We’re joined by Susan from Shady Grove Gardens to talk you how to grow, care for, and hold hellebores as cut flowers. Susan has been working with flowers for 31 years, and she was kind enough to come and talk to us about how to take care of hellebores.
You’re in for a big treat if you’ve ever been mesmerized by the allure of the hellebore!
It was in the garden of my friend Foxie where I first noticed a hellebore. She owns Pharsalia, an incredible event space and flower garden near Tyro, Virginia. Although Foxie is well recognized for her peony collection, the truth is that she also has a ton of other fantastic collections.
Pharsalia’s flowers begin to bloom in the winter, and during my first season of working in the flower industry, she was only a short drive from my house. Foxie, I believe, contributed to my deep love of flowers. My excitement was stoked by that winter garden. She has a wide variety of hellebores.
I visited Pine Knot Farms in Clarksville, Virginia not long after seeing Foxie. I was allowed to look at Judith and Dick’s incredible collection of hellebores. I wanted to examine the bloom’s processing and vigor. The failure of hellebores as cut flowers at the time was generally acknowledged. They responded so nicely to my little dip in cool water processing that they made it not only back to Lynchburg but even up to Pennsylvania for my very first wedding. Since they weren’t really sold on the wholesale market at the time, I recall being quite anxious about being able to find the flower and having it stand up when I proposed the flower to the bride. My trial flowers held strong for two weeks thanks to their success, and the Pink Frost variety held up even better! I was very relieved to deliver those blooms to Anna and to have overcome my concern that they wouldn’t make a good cut.
They attracted interest and began to be easier to find on the wholesale market over time. They performed horribly when they were shipped, though. This has altered over time as post-harvest procedures have advanced, and I find that they ship reasonably well. I treat the flowers using the same methods, but local hellebores have a longer vase life. They’re simply superior than dahliaslocal.
Handling Hellebores
Fill the vase almost all the way up with hellebores since they thrive in deep water. As a result, pressure is created, which forces water up the stems. To prepare a fresh stem, either make a long diagonal incision at the base and then dip it in Quick Dip before inserting it into the full vase, or use an X-Acto knife to make small, gentle scoring cuts down the length of the stem to allow easy access to the xylem and quick water uptake.
Hellebores are fairly hardy once they’ve been cut, and you can even do it while they’re frozen! A plant may take four years to become established in your yard, but once it does, it will bloom from the beginning of winter until June, and as long as it is given access to a reliable water supply soon after being cut, it may be kept in a vase for a number of weeks.
Cut hellebores make excellent bouquets. Furthermore, Susan’s plants in the movie survived outside of a cooler for more than two weeks. Thirteen days after we recorded this movie (which was snipped a few days earlier), I used the images in my How to Photograph Flowers lesson.
Should I remove the hellebore flowers?
Before the flower pods split, I always remove all of the flower stems. Last but not least, it’s common advice to divide your hardy perennials every three years and replant the healthiest pieces in better soil.
When hellebore flowers have faded, what should you do with them?
Most gardeners concur that you should prune your hellebore plant when it has finished flowering. Typically, this occurs in the late winter or early spring.
Trim them as soon as new growth begins to show, and remove the old leaves by slicing them off at the base. It is not necessary to immediately prune the old foliage if it still appears to be healthy and robust. But be careful not to let it grow too long, as this may cause it to entangle with the new growth and become much more difficult to remove. Make sure the slugs are kept away from the plant’s leaves.
Given that hellebores are perennials, if you take care of the plant after it has completed flowering, it will bloom once more the following year.
Do you prune back hellebores?
Not only galanthus lovers are experiencing a fever in the garden at this time of year. Fans of hellebore still adore these wild plants because they provide something delicate to find in the dappled light of early spring.
Hellebores (Helleborus), a member of the Ranunculaceae or buttercup family, have its origins in the Balkans. Their blossoming season lasts from December till the beginning of May.
