Helleborus Gold Collection: Josef Lemper & Pink Frost

The Helleborus Gold Collection, abbreviated HGC, is a group of high quality helleborus niger and hybrid plants propagated vegatively rather than by seedlings. This ensures consistency, unique identity and uniformity within the cultivar.

The Gold Collection is divided into two groups, HGC Christmas and HGC Spring.

HGC Christmas Collection
The HGC Christmas collection features several Helleborus niger varieties:

• Jacob Classic
• Josef Lemper
• Jacob Royal
• Joshua
• Jesse
• Joel
• Snow Frills
• Jonas

Today's Christmas Collection feature is Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper'. These striking plants bloom in late fall and winter providing interest to an otherwise bleak and dormant garden.

Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper'

Josef Lemper Christmas Rose
Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper'
Flowering the first year, this member of the Gold Collection is long blooming, with lots of buds and blossom. Large, pure white, slightly cupped flowers age to light green. Long stems stand above the dark green foliage and carry pure white flowers that age to light green. Can also be enjoyed indoors as winter and holiday decorations and then planted outside as a long lived perennial.

This plant is an excellent addition to the winter garden as it provides wonderful and very early blooms. Deer resistance and shade tolerant. Excellent as a ground cover or specimen perennial. Grows to a height of 15 to 18 inches. Spread: 21 inches. Blooms in December to February. Hardy to USDA zone 4.

Helleborus Gold Spring Collection

The HGC Spring collection features a number of Helleborus hybrids that tend to bloom in the New Year.

• Cinnamon Snow
• Green Corsican
• Pink Frost
• Silvermoon
• Joker
• Carina Green
• Champion



Pink Frost Hybrid Hellebore

• Spring Party

Pink Frost Winter Rose, Pink Frost Lenten Rose
Helleborus x ballardiae 'HGC Pink Frost'
A wonderful hellebore hybrid offering a light pink coloured flower often turning dark red with maturity. Flower form is similar in appearance to Helleborus niger.Blooms in late winter, often February. Height: 6 inches. Spread: 12 inches. Best grown in shade to part shade. Perfers moist soils

Helleborus Care:
Once you decide to plant a hellebore, choose a suitable location in shade or part shade, and preferably sheltered from wind.  Soil should be well drained and rich in humus.  Ensure your new plant is planted at garden level and not too deep.  Raise it if your drainage is poor or cut in some sand into heavy soils that still drain. You will need to provide water the first year planting, and then only when it is very hot - generally in summer. Once established hellebores are an easy care plant.  Just remove old foliage in spring, and mulch, returning nutrients to the soil and protecting roots from drier weather.   Enjoy!


For more information about Hellebores, visit these sites
Helleborus Gold Collection
Helleborus History & Mythology

Art's Nursery carries these and other select members of the Helleborus Gold Collection. More will be available and in-stock in late winter, early spring. If you have any other questions about Hellebores, please feel free to drop by and visit, or give us a call at 604.882.1201

This Post Was Written By:

Art's Nursery

Helleborus

Helleborus are one of the most interesting Perennials found in the west coast gardens. After all, how many plants do you know that like to grow in shade and bloom in winter, or very early spring? They are highly valued by gardeners for their ability to brighten up the garden at the dreariest time of year.

In 2005, Hybrid Hellebores were named Perennial Plant of the Year. There is no doubt that their popularity is ever increasing.

Helleborus or Hellebores are native to parts of Europe and Western Asia and are members of the Ranunculaceae, or Buttercup family of plants. Many species are poisonous so they should be sited with care. They produce strikingly attractive, usually multi-coloured flowers that tend to nod or face downwards. Hellebores prefer shade or part shade and do well in moist, but well drained, humus-rich soil conditions

Hellebores have enjoyed a lot of popularity lately and as a result many new varieties are commonly available. Some of the most common types include:

Helleborus niger - Christmas Rose

This variety is known by its common name: Christmas RoseIts name comes from the fact that its pure white flowers appear in mid-winter, often right around Christmas. Leaves are deeply lobed and mid-green in colour. Regular moisture is required. This plant is hardy in zones 3-9

Helleborus orientalis - Lenten Rose

The Lenten Rose is the most common variety of Helleborus. It is clump forming with dense foliage. Extremely variable, hundreds of different strains, colour patterns and shades are available. White, green, pink, rose and purple are all common flower colours for this variety. H. orientalis blooms later in the season than the Christmas Rose. This evergreen is hardy in zones 6-10.

Helleborus foetidus - Stinking Hellebore
The stinking hellebore is a clump forming plant with dark green foliage and clusters of drooping pale green flowers edged in red that bloom in winter or early spring. Self-seeds readily. H. foetidus 'Wester Flisk' is a commonly available variety. Hardy in zones 6-10.

Helleborus argutifolius - Corsican Hellebore

This clump-forming hellebore offers large clusters of nodding, cup-shaped pale green flowers. One of the earliest to bloom, with flowers appearing in late winter or early spring. Of the helleborus, it is also the most sun and drought tolerant. Foliage is deep green and divided. Hardy in zones 6-9.

Double Helleborus

One of the most sought after types of Hellebores today are the double varieties. These types have two rows of flower petals. Many varieties and colours are available.

Hellebore Care

Caring for these plants is relatively easy. Remove the flower heads after the seeds drop. Add compost or manure as a top dress after flowering. Although many varieties are technically evergreen, their foliage can look rather ragged and tattered after the winter. Many gardeners prefer to prune off older leaves back to the ground in late winter so the blooms look their best. It is best to use gloves when working with Hellebores as their foliage can cause mild skin irritation in some people. This characteristic also works to keep deer away. Helleborus tend to resent being moved or divided so it is best to choose a site and leave them undisturbed. They can be divided in the Spring or Fall, but expect this plant to sulk for several years before it rebounds and flowers again.