Hellebores

And here is Helleborus argutifolius. The leaves stay green all winter and in the spring you get lime green flowers.

I like that light pink one!

They are peaking locally.  Here is a selection from our BG.  The dark and pale yellow are Helleborus orientalis types, the first white is Helleborus niger, the second one is Helleborus nigercors and the last is Helleborus odorus.

I only have a purple Helleborus orientalis and a Helleborus foetidus (the later is just about open).  I photographed mine this evening.

The orientalis types self sow all over here. The niger selection is very different from mine, seems to be a good plant.

Here, finally, is Helleborus cyclophyllus - my plants, in this dry, cool yard, never achieve the lushness of those grown in warmer climates.

Cyclophyllus is a species that I haven't tried yet. I like this genus, they usually make fine plants here. If I get the chance I will try this too.

A few near bloom here today .

A double i raised from NZ seed a few years ago --finally released from it's pot last year and much happier.
:D

The other two pics are of seed sent from a friend in Aussie back in Dec 07--both first flowering .

The double red looks like it has come true.
Although i also sowed picote yellow i'm sure of the other one.

Cheers Dave.

A few of my Hellebore plants!

Reed, are these flowering for you now or photos of plants from earlier in the year?  I particularly like the double green one. 

One thing I miss about my brief 4 years living in the Seattle Washington area, are how marvelously certain plants like Helleborus, Bergenia, and Rhododendron grew, and by comparison, how tatty-&-ratty some Hellebores can look in spring after beaten up by a hard winter.

McDonough,

No! these are from last winter I will take more this year in Dec. and Jan.. I have some amazing green ones and hopefully even some better ones this year. Like they say the grass is always greener on the other side I would love to be able to grow some of the plants you grow in situ. I can't stand most Rhododendron (I guess because I see them all the time) I enjoy the flowers in other peoples yards  ;D. Seattle is nice to visit but it rains more there even more than here and after living in Vegas for 6 years this is hard to get used to again.

Reed wrote:

McDonough,

No! these are from last winter I will take more this year in Dec. and Jan.. I have some amazing green ones and hopefully even some better ones this year. Like they say the grass is always greener on the other side I would love to be able to grow some of the plants you grow in situ. I can't stand most Rhododendron (I guess because I see them all the time) I enjoy the flowers in other peoples yards  ;D. Seattle is nice to visit but it rains more there even more than here and after living in Vegas for 6 years this is hard to get used to again.

Feel free to call me Mark (it's in my signature block :) )  One thing about the NARGS Forum is that the forum login names default to one's last name, so it is recommended to put your full name in your personal signature block, otherwise you might be addressed by last name only, if first name is unknown.

I believe all gardeners should have the experience of gardening in more than one place, it lends dimension to understanding climatic differences and the effect on plants.  Gardening in rainy Seattle was an experience to be sure, and while it had its highlights, and was a thorough learning experience, as a born New Englander it was a hard adjustment, and the one thing I missed the most was New England autumns, nothing like it, so I returned to my roots.  It must be quite an adjustment for you going from an arid environment like Vegas to the banana belt of the Pacific Northwest!  One great asset of the area, is that the rain and dampness can be escaped with a short 2 hour drive or so, to be within magnificent dryland and sagebrush areas, with a fabulously diverse flora.

Back to Hellebores, my garden is too wind-exposed in winter and sun-baked and dry in summer for most hellebores to prosper, they persist as mere pathetic shadows of themselves compared to more favorable climates, so I don't bother.  Although, I do like H. niger very much, and this one seems more amenable to our climate and makes a grand show each spring.

Thank you for the tip Mark. My name is James I will figure out all these buttons on here in time I guess.  :)

Reed wrote:

Thank you for the tip Mark. My name is James I will figure out all these buttons on here in time I guess.  :)

Well, a belated Welcome To The NARGS Forum James!  If you have any questions about NARGS Forum and posting, feel free to ask.  By the way, I just noticed that your signature block states you are at 500' elevation.  I too am at 500' elevation, and I do think that gardening atop a hill has its own set of climatic concerns and issues.  On the good side here, we're in apple orchard country in this part of Massachusetts, the trees planted on hills to avoid the early frosts, so we do indeed miss the earliest frosts.

