7 Anemone-flowered Hellebores

The Eastern Hellebore ‘Yellow Anemone’: elegant and bright

Ultra elegant, the Anemone-centred Hellebore ‘Yellow’ combines the purity of a delightful light tone with the refinement of oriental roses. Its apparent simplicity reveals a particularly graceful hellebore: the colour of the five petals, a very soft yellow, blends with the central pompom of the same hue, surrounding the cream-white stamens. Everything is harmony and softness in this cultivar, which is easy to establish in the garden or in pots. With a long flowering period, this tender yellow colour allows for the creation of bright scenes where blue is invited in small touches, for example alongside Muscari armeniacum ‘Dark Eyes’. Botanical Turkestan tulips will bloom at the same time, just like a paper tree (Edgeworthia chrystanta). Don’t forget some evergreen foliage such as Alchemilla or Farfugium.

Oriental Hellebore ‘Anemone Jaune’, here accompanied by an Edgeworthia chrystanta, muscaris, and Turkestan tulips

The Eastern Hellebore ‘Anemone Picotee’: Romantic

Here is another stunning oriental hellebore, the Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone Picotee’, which is sure to charm romantic gardeners! Its flowers are predominantly white with pink veining, featuring a central anemone pom-pom in a deeper mauve, from which the yellow-green stamens emerge. It is truly captivating and one of the most refined choices for a beautiful pot on the terrace, or as a border or in a flowerbed in the garden. Like other oriental hellebores, ‘Anemone Picotee’ blooms for a long time and quite late, from January to April, and its trailing flowers are best showcased in a planter or raised pot to enjoy this feminine elegance. Grown in shade or partial shade, in any soil even heavy, it will delight you for many months with its generous flowering.

Always well accompanied by another hellebore, such as a Helleborus foetidus with beautiful foliage and taller green flowers, you can plant nearby a carpet of snowdrops for early winter and an early Pieris with graceful flowering that will support its pink hues until early spring.

Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone Picotee’. On the right, the chartreuse green of a Helleborus foetidus, the early pink flowering of a Pieris japonica ‘Katsura’, and some snowdrops.

Helleborus orientalis 'Anemone Pure White'

Do you love the purity and classicism of white-flowered Hellebores? You will adore the pom-pom version of the cultivar ‘Anemone Blanc Pur’: this oriental hellebore offers the most delicate flowering, a white sometimes washed with green, with a cream-white collar revealing beautiful stamens that appear almost yellow. This variety of anemone-flowered hellebore is undoubtedly one of the most elegant and romantic. It simply needs a partially shaded position to display its immaculate petals all winter long. Like the others, give it time to settle in, as it will thicken year after year.

Surrounded by snowdrops and early Anemone blanda, along with some evergreen groundcovers for shade, it brightens up a white garden or a classic-style garden at a time of year when the garden truly needs it…

Helleborus orientalis ‘Blanc Pur’. On the right, Farfugium ‘Wavy Gravy’, Anemones blanda ‘White Spendor’ and Dryopteris marginalis

The Eastern Hellebore ‘Anemone Blanc guttatus’: delicately speckled

Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone White Guttatus’ is the original of this selection. This quirky term “guttatus” means marked with small spots or speckled in Latin. It appears in the names of many hybrids of Hellebores whose petals are indeed delicately spotted, as if splashed with small generally purple dots. This is the charm of this lovely variety of white anemone-flowered hellebore, whose purple splashes on the petals bring a finesse and elegance imbued with originality. The centre consists of a cream-white collar and cream stamens.

Easy to grow, flowering between January and March, it enhances a shaded corner of the garden and pairs well with another variety with single flowers, red or dark, such as the Oriental Hellebore ‘Red’ or the purple ‘Aubergine Liseré’. Planted in the shade at the foot of a waxy clematis with similarly speckled petals like Clematis cirrhosa balearica, surrounded by a Carex oshimensis ‘Everest’, it brightens up the coldest months of the year.

Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone guttatus’ here associated with a waxy clematis ‘Balearica’ (© Peganum), the variegation of a Carex oshimensis ‘Everest’ and the purple of the Oriental Hellebore ‘Aubergine Liseré’

The Eastern hellebore 'Anemone Apricot': simply delightful

The apricot tones of the Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone Abricot’ emerging in February bring infinite grace to winter borders or beds. It is distinguished from the ‘Abricot’ oriental hellebore by a heart of pom-pom petals, tone on tone, surrounding pale yellow stamens. Not so common among the colour palette of hellebores, the apricot of this oriental hellebore captivates at first glance. Completely hardy, it thrives in cool but well-drained soils like its counterparts, literally enchanting winter from February to April.

This pastel salmon hue, wavering between yellow and orange, is so soft that you can pair it with almost any winter flowering. Combined with a very dark, even black hellebore that enhances its colours (‘Double Noire’ or ‘Slaty Blue’), surrounded by Ophiopogons, Epimediums, or purple heucheras, at the foot of a salmon quince like ‘Falconnet Charlet’, or an orange witch hazel like ‘Diane’, along with a mass of other cream hellebores, it will surely find its place in your garden!

Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone Abricot’. On the right, a Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’, ‘Double Noire’ hellebores, and a carpet of copper-leaved Epimediums (Epimedium x versicolor ‘Cupreum’)

The Oriental Hellebore 'Anemone Verte': fresh!

Among the green-flowered hellebores, the oriental hellebore ‘Anemone Verte’ is a small rarity that should appeal to the more adventurous among you. Not only does it proudly display this beautiful and unique anise green colour, ultra-fresh and bright, but it also features, like other anemone-flowered hellebores, this absolutely delightful ton-on-ton frilled centre! When planted in masses, you can cut a few flowers to create delicate winter bouquets as it pairs well with many shades.

At the foot of bushes, in the shade, combine it with a carpet of Hepatica nobilis (liverleaf) in deep blue and a few ‘Blue Pearl’ hyacinths that will contrast in an original way against the green of the flowers. Enhance this green aspect with some clumps of ‘Snow Love’ nigercors hellebores with light green petals. A few simple cream-white tulips will create a refreshing effect alongside it at the end of winter, like the ‘Purissima’ fosteriana tulips.

Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone Vert’. On the right, ‘Blue Pearl’ hyacinth, white tulips, and Hepatica nobilis

Helleborus orientalis 'Anemone Rouge': crimson

Helleborus orientalis ‘Anemone Rouge’, a beautiful hellebore with solid crimson flowers, has nothing to envy from the varieties mentioned above. It showcases lovely red, almost purple inflorescences that are truly stunning, along with the typical collar of anemone-flowered hellebores, which is also purple. The pale yellow stamens stand out beautifully against this dark backdrop.

This dark hue deserves bright associations, with fresh shades from white to green, including yellow, to highlight it well; pink and powdery tones suit it just as well.

Oriental hellebore ‘Anemone Rouge’. On the right, Hellebore ‘Party Dress’, Symphoricarpos, Dryopteris erythrosora