While most gardeners are familiar with hybrid hellebores, those all originated with wild species. Although most lenten rose species are far less showy than their hybrid counterparts, there are some that are pretty nice in their own right. Once of these is Helleborus purpurescens, the source of much of the purple color in the Helleborus x hybridus group. Flowering today in the garden is a Tom Mitchelll wild seed collection (TCM10-487), from just east of Teliu, Romania. We’ve offered Helleborus purpurescens ‘Teliu’ a couple of times in the past, but this is an exceptional form that we probably should make available again.