McDonough wrote:

Feel free to call me Mark (it's in my signature block :) )  One thing about the NARGS Forum is that the forum login names default to one's last name, so it is recommended to put your full name in your personal signature block, otherwise you might be addressed by last name only, if first name is unknown.

Actually, you can change how your user name is listed on the forum, also.  That's what I did: I am "RickR" rather than "Rodich."

--------------------------------------------

And a very nice collection that you show here, James!

Thank you both! :) (I changed mine)

James, those are all nice, and the first one is quite special. By chance are any from NWGN? I have a couple from there that are similar.

Here in Tennessee the season is getting underway a bit early. We've had virtually no cold weather so buds on some plants are far too advanced for this time. Some of the reproductive parts will inevitably be destroyed by cold later on.

One of my primary goals is to develop relatively compact plants with exceptional foliage, so I grow a range of species and hybrids from species. Among the best at this time of year are seedlings from H. bocconei, which unlike some other acaulescent species that also carry divided foliage, do not enter autumn-winter dormancy. The result is nice foliage year round for those in places with not-too-extreme winters.

Some images of autumn foliage.

Joseph, the autumn foliage of your hellebores (bocconei seedlings?) are very handsome! I don't think I have anything similar. What do you call too-extreme-winters? (This November has been extreme here - the coldest in 140 years!)

James and/or Dave: How are your pretty hellebores doing now? Here the soil has frozen solid - no snow cover but cold as in a freezer. (The rest of Europe gets the snow.)

Trond, I think it would be similar to H. orientalis and most others that are commonly grown: the tissues of leaves can be damaged in cold places that don't have winter snow cover (maybe USDA 5 and colder??). But this is also true of slightly warmer zones (6-7) during the coldest winters. Last year locally it reached 3 F (-16 C) with no problem to the long-term health of the plants. They're completely hardy.

OK, Joseph. In my garden the extreme cold hasn't been sub -10C/14F yet although other places it has been much colder. All Hellebores I have usually survive the winters untroubled. So they did last winter that was very cold too.

Welcome to the NARGS forum, Joseph!  It's great to have a hellebore expert here.  Love your website (hellebores.org), and that's a wonderful H. bocconei.

Sometimes an herbaceous hellebore is perfect for me with the unpredictable and cold winters here in Minnesota.  The foliage (while it is here) is always fresh...

Helleborus × purpurascens

Hi Joseph,

Sorry it took me so long to reply been busy with school, But to answer your question yes mine are from NWGN I worked for E&M for 7 years before I moved to Vegas and now I haved moved back again so I of course would only buy mine from them they in my opinion are the best and I also propogate my own (since they taught me most of what I know). :) 

Helleborus beginning to bloom here in my yard and a few blooms starting on my Primula 'Gold Lace' and my Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' just starting to open up. 

James wrote:

Helleborus beginning to bloom here in my yard and a few blooms starting on my Primula 'Gold Lace' and my Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' just starting to open up. 

We're in the deep freeze here, and after 14" of snow two weeks ago, it is mostly gone (not melted, but evaporated/dehydrated).  This past fall, my plant labeled Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' flowered heavily, out of season, and with yellow not reddish-orange flowers, so its identity is in doubt, or perhaps it was an anomalous flowering for both the season and flower color.  I remember when I lived in the Seattle Washington area, having something in bloom year-round... not the case here with our much harder winters.

James wrote:

Helleborus beginning to bloom here in my yard and a few blooms starting on my Primula 'Gold Lace' and my Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' just starting to open up. 

Like here the last 15 years except this and the other year! My earliest hellebores are just 5cm tall and no sign of color on the witch hazel either.

With our exceptionally mild winter so far, I was out looking at my hellebores....they are about 5 cm high too.  I'm not happy as we can expect snow and cold temps any day...not sure what will happen to them then.  Gee, even my snowdrops are in bud already and they normally don't bloom until April around here!

Todd wrote:

With our exceptionally mild winter so far, I was out looking at my hellebores....they are about 5 cm high too.  I'm not happy as we can expect snow and cold temps any day...not sure what will happen to them then.  Gee, even my snowdrops are in bud already and they normally don't bloom until April around here!

This happens, Todd:

I just ordered two of M&E's hellebores, 2 of 'Golden Sunrise' with the most yellow foliage, and 1 of "Onyx Jewel." They wont arrive until spring, so no photos until the following winter. These will be my first hellebores, as I haven't had a location for them until now.