At Great Comp Garden in Kent, William Dyson has been raising hellebores for 40 years. According to him, lenten rose varieties can be found practically everywhere that is wet, well-drained, and has dappled shadow. In our woodland, we have hundreds of them growing.
Hellebore pruning and maintenance
In order to stop black spot spores from infecting the new growth that appears in the new year, we remove old leaves from our plants in the early days of December. Even though hellebores are evergreen, they don’t require pruning, and in my own yard, I have a few clumps of double-flowered hybrids that have never been cut back.
In order to avoid skin irritation from the hellebore’s sap, William encourages gardeners to prune their hellebores while wearing gloves. Look out for any new growth while wearing gloves and holding a pair of secateurs. Cut off the growth from the previous year at the plant’s base when it emerges.
In order to prevent blossom droop, hellebore growers should place their plants in a forest area that offers protection from the elements and receives adequate dappled sunshine. It’s also a good idea to direct plants toward the sun.
When asked why hellebores droop, William responds, “I’m frequently questioned. It seems that they do this as a defense mechanism against rain, sleet, and snow. Flowers produced through hybridization with Helleborus niger won’t droop since this species faces outwards rather than drooping.
Hellebore varieties
William emphasizes that there are many types available, making it worthwhile to select your hellebores not only for their flowers but also for their leaves.” Helleborus niger ‘Snowdrift’ and Helleborus hybridus ‘Pink Ballerina’ have been added this year, expanding the hellebore collection in our core forest areas.
The latter is an orientalis hybrid that blooms in profusion from January through March with several completely double, light pink flowers. These plants have incredibly unique foliage that is captivating all year long.
William advises a visit to Ashwood Nurseries in the West Midlands if you’re looking to buy a hellebore.”
The magnificent plants at Ashwood Nurseries are owned by John Massey VMH, who has been producing hellebores for decades and is the global expert on them. I suggest going to witness his hybrids as well as the owner’s own creation, “John’s Garden.”
Hellebores at Great Comp
Get motivated by the stunning display of hellebores in the woodland at Great Comp Garden:
The public can now visit Great Comp Garden every day of the week. Visit greatcompgarden.co.uk to learn more.
Can hellebores be cut for vases?
The carpets of primroses, wood anemones, and celandines that cover the ground beneath the trees in the early spring make us long for them more and more each day.
As a result, I coaxed some twigs into leaf, cutting them as the sap started to rise in February and bringing them into the warm, to cheer myself up and make spring a reality, at least in the house. Horse chestnut, sweet chestnut, ash, apple, and oak are large-leaved trees that take the longest to emerge; therefore, you can pick them in March for flowers that will look lovely in two to three weeks. However, if you want vases for the first part of April, you must pick small-leaved species like hazel, hornbeam, dogwood, willow, or silver birch. Beech and the magnolia brigade’s unfolding flowers follow closely behind.
Forcing tree branches into leaf
Any tree branches that need to be forced should be removed, immediately submerged in deep water, and left in a location that is regularly warm, has some light, but is out of direct sunlight. It won’t work in a frigid garage or potting shed since the flowers will bloom just a week earlier than they would on the tree.
If you don’t have a place to keep them out of the way, don’t worry. You can observe how each species grows at a little different rate by placing your barren branches in a row on a shelf or mantelpiece, or in a jug on a table as a skeletal winter arrangement. They should turn into leaves three to four weeks earlier in a warm environment than they would if left outdoors.
Arranging branches with flowers
Simple early spring arrangements can be made in a limited area using cut flowers combined with branches of pushed foliage. The more delicate elements, like the crisp, blue Anemone blanda “Blue Shades,” go nicely with the incredibly young, bright green leaves of the silver birch, hornbeam, and hazel trees. Instead of combining them in one vase, place the anemones in one and the leaves in another to preserve the purity and clarity of the colors. This appears more vibrant all around. Place three of these on your kitchen table, or for a party, arrange five or seven vases with an assortment of flowers and foliage in between.
