Re: Winter Perennials - hellebores
- To:
- Subject: Re: Winter Perennials - hellebores
- From: M* T*
- Date: Sun, 10 Oct 1999 20:34:07 -0400
Cut it back to the ground, Louise. Your climate and season for doing this
may be different than mine, seems to me I do this in spring as new foliage
is starting to come on......I will remove any that look very ratty whenever
I see them, but mainly cut them back - seems to me - just before or while
they are blooming. Of course, I am notorious for not doing things by the
book:-) About the only disease the Hellebore hybrids are susceptible to is
black spot of the leaves. This doesn't occur as a matter of course, but it
is something to keep an eye out for . If you ever see blackening of
hellebore leaves - remove them promptly no matter what time of year it is.
Also, remember that this does NOT apply to H. argutifolius, H. lividus or
H. foetidus. You don't cut them back until you see new growth on the stems
as these are of the caulescent type....removal of leaves with black spot is
the same, tho'. I am really not sure what one does about the hybrids of
these with H. niger (who doesn't fit into either the caulescent or
acaulescent groups) - x sternii, x ballardiae, x nigercores and x
ericsmithii. Just got my hands on a x sternii and need to see if it
survives before I worry about cutting back:-) Haven't grown the others.
Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor: Gardening in Shade
current article:Vines - Part 5 - Ivy
http://suite101.com/welcome.cfm/222
All garden topics welcome page:
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/3425#top5
----------
> From: Louise <louise@the-english-family.freeserve.co.uk>
> Date: Sunday, October 10, 1999 2:48 AM
>
> Thanks to everyone for their inspirational ideas. I'm
> surprised at how many of these plants I've got - I just
> didn't realise they would look good in the winter because I
> only planted them this year. I had also forgotten about
> hellebores, but I have planted five of them in the garden
> earlier this year. I was interested Marge in you saying to
> cut back the old foliage at the right time of year. I had
> put a note in my diary to cut back hellebore foliage in
> October "so that new growth doesn't become infected with
> hellebore leaf blotch". Don't know where I got this from.
> But how far do you have to cut hellebore leaves back - right
> to the ground or not quite so drastic? Thanks for your
> help.
>
> Louise, southern England
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