You will not be disappointed and then you will be hooked. :). mine are all nearly in full bloom here along with my Galanthus and Erianthus and my Erythronium and Trillium are peeking out of the ground. I will post some pics when I have a bit more time during the day to take some.

Ouch Trond!  That is one sad clump of hellebores!

Mine are under 5 feet of snow...no frost in the ground before the snow fell so they should be in suspended animation until May.

Looking forward to seeing blooming hellebores at the WWSW in two weeks in Victoria!

Helleborus Thibetanus.

Some Ashwood hybs.

A few more
4490 Helleborus niger

And more

Last few.

Oh my!!! :o :o :o Oh my!!! Such beauty warms my heart & soul on this grey & cold winters day!
Thank-you!

;D

Wow, Michael, you have a hellebore heaven! :D Are your flowers blooming earlier than normal this year?

Mine are just starting...

What a spectacular collection, Michael!!

Very good, Michael! I have 5 potfuls of Hellebores waiting for pricking out. Hope some turn out to be as beautiful as yours!

Have to add that yours isn't bad either, Saori. Very nice colour combination!

Roll on our hellebores! Not many are flowering like this yet. In Elizabeth Strangman's book on Hellebores there is a variety called 'Old Ugly' which is very like your photo. 4494. If that is 'Ugly' then I am all for it!

A few more Hellebores

Michael, a  few more you say - you must have a field of hellebores?! All of them are really nice too!

I have 5 pots of seedlings waiting for better space - I am looking forward to the flowers in a couple of years!  ;)

Saori wrote:

Wow, Michael, you have a hellebore heaven! :D

Boy I'll say!  :o :o  The "flowers" last for months in our short springs here.  Just think how much longer there in Ireland!

Temps will be dipping below 0 F tonight.  It will be a long time for my show to begin; this is what mine look like:

Rick...yours look just like mine...only there's not a speck of snow to be seen.  :-[ We are meant to get a few inches tonight & tomorrow, but we'll see. I'll believe it when I see it!

Michael, your hellebores are glorious, particularly love the yellow ones. 

Amy & Rick, besides H. niger which does well here, the fancy hybrids just don't do that well in my garden, the foliage gets so battered that they look scrappy even when in bloom, necessitating cutting all foliage off.  My couple of typical purple-flowered hybrids look like yours, flat, lifeless, and frozen.

Michael, I love your pink anemone (semi-double) flower!

I usually cut off old leaves (from hybrids) in December-January... We have a lot of winter rain, so doing this helps prevent fungus and it looks cleaner. I clean my pruner after each plant to prevent potentially spreading diseases or viruses to other plants.

Mine are just starting to bloom, but most are still in bud...

I cut off all the old leaves about the end of November and dispose of every scrap of it to avoid spreading any disease.

Nice, dark colour of some of those, Saori!

This is my darkest one (I have no doubles) - not this spring  ;) :

I never defoliate any of mine except when the leaves are dead. No problem with fungus so far :-X

Hoy wrote:

I never defoliate any of mine except when the leaves are dead. No problem with fungus so far :-X

Same here....I have heard that if the leaves are still green they can still photosynthesise, so I leave them on till the last minute in spring.
Matt Mattus talks about that here in his fantastic blog.... http://www.growingwithplants.com/2011/04/spring-hellebores.html

Nice dark one, Trond! Is it still cold there? I found some of my dark doubles flowering today; if you are interested, I would be happy to send some seeds to you.  ;)

Saori wrote:

Nice dark one, Trond! Is it still cold there? I found some of my dark doubles flowering today; if you are interested, I would be happy to send some seeds to you.  ;)

Yes please, I am very interested in seeds of dark (actually any) double hellebore ;D

It is not very cold but it is not very warm either! It rained yesterday and the snow and ice started melting. Today seems to be rather mild (+5C) compared to the previous weeks. Can't see my plants yet as they are still covered by snow.

Trond, I will let you know when the seeds are ready. It will be probably late June to early July.

Hope your plants are protected under the snow! We've had a mild winter so far and lots of plants have started to grow. I'm a bit concerned about a potential coming cold snap which might kill the new shoots...

Thanks, Saori.

Some more Helleborus

A really nice range! Do they all look about the same foliarly?

"foliarly"... try saying that fast three times. :D
(I already did, and was not successful.)

