We continue to be impressed with the continuing parade of new selections of sterile lenten roses, in particular, the clones of Helleborus x iburgensis. These fascinating hybrids that originated at RD plants in England, are crosses of Helleborus x ballardiae (niger x lividus) x Helleborus x hybridus. In other words, these hybrids have up to 5-7 different species in each.
Because two of the parents, Helleborus niger and Helleborus lividus, both have outfacing flowers, the flowers on the Iburgensis hybrids all carry that trait. Additionally, most every lenten rose cross with Helleborus niger is effectively sterile. Interestingly, Helleborus niger is the most cold hardy of all lenten rose species, while Helleborus lividus is the least cold hardy, but the most heat tolerant.
Below are a series of photos from the gardens here over the last few weeks of some of the clones we have tried. We find these an exceptional group, many with pink to cream variegation, that should be much more widely grown. Hardiness is Zone 5a-8b, at least.
When I went to the Plants Delight website, I found only 2 or 3 of these varieties available for sale. I did see Helleborus x ballardiae, and helleborus x ericsmithii and helleborus x glandorfensis, all of which seemed to have the same outfacing flowers. Would they be good substitutes for helleborus x iburgensis? I’m trying to find six different varieties to fill a box and obtain the most favorable shipping rate. Thanks for your help.
Yes, these are all sterile with outfacing flowers and would fit well together.