Helleborus HGC Ice N Roses White

Helleborus HGC Ice N' Roses White is part of a series of quite sensational Christmas roses, obtained in Germany and introduced to the market in 2017. This particularly robust hybrid combines all the qualities of its ancestors, including Mediterranean hellebores (from Corsica and the Balearic Islands), Christmas rose (H.niger), and Lenten rose (H.orientalis). The result is a plant that is highly resistant to cold, heat, and soils which are dry in summer, with large white flowers for a long time between December and April. This variety produces up to 15 compact stems per plant, each carrying several large pure white flowers with bright yellow stamens above beautiful, strongly toothed, dark, and leathery foliage. This hellebore will live for many years in the garden.

Hellebores belong to the ranunculaceae family. Helleborus HGC Ice N' Roses is a complex horticultural hybrid belonging to a series of Christmas roses developed in Germany, after many years of research and selection. Ice n'Roses hellebores come in 3 colours: red, pink, and white.

'Ice n'Roses White is a solid perennial plant with remarkable longevity, fairly fast-growing and with vigorous vegetation, but sterile; reproduction is difficult and only possible through division. It is bushy, with a mature plant reaching a minimum height of 30 cm (12in) and a spread of 50 cm (20in). From December to March-April, shortish brownish stems appear carrying dark green buds that open into 5-petaled white flowers, 6-7 cm (2-3in) wide, with beautiful green stamens that turn yellow. The evergreen foliage is composed of fairly tough leaves, 10 to 30 cm (4 to 12in) long, carried by brownish petioles divided into 5 to 7 ovate or strongly toothed, satin dark green segments. This Hellebore is hardy to -20°C and tolerates a wide range of soils, limestone or clay, humiferous or sandy, constantly moist or even dry in summer.

This rather revolutionary hellebore has many qualities. It should thrive in all gardens, from the north to the south. From the first year, many flowers will appear on the plants and new flowers are constantly forming, composing a bouquet of candid and luminous flowers in the middle of winter. These flowers can be used in bouquets. It is also a good ground cover for partially shaded areas of the garden. Use hellebores like elements of an ancient tapestry, mixing them with woodland plants in brighter colours. They are highlighted when planted near moderate-sized evergreen bushes (Mahonia Apollo, Nandina Fire Power) and under conifers (especially in windy sites). Surround them with primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentras, cardamines, or spring-flowering bulbs and snowdrops. You can also accompany them with ferns and shade iris (Iris unguicularis) to create a beautiful contrast a little later in the season. They can be planted in groups near the entrance of the house, in a shaded position, to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable for flower beds, borders, and containers... Over time, the flowers of the Hellebore do not fade like the majority of other flowers but dry up.