Always a good show, Michael!  :o

The botanist in me marvels at the variability of the stamens and structures that are the modified petals (sometimes given another name, depending on who you talk too).

Quote:

Do they all look about the same foliarly?

All Ashwood hybs and much the same.

Last few for this year.
Helleborus ashwood hyb
Helleborus ashwood hyb
Helleborus niger

You have many real gems, Michael!

I am particularly pleased with that Niger,I have difficulty keeping that one in good condition. I don't think it likes our climate.

You have a lot of nice ones, Michael! At work they are selling some Hellebores in the floral section- something simple- white flowers long petals, maybe niger.. I was wondering if it would be worthwhile trying to get one to plant out later-- but I'd have to keep it happy indoors for most of 3 months yet! Plus they are $20, and I'm cheap...lol but its probably the only time I'll see them in person (as temporary indoor flowers), I doubt if local nurseries are likely to carry them for outdoor planting in summer, with no flowers on them, though I guess I can watch for them...

We've had hellebores at the Home Depot for three springs now in our outdoor garden center, and two winters as indoor specimen flowering plants.  (Although they don't make nice looking plants for inside, in my opinion - to gangly.)  Nothing fancy - Royal Heritage, Ivory Prince and the like.  For the outdoor garden center, they must hold them in the cold cellar, because they are fresh blooming when we have them in May.

I'd be happy if I could find some young plants in small pots for $5 or so, but I'm probably dreaming...lol I really don't like buying one plant of something, but at $20  I can't afford multiples (unlikely I'd buy even one).. I'd really rather have species than hybrids, but I'd take anything locally reasonable... probably have to wait for seed in the end anyway...lol

cohan wrote:

I'd be happy if I could find some young plants in small pots for $5 or so, but I'm probably dreaming...lol I really don't like buying one plant of something, but at $20  I can't afford multiples (unlikely I'd buy even one).. I'd really rather have species than hybrids, but I'd take anything locally reasonable... probably have to wait for seed in the end anyway...lol

Try seed! Seeds germinate easily as long as they are fresh. You get nice plants in a couple of years!
They do sell Hellebores for Christmas here -  and always nameless expensive plants! Usually niger but also some others.

Hoy wrote:

Try seed! Seeds germinate easily as long as they are fresh. You get nice plants in a couple of years!

I agree with Trond! The seeds don't like to be dried out but if you sow them fresh, they germinate like weeds! ;D I have been trying to cross some of my plants and get some interesting colors and forms. We'll see how they turn out in a few years... :rolleyes:

Here are some more flowers... ;)

And the last batch for now... ;D

Thanks Trond and Saori- good to know they don't take forever from seed.. I think Kristl at Gardens North has offered some- a good source for any ephemeral seed since you know she handles it right! Any other seed sources you know of?
Saori- lots of beauties there!

Beautiful, Saori!

I am partial to the dark ones.  :o

cohan wrote:

Thanks Trond and Saori- good to know they don't take forever from seed.. I think Kristl at Gardens North has offered some- a good source for any ephemeral seed since you know she handles it right! Any other seed sources you know of?
Saori- lots of beauties there!

Cohan...the NARGS surplus seed exchange still has a number of selections! You should check it out...I ordered a bunch today!  ;D

Saori...Your anemone centered ones are so beautiful!!! And I do love the picotees as well!

Is anyone going to the Oregon Hardy Plant Society spring plant sale in April?? I'll be there as the American Primrose Society national show is going to be there at the same time. So I hope I'll be meeting some you left-coasters there!!

Amy, I'm on the left coast too but unfortunately at the wrong continent!

Saori, you are ahead of me - both regarding plants that flower now and plants with different colours! I have a lot of small plants that I hope will flower this year or next.

Wow Saori! What a great collection! I love 20 & 24!
But...Are you Saori on the Facebook group Heavenly Hellebores?  ;)

Some of Koen Van Poucke, Martine Lemmonier and Thierry Delabroye :

A little more...

Some very interesting colours, Geoffrey!

