I figured out how beautiful and easy they are...
I agree crocus mass planted in a field is the best look....
Garden Walk is in July, for some reason I kept thinking May!
Gail
I thing GW could certainly be in June (think roses), but July works well for us.
Of course May is all wrong! Summer is just so hot in Tennessee...we have a few plants still blooming and in that egocentric manner I so clearly demonstrated ...I think of May when it's beautiful here!
Gail
I haven't tried planting any since I moved down here to Houston.
I like having the surprise element in the garden, too. Yet another reason not to clean up in the fall!
Frances at Faire Garden