Helleborus

Hello all,

I thought I would share the following posting that I sent to Trillium-L, as
many of you may be interested in Hellebores:

<<Russ, (since this information may be of interest to some shadegardeners on
the list, I respond to your private email on list).  We were discussing "Re:
locating a plant (Astilboides tabularis)", and I mentioned growing H.
argutifolius in Zone 5b:

In a message dated 12/6/1999 1:54:40 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
grahams@open.org writes:

<< Jeanne,
 What a great, informative, helpful posting!  Do your Hellebore function as
 deciduous plants?  have you tried any other Hellebores?

 Regards,
 Russ >>

To answer your question:

None of my hellebores are deciduous except H. niger and H. thibetanus.  The
remainder live contentedly as evergreen plants (except the one unlucky,
unprotected H. argutifolius in winter 1998-99).  In the spring, I usually
have only a few unsightly leaves to prune from the bottom of the H. x
hybridus, and I suspect that were I to protect these from the weight of the
snow cover and also from the bite of the fierce winds, there would be less of
that.  Most of the hellebores receive about 2 hours of direct sunlight per
day, and about 6 hours of filtered light.  I note that the H. x hybridus that
receive four hours of sun per day with another 8 - 9 hours of filtered light
have grown much better (bigger, more flowers) than the H. x hybridus that are
grown in more shade.

I grow H. argutifolius and H. x sternii next to each other in soil that is
not too heavy, and that retains moisture.  There are three plants of each,
now having formed, in their 2nd year, good-sized clumps.  Those are the ones
I "tent" with the largest "rose cones" [a/k/a "Plant protectors"] that are
made from white Styrofoam and available here at Home Depot, Meijer Thrifty
Acres, Ace Hardware, and many other places.  Some of the plants are getting
sufficiently large that I will have to make Styrofoam covers from house
insulation next year.  [There was an informative article on plant protection
in the December 1999 issue of Fine Gardening.]

I have five plants of H. foetidus 'Wester Flisk' -- a beautiful plant!  The
three original plants have formed a huge (unprotected) clump and have bloomed
prolifically, producing much seed. I added two others last year because I
find the plant so lovely. Only H. x hybridus and H. niger are rated as hardy
where I live.  I grow all of the above, having three large clumps of H. x
hybridus and a small patch of H. niger. I have one H. thibetanus that has not
grown well. I think I need to move it to a spot with more moisture.

The plants do perform better when some protection from the weight of the snow
is put over them.  In a "good winter" we will get up to 280 inches of snow,
and our Hellebores enjoy a good four foot blanket of insulation for much of
the winter -- into mid to late February -- probably most important as
protection from the raging and brutal winds, which are very damaging [drying]
to the plants.  Heavy snow cover does delay the flowering, however, but I
have had the snow melt to reveal flowers on occasion.

You may wish to review Chapter 13, "Hellebores in America" in The Gardener's
Guide to Growing Hellebores by Rice and Strangman. The Rice Strangman book is
an indispensable resource for those interested in this genus of plants as an
choice collector's specimen for the garden in the States.  See, particularly,
their comments on hardiness in chapter 3 ("Cultivation"): First they compare
the climactic zone in Britain with that of the Pacific Northwest (implying
that the Pacific Northwest is the more ideal place to grow them -- but what
about all those signs in Oregon telling auslanders to "go home" -- just
kidding). Then they state that "[O]nly H. lividus and H. vesicarius are best
treated as tender in Britain, while H. multifidus subsp. hercegovinus is
perhaps the least hardy of the others . . . " They continue: H. argutifolius
"may be killed outright in zones 4 and 5" and note that the tender form from
a noted Pacific Northwest nursery was "killed outright even in a mild winter
in zone 6/7". Rice and Strang advocate protecting the plants from biting
winter winds in colder zones.

The experiences of many American growers are described in chapter 13, and
their names, given in the acknowledgments at the end of the chapter would be
familiar to many of you I am sure.  Although I am new to this discussion
group, I recognize some of the names from Arisaema-L, of which I am also a
member.

Let me permit these enthusiasts "without whom this [the Rice/Strang] chapter
would not have been possible", many or most of whom may belong to this
discussion group, to bask in a little aura of appreciation and recognition:
"Allan M. Armitage, Noble Bashor, Ann Bucher, Caroline Burgess, Elaine Baxter
Cantwell, Charles O. Cresson, Evie Douglas, Judy Glattstein, Pamela Harper,
Dan Heims, Don Jacobs, Sam Jones, Nina Lambert, Ann Lovejoy, Henry A. Ross,
Marco Stefano, Joanne Walkovic, Janette Waltemath, Wayne Winterrowd, and in
particular Sue Buckles".

I hope this information is useful to you, and that others will be interested
in it.  I can't help but feel that if you love Trillium, you've got to love
Helleborus! [And who among you has tried Arisaema? I confess to having
fallen completely in love with this genus -- an uncontrollable passion!]  I
do warn you: if you get it, it's an incurable disease.  Thankfully, it's not
fatal!

Jeanne Hannah
Traverse City, MI 49686
USDA Zone 5b
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