Amy- I'm still not an actual NARGS member, the seed-ex would be the only reason to join (no clubs to attend near enough) so it hasn't happened yet...

cohan, Three years ago I managed to get 3 from Canadian Tire, I think it was.  I bought them about 6 weeks into the "garden centre season" and didn't pay too much, maybe $6.00 each? They aren't species which I would prefer, but what the heck ! I'm going to try some more from seed, but for now the ones I have are doing great ( at least I hope they still are .... ) and the flowers last for the longest time.  For all I know they may have turned up at Canadian Tire by mistake, but I'll check there again this year, just in case.

Geoffrey, yours are not bad either! You have some really nice gems there!

cohan wrote:

Some very interesting colours, Geoffrey!

Amy- I'm still not an actual NARGS member, the seed-ex would be the only reason to join (no clubs to attend near enough) so it hasn't happened yet...

Cohan...I would still encourage you to join NARGS for the seed-ex and the quarterly..but if that's not going to happen another way to get free Hellebore seed is to join the Hellebore group on Yahoo groups. They have a lively discussion and a free seed-ex. I get loads of great seed from this group from all over the country!! Give it a look-see. :D

Your hellebores are absolutely wonderful, Michael and Saori and Geoffrey! (Hope I didn't miss anyone there, in that beautiful parade of spring blooms.)  The doubles, bicolours, apricot tones, and the oh-so-dark ones are especially captivating to me!

Glorious flowers, Geoffrey!  That hybrid H. torquatus flower has the attraction of a double with the eloquence of a single!  :o  It looks like the plant inherited the beautiful foliage of the species, too.

I plan on hand pollinating my Helleborus purpurascens this season.  Protecting the pistil from contamination won't be as easy as Lillium spp.  If I am successful, I'll offer the seed them here on the Forum.  They open pollinated easily with lots of seed, so it should work.

Thanks everybody for the nice comments!

I've been enjoying looking at everyone's beautiful flowers.

Cohen, joining the NARGS is great! The Rock Garden Quarterly is really good and the seed exchange is wonderful! You will be amazed to see lots of very rare seeds that you won't find anywhere else.

Geoffrey, I love your collection! I especially like the pink flower with yellow nectaries! It must be one of Thierry's creations, right?

Geo wrote:

But...Are you Saori on the Facebook group Heavenly Hellebores?  ;)

Yes, I'm the same Saori. :P  Nice meeting here, as well! ;)

AmyO wrote:

cohan wrote:

Some very interesting colours, Geoffrey!

Amy- I'm still not an actual NARGS member, the seed-ex would be the only reason to join (no clubs to attend near enough) so it hasn't happened yet...

Cohan...I would still encourage you to join NARGS for the seed-ex and the quarterly..but if that's not going to happen another way to get free Hellebore seed is to join the Hellebore group on Yahoo groups. They have a lively discussion and a free seed-ex. I get loads of great seed from this group from all over the country!! Give it a look-see. :D

Thanks, Amy- I should give the yahoo group a look :) I wouldn't  ask for seed coming into the group  without something to contribute though, but its okay, no hurry!

cohan wrote:

Thanks, Amy- I should give the yahoo group a look :) I wouldn't  ask for seed coming into the group  without something to contribute though, but its okay, no hurry!

I donated tons of seeds last year to the Yahoo Group as well and lots of other people (including famous nursery people) did, too! There were some species seeds as well...

Hellebores just getting started here in North East Scotland, so a treat to be able to enjoy all the marvelous selection being shown here... thanks, All!  8)

Thank you all.

RickR wrote:

Glorious flowers, Geoffrey!  That hybrid H. torquatus flower has the attraction of a double with the eloquence of a single!  :o  It looks like the plant inherited the beautiful foliage of the species, too.

I plan on hand pollinating my Helleborus purpurascens this season.  Protecting the pistil from contamination won't be as easy as Lillium spp.  If I am successful, I'll offer the seed them here on the Forum.  They open pollinated easily with lots of seed, so it should work.

Absolutely Rick, this torquatus hybrid has the dissected foliage of the species (my favourite species I think), I love it, it's a Koen Van Poucke's selection, he has very beautiful species in his nursery garden (great form of dumetorum, viridis etc.).

Saori wrote:

Geoffrey, I love your collection! I especially like the pink flower with yellow nectaries! It must be one of Thierry's creations, right?

Geo wrote:

But...Are you Saori on the Facebook group Heavenly Hellebores?  ;)

Yes, I'm the same Saori. :P  Nice meeting here, as well! ;)

Yes indeed Saori, it's a Thierry's selection, I live near his nursery and I enjoy every year to go to its special Hellebore open days.
It's a pleasure to see your pics.

