H is for Hellebores. This spring the time came for me to add hellebores to my garden. I had the perfect new space – a new wooden fence that made two new planting beds. One side provided sunny space for new roses, and a shady side for epimediums and hellebores.
A friend invited me to see her hellebores, of which this is one. It is inspiring to think about adding hellebores to the new planting bed.
Hellebores welcome the shade and are still blooming in June,
Here is my new shade garden bed with (L-R) epimediums, astilbe, my new hellebore, another astilbe, and a hint of another non-blooming hellebore. There are two more hellebores to the left. Of course, you will also be noticing lots of violets by the fence too. This bed still needs lots of organizing, but it will look very fine next spring. I think.
Hellebores are not fussy. They do like soil that is enriched with organic compost, The soil should be neutral; it does not like acidity. Water when there is a dry spell.
I am pay attention to advice about pruning from https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/hellebore/pruning-hellebore-plants.htm “The best time for pruning a hellebore plant is late winter or early spring, just as soon as the new growth begins to appear. This new growth should come straight up out of the ground as little stalks. These stalks should still be surrounded by a ring of last year’s big leaves. The old leaves may very well be damaged from the winter’s cold and looking a little rough around the edges. As soon as the new growth appears, these old leaves can be cut away, slicing them right at the base. If your old foliage is undamaged and still looks good, it’s not necessary to prune them right away, but once the new grow starts to leaf out, you’ll want to make way for them by removing the old growth. If you leave the old growth for too long, it’ll become entangled with the new growth and much harder to trim away.”