By creating a “boat” out of willow and dogwood, you may dress this up more. To enclose the row of vases, just tie some forced stems at the ends and splay the branches apart in the center. This seems to work well and only takes ten minutes or so.
Hellebores with stems
Cornus, or dogwood, is extremely valued. Try it with the red-edged Helleborus foetidus, which many of us grow in the shadow in our gardens, for an additional straightforward arrangement. I enjoy how the hellebore’s curves are a little bit more floppy than the cornus’ cheery uprightness with its sticks and little leaves. The two colors complement each other nicely, especially when the strange oriental hybrid hellebore adds a crimson-black splash.
Look for stems that have at least one seed pod starting to form when choosing which hellebore to pick. These are likely to remain longer in a vase because they have slightly more lignin in their cell walls than those that have just emerged. To extend the lifespan of all hellebores, the stem ends should be blanched in hot water for 20 seconds after cutting. Before arranging them, sear each stem, then submerge it in cold water and keep it somewhere cold and dark for a few hours.
Arrangements for parties
Try creating a larger arrangement with forced leaves if you’re hosting a springtime gathering (Mother’s Day, perhaps?). Branches can be formed into circles or ovals and strung for a few days on the wall. The wetness will keep the stems alive for longer if you make them into wreaths with some moss.
A fantastic table center can be created by combining forced spring leaves with their natural allies, such as sweet violets, primroses, or cowslips, especially if you use full plants straight from their pots rather than cut flowers. This has a huge impact for very little money (you can acquire all these plants from a typical garden center in the coming weeks), and it will all last for at least a month.
As inhabitants of woodlands, primroses and violets want to keep their roots cold and damp. Every three to four days, remove the plants from their moss bed in the arrangement and give them 15 minutes to drink from a shallow sink of water; the flowers and leaves will continue to grow.
Making a centrepiece
Find the largest tray—a round one is a good option—that you can fit on your table to create this arrangement.
- Two wire wreath bases that will fit inside the tray are required (I used 14in ones).
- Cover both of these in moss and use reel wire to secure it to the base.
- To form a woodsy circle, insert some silver birch twigs, then loosely bind them with extra wire (don’t bind it in too firmly because you want a messy nest). You might use the leftover wreath foundation made of Christmas moss, like I did, but first give it a nice soak.
- The first of your moss and silver birch wreaths should be placed on the platter, followed by the second.
- Add some forced spring leaves that are all pointing in the same direction to the top, twiggy silver birch circle.
- Up to the edge of the dish, cover the wreaths with moss.
- Finally, add cowslips or primroses to the entire composition while surrounding them with extra moss. It takes as much time as baking a cake, but it is worth it.
The life of hellebore blooms is how long?
Helleborus niger cultivars feature sepals that turn pink after the flowers bloom white and last for several months at a time. Elizabeth Peters took the picture. Depending on the species or hybrid, this plant blooms from late November through the winter and into the following spring.
Do hellebores spread?
Hellebore seeds will self-sow, yes. However, if you grow various species adjacent to one another, permitting them to do so can produce unexpected hybrids. Any new seedlings that are too close to mature plants should be thinned off. After three years, self-sown plants should begin to bloom.
Do hellebores need to be divided?
Even while it’s not typically necessary for the plant’s health, the best time to divide them is in the fall. In general, it’s better to just leave hellebores alone because they can be picky about being moved and dug up.
Why do my hellebores fail to thrive?
Those leaves are not receiving any water. So either the soil is excessively dry or the roots have been lost. If watering doesn’t help, you could dig it up and check what’s going on underneath. If giving it a very good drink (a bucket full) doesn’t help, it should perk up within 48 hours.
I wouldn’t suggest pruning back hellebores. The roots must get energy from the leaves in order to grow the leaves and blossoms for the following year. For one year, you could get away with it, but not continuously.
Will hellebores grow in number?
A hellebore will produce anywhere between two and ten divided plants. Plant the divided plants as soon as possible, taking care to prevent the roots from drying out. Plant them in well-prepared, well-drained soil.