Helleborus Harvington double yellow

And what do you call this one, Michael, Camellia-flowered? A gem it is!

Perfection,  ;D ;D ;D

Michael wrote:

Perfection,  ;D ;D ;D

Seconded ;)

Helleborus black. well it is almost black. ;D

Beautiful colour! and nice simple form

Michael wrote:

Helleborus black. well it is almost black. ;D

Michael, you have a marvellous collection!
One seedling of mine is to flower for the first time in some days - it looks so far to be almost as black as this one! I'll take a picture later.

Mine are still frozen solid...no blooms until May.  I only have 7 selections so far but have 5 more on order for this spring.  I am starting to develop a love for them.

I just got my first two- from the plants that were on sale as florist plants at the supermarket- they are really no good as florist plants unless you can sell them fast! The creamy flowers quickly turned green, then the leaves started to yellow...lol So they were marked down sharply, and when I asked if they expected to be chucking them soon, they said probably and gave me two...lol.. they are starting new leaves, so hopefully are healthy- though there was a lot of water in the plastic pot covers (stinky!!!!) now I just have to keep them healthy indoors for the looooong time till I can put them outside....

Cohan...Keep a close eye out for aphids!! The ones sold in bloom at supermarkets are so stressed they are aphid magnets!! :o

AmyO wrote:

Cohan...Keep a close eye out for aphids!! The ones sold in bloom at supermarkets are so stressed they are aphid magnets!! :o

I'll second that.  But aphids are easy to kill...

Helleborus niger is suddenly pushing forward withe buds expanding.  The form I grow is pink tinged when starting (now), aging to a strong pink color later on.

The plant always sets lots of seed, but no self-sown seedlings ever show up unless I give assistance, scratching in the seed when ripe.  When seed is sown "in situ", it germinates like weeds.  In the first photo, are clusters of 2-year seedlings, and the right-hand photo shows the first flowering from a 3-year old seedling.  In just several years scratching seed "in situ" I now have many hundreds of H. niger seedlings, probably too many, but an affordable and very doable way of increasing stock of one's plants.

AmyO wrote:

Cohan...Keep a close eye out for aphids!! The ones sold in bloom at supermarkets are so stressed they are aphid magnets!! :o

I'll watch for that, thanks.. almost all of the old leaves are gone, just flower stems left.. I do agree with Rick though- as someone who has had to battle with mealybugs indoors for years, aphids are like a holiday...lol

And I hope you have cut the flower/seed pod off.  Otherwise you'll just be draining energy from the plant to the seeds that probably won't be "healthy" anyway.

Those rounded flowers are what the famous hellebore breeders like Helen Ballard and Elizabeth Strangman aimed for. They also crossed plants generally in the garden, rather than greenhouses, so as a result developed good garden strains - but it must have been freezing and hard work at times so early in the year! Elizabeth Strangman repeated pollination several times to ensure good results, and chose the warmest days. The plants were dotted about the nursery marked with different coloured wools. Somehow nice to see this with all the beds of plants for sale in between - harks back to the small individual specialist nurseries of old, which would be nice to see more of again. Must go out and get some pictures, but I haven't many as striking as Michael's.

RickR wrote:

And I hope you have cut the flower/seed pod off.  Otherwise you'll just be draining energy from the plant to the seeds that probably won't be "healthy" anyway.

I'll take  a closer look, I don't think there is any seed forming, though I left the flower stems-- since the flowers have turned green, I assumed they are photosynthesizing!

McDonough wrote:

Helleborus niger is suddenly pushing forward withe buds expanding.  The form I grow is pink tinged when starting (now), aging to a strong pink color later on.

The plant always sets lots of seed, but no self-sown seedlings ever show up unless I give assistance, scratching in the seed when ripe.  When seed is sown "in situ", it germinates like weeds.  In the first photo, are clusters of 2-year seedlings, and the right-hand photo shows the first flowering from a 3-year old seedling.  In just several years scratching seed "in situ" I now have many hundreds of H. niger seedlings, probably too many, but an affordable and very doable way of increasing stock of one's plants.

Mark it is a nice form you grow! If you ever get too many seed . . . . . .

