Product Description
Helleborus 'Valentine Green'
Common Name: Lenten Rose, Hellebore
Zone 6 to 8, Part to full shade.
Plants reach 12 inches tall and 24 to 30 inches wide.
This lovely new shorter variety of Helleborus makes a beautiful container specimen. Two inch wide, ivory white blossoms with a hint of green are borne atop a clump of dark green, leathery, evergreen foliage in early to mid-spring. Mature plants produce flowers in clusters of 20 to 30 and as they mature, they turn light green. Though this 2009 introduction is officially listed as a zone 6, it may prove to be hardier in the landscape.
Hellebores are the harbingers of spring, blooming for six weeks or more beginning in late winter. They are often flowering during the Christian season of Lent, from which they get their common name, Lenten Rose. This is the perfect plant for naturalizing in moist, woodland areas where its extensive root system will spread as far as it is allowed.
Hellebores are enjoyable to grow because they are low-maintenance and disease/pest-free. Simply trim back last year's foliage in the spring. They can adapt to almost any growing conditions. Though they prefer rich, moist, organic soil, they will also grow in sandy or clay soil. They can even tolerate short periods of drought. The soil pH can range anywhere from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline.
Hellebores are shade plants that need to be protected from the hot afternoon sun. They will grow in full shade under large deciduous trees as long as they receive full sun from winter to spring before the trees get their leaves.
To increase the number of hellebores in your garden, mulch them heavily in the fall. The new seedlings will grow in this mulch come spring and can then be transplanted elsewhere in the garden. WARNING: Hellebores are poisonous. Do not consume any part of the plant!
Parentage: H. argutifolius x a large flowered white H. niger
Attributes: Border plants, Container, Cut flower or foliage, Drought Tolerant, Evergreen, Mass planting, Salt Tolerant, Deer and Rabbit resistant.