Hellebores

Some of the most must-have spring plants, in the last few years, have been hellebores. It’s easy to see why. At a time of year when there’s not much about, it’s good to see the first really showy perennials in flower. And since the plant breeders have improved the old faithful Lenten hellebore, Helleborus orientalis, it’s become a real collectors piece.

New varieties have flowers in exciting petrol blues, stunning methylated-spirit mauves, dramatic nearly-black, girlie pink-spotted, and ethereal greeny shades. No two are exactly the same. The big problem is making up your mind which to buy. And that’s the problem because good hellebores are pricy and in rather short supply.

You might find a few on sale at garden centres but a specialist nursery will stock the biggest range (find them in the Plant Finder, in bookshops, published annually, or use the online version on the RHS website www.rhs.org.uk ). To be sure what you’re buying choose a plant that’s already in flower.

Don’t just look for your favourite colour; choose a plant whose flowers stand out above the evergreen foliage, and if possible tilt slightly upwards so you can see inside, and look for neat bushy compact plants instead of the long spindly ones that you sometimes find.

When you get your ‘treasures’ home, plant them in a well-prepared patch of ground in partial sun or light dappled shade, with well-drained fertile humus-rich soil. Get the right spot first time round; once established hellebores don’t take kindly to being moved again.

Plant several really good hellebores in a group together, and they’ll earn their keep. By cross-pollinating each other, you’ll have an endless supply of self sown plants for free, appearing all round the parents. And when the parents are good plants, their offspring are bound to be worth having too. (Keen growers will hybridise their own favourites by hand with an artists watercolour brush, but it’s far easier to let nature do the job).

Just dig up the seedlings in late summer, pot them individually and grow them on in a nursery area. Oh they won’t all be winners, but once they flower – in a couple of years – you can pick out the best to beef up your borders.

You can never have too many hellebores.