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
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Just emerging from its winter slumber in the woodland rock garden, is the scarlet orange-flowered, Adonis ‘Chichibu Beni’. This rare selection is a triploid hybrid between Adonis multiflora and Adonis ramosa. When it comes to Adonis, not all treasures are golden. Hardiness Zone 3a-8a.
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Helleborus foetidus ‘Red Silver’ is looking great in the late winter garden. Not only is the evergreen foliage great, but the flowers have a lovely ring of lipstick on each flower tip. This European species thrives in both open shade and half day full sun, as long as the drainage is good.
Red Silver Bear’s Claw Read More »
Two favorites in the Ranunculus family are flowering now in January. The first is the familiar Helleborus niger. Below is our clump of Helleborus niger ‘Sunny Border’ in early January. This Christmas rose prefers a more open shade to even a few hours of morning sun, and very well drained soil that never stays wet.
In only its third winter in the garden, Camellia vietnamensis has already surpassed our expectations. The large, single white flowers that start for us in early winter, combined with the beautiful foliage has been exceptional in our trials. So far, our plants have sailed through 14 degrees F. There seems to be quite a bit
From Vietnam, with Love Read More »
Flowering this week in the garden is the little-known Greek snowdrop, Galanthus snogerupii, which is found only on the Greek island of Andros. This glossy-leaf species is one of the earliest of the fall snowdrops to flower. Some galanthophiles consider it a subspecies of Galanthus ikariae, but others feel it deserves species status.
Falling for a Greek Snowdrop Read More »
Our specimen of Mahonia ‘Marvel’ is in full flower today. This curious plant from Georgia’s Ozzie Johnson is reportedly a seedling of Mahonia x media ‘Charity’, and while it shares the flower characteristics of the parent, I’m not sure what odd mutation occurred to remove all of the leaf spines. We think this is a
A Mahonia on which to Marvel Read More »
We are entering peak flowering season for Aspidistra (cast iron plants), a time we always enjoy because of the fascinating leaf and flower diversity in the genus. One of several species flowering this week is the rare, South Central Vietnam native, Aspidistra quangngaiensis, a species only discovered and described in 2017. Sadly, it’s small population
Can I Buy a Vowel? Read More »
Flowering for the last month is the amazing, winter-flowering Urophysa henryi. Formerly an Isopyrum, this rare Chinese endemic in the Ranunculaceae family, has thrived for over five years in our rock garden. Now that we finally have some spare seedlings, thanks to ours self-pollinating last year, we’ll be trying this around the garden to see
Looking good in the garden this week is our selection of the Croatian native lenten rose, Helleborus croaticus ‘Bells of the Ball’. This is a seedling grown from a Will McLewin wild seed collection, without benefit of breeding. Unlike most Helleborus x hybridus, this is a completely deciduous species. This plant gets full sun for
Cracking Croaticus Read More »