Boy, were these plants ever a terrible idea as houseplants!!!! They reek! When I brought them from work, the pots had the plastic wrappers common in florist plants, and they had water in them, so before bringing them home, I dumped out the water and washed it with soap- it smelled very bad (like vomit) but sometimes water with organic material that sits around would smell like that, so I didn't think much of it...

Well, the next day, the whole house smelled like vomit, even though the plants were in a back room, with the door closed much of the time.. I thought it was just the pot still holding the bad smell from the water, so I threw out the plastic wrapper, sprayed the outside of the pot with a household cleaner, rinsed, dipped in a bucket of water with bleach (only the plastic pot, not wetting the soil) rinsed, and dipped in vinegar water, rinsed..l the plant/pot seemed to be mostly odour free, so I thought it was good-- but apparently not! after several days- most of which spent with the front door open, fans on, candles burning, the door to that room closed, and still the house smells, especially once the front door is closed!
Next effort will be to enclose the two plants in a large clear plastic bag.. still far too cold to put the plants outdoors when they are not used to it, but if the bags don't work they will be outside-- much longer, and I will get put out....lol

Well, darn... who would have thought?  It's great to get some desirable plants for free so I hope the plastic bag contains the smell. 

Lori wrote:

Well, darn... who would have thought?  It's great to get some desirable plants for free so I hope the plastic bag contains the smell. 

I hope so too! Were I living alone I might put up with the smell (locked away in another room) but for the non-plant lovers in the house, there really is no pay-off...lol
I tried looking up the smell a bit, and came up with Helleborus foetidus, so the genus does have some reputation, though I think these are probably niger- which I eventually found some references to the scent of in herbals- 'offensive odour when leaves crushed' Perhaps it was the clipping they did of the dead leaves which released the fragrance....though the drained water really smelled, so must come from the roots too!

Cohan, if it smells like vomit it probably is butyric acid made by bacteria in stagnant oxygen free water (anaerobic respiration). The fat roots of the hellebore is starch rich and nice food for hungry bacteria!
It is not poisonous but an important constituent of butter ;)

I just went out and plucked an old Helleborus niger leaf and crushed it, no detectable bad odor.  Then I sniffed at the flowers, and they have a sweet perfume, hadn't noticed that before (to sniff the flowers and not crush other plants around the Helleborus, requires getting into a push-up or planche position; gardening and getting fit at the same time ;D).

That was what I thought first, Trond- I've smelled rotten herbal tea that smelled exactly the same! But I discarded the water, washed the pots as mentioned above.. I've never encountered a wet potted plant smelling like this- and especially lingering so strongly after the water is removed- its been days! It doesn't seem the roots should be rotting if the new leaves are coming? Unless the rot is more recent, and has not yet killed the growth higher in the pot?? If this is the case, I wonder if I should wash off all the old soil and repot......

You are certainly more forgiving than me, Cohan.  I would have put them in the snowbank for sure. ;D  Although, I did make hypertufa troughs one warm late fall day, and had to cure them inside the house.  But they never smelled that bad.

We just got some in at the Home Depot here - Pink Princess (or Princess Pink), I think they were.  This batch is much nicer than the previous ones, but still...

Also got Erica's in for sale as flowering plants.

Thing is, Rick, this is the only time -actually now that I think about- the only time I've ever seen Hellebores in person, even, much less free..lol.. and paying $20 for one plant is not going to happen, so I'd really like to keep these alive if I can.. (watch now, some local garden centre will be full of them this summer, and cheap....lol)
Trond's comments make me wonder if it could be the soil after all, though I have seen a lot of waterlogged plants and never run across anything that smelled like this.. maybe tomorrow I will try removing all the soil, or a really thorough leaching, though I hate to water them more....

A few hellebores flowering now. 'Queen of the Night' is a very dark flowered strain developed by Elizabeth Strangman, and ex. 'Cosmos', quite a legendary plant bred by Eric Smith and Jim Archibald. Jim kept many of the true original selections and offered seed of them in his lists. The aim was to get very uniform spotting with a tidy clean margin as here. H. odorus is one of the best species for the garden, with glowing yellow-green flowers, nicely scented.

For many years we grew and sold large numbers of hellebores but never approached the quality of some of these early selections, many of which have been the basis of more recent hybridisation work. Time we started a bit of gentle cross pollination...

cohan wrote:

Trond's comments make me wonder if it could be the soil after all, though I have seen a lot of waterlogged plants and never run across anything that smelled like this.. maybe tomorrow I will try removing all the soil, or a really thorough leaching, though I hate to water them more....

