My Lenten Rose (Hellebores x hybridus) is finally blooming. Last year, they started blooming the first week of March and kept blooming for a couple months. They even survived the early-April deep freeze that killed the buds on so many other plants. What a tough plant!  But this year they had to sit tight under several inches of snow for much of March. Now that the new growth is shooting up with its pale, spotted flowers, the old growth needs to be removed. 

Hellebores are promoted as being a nice evergreen ground cover. They do provide nice green foliage throughout the winter, but by now, last year’s leaves are looking pretty ratty and need to be removed to make way for the fresh new growth. 

Last year, I learned not to plant my tulip display in front of the Hellebores. They were so show-stopping in March and April that people passing by would walk over the emerging tulips to get a closer look. But unless you clean up the old growth, the dramatic effect of this plant can be lost.

Note, too, that Hellebores are a bit pricy and take a couple years to fill out. But believe me when I say they are well worth the cost and the wait for those of you that crave blooms in March and April. 

Posted by Bob Rensel

Tags: Hellebores

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm and is filed under Bob Rensel, Spring Gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.