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Garden Plant of the Month December: Helleborus

Helleborus flowers in the middle of winter.

It’s always spectacular: a plant that flowers when most garden plants are dormant. Helleborus (also known as the Christmas rose) treats you to large white flowers with a fantastic crown of stamens at their heart from November to March. The plant can cope with snow or frost: stems might droop a bit, but as soon as the temperatures ease again, Helleborus will straighten up.

 

Range

Helleborus niger is most widely offered in December. This clump-forming, usually evergreen perennial is loved for its nodding clusters of bowl-shaped white flowers in winter and early spring. The dark green foliage consists of multiple smaller leaves. There are various cultivars, usually with white flowers such as the cultivars ‘Christmas Carol’, ‘Diva’, ‘Paradenia’, and Joshua.

Helleborus orientalis has yellow, pink and dark purple flowers, and there are also varieties with spotted flowers.

 

Trivia

• The common name of Christmas rose derives from an old legend in which the plant emerged in the snow from the tears of a girl who had no gift for the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

• In the Middle Ages people cultivated Helleborus to keep away evil winter spirits.

• The plant has been known for a long time. The physician Melampus referred to it in 1400 BC.

• Helleborus symbolizes pioneering and survival.

Origin    

Helleborus is a member of the Ranunculaceae (buttercup) family. The plant is native to the forests of south and central Europe and west Asia. The plant can be spotted in the wild in the Alps, Carpathian and Apennine mountains.