Cohan you are on the right track here.....what happened is the pot cover stayed on too long causing lots of rot to occur. I'll bet when you unpot it the roots will be very mushy and stinky. Work off as much of the old soil as you can, rinse off the roots so you can have a good look at what's going on with them. Trim off the rotten ones and then repot into fresh sterile potting mix. And hope for the best... :-\
At the nursery where I used to work we always removed the pot covers as they were sure to collect water and cause lots of damage. some places aren't attentive or even knowledgable to the plants needs.  :'(

Thanks, Amy-- I've seen a lot of abused and waterlogged plants, but never run into any plant that smelled like this in my life!

I took them out of the pots the other day, and thought to remove soil, but the rootball was absolutely solid and I wasn't able to remove more than a few bits from the top-- I know I could have cut it apart but since its going to be a long time still until they can go outside and be planted there, and have another root disturbance, I hesitated to tear them apart now, especially since they were making new leaves..
What I did was wash and wash and wash them, then douse the whole rootball with cinnamon (an effective fungicide, don't know if it has any effect on bacteria) and while my housemate was sleeping, left them out in the living room a while where it's warmer to dry a bit more (and again the next night), and left them out of the pots when they went back into the cool room..
This had some benefit it seems, as the room still smells (my friend said ' Now it smells like cinnamon vomit') but its no longer strong enough to fill the whole house with the smell! I'm not sure how much of the rot was affecting the roots vs the soil, since the plants always looked healthy.. the new leaves were a little chagrined by my vigorous washing, but don't seem fatally damaged.. I just checked on them now, hadn't looked in a day or two, and I will probably need to water them tomorrow, but they do look like they should survive....

Helleborus purpurascens.  This past winter is the first one where both my plants wanted to stay evergreen.  The previous four years, the leaves always turned yellow in the fall.  It seems that for my climate, it might be a maturity thing.

Cole Burrell mentioned one time that he tends to prefer the darker hellebore flowers over light colored ones.  This, because the darker colors hold longer into the late spring.  Here is a good example with Ivory Prince and Royal Heritage.  
First pictures taken 25 March.
Second photos one month later, 25 April.

Interesting observation, Rick, both really nice!

Winter down here on the southern coast of NZ has been generally mild ,we've missed the snow storms that have affected inland and eastern areas further north however it's the absence of frosts that is so noticeable .

July is our coldest month, however day time temps are forecast to reach double figures for most of the week and during a walk around the garden today i see heaps of early bulbs ,mainly  Crocus ,Iris,Romulea and Galanthus in bud ......In the meantime a few Hellebores ,(nothing special) ,are showing colour .

Cheers Dave.

Dave, how was the winter last year?

You can still get some bad weather I guess!

It's following the same pattern as last year Trond .Sure we'll get a few cool fronts coming through from the south yet ,however once bulbs start flowering my mind is on other things ...smile (ie I have a bud on Romulea sabulosa a spectacular large flowered South African which i keep on checking daily, tracking it's progress)

Cheers Dave.

As an aside why does this posting not show up as the most recent contribution under the Family ,Genus,Species thread ?.

Dave, regarding posts not listed as being the most recent under the "Family, Genus, Species" board, we suspect this happens because it's a series of nested sub-boards.  By the way, forum "boards" or topic categories are called "forums" on this new forum, that's not confusing, is it ;-)

This small defect you mention is discussed in the General Forum > topic named  "New NARGS Forum - Issues, Question, Suggestions"
https://www.nargs.org/comment/23302#comment-23302

I hope our approaching winter will follow another course than the 3 previous ones. They were bad - dry and cold. Fingers crossed.

It is obviously always the orchid thread that shows, you now!

Thanks for the explanation Mark.

As a prompt I've just gone and read the whole topic  "New NARGS Forum-Issues ,Question, Suggestions"...(As I'm a bit tired tonight I have to admit that some of the suggestions/workarounds to other issues are a bit ' heavy ' for me to make sense of at the moment , so guess I'll have to have another look this weekend--smile).

Cheers Dave.

Possible parents and their offspring.

David, the offspring doesn't put shame to the parents!