Helleborus x nigercors Ice Breaker Ruby - Hellebore

Hellebore Ice Breaker Ruby is a Christmas rose from the Ice Breaker series, which provides robust and reliable plants. It combines all the qualities of its parents, including H. corsicus, H. niger, and H. orientalis. It is highly resistant to cold, heat, and rather dry soils in summer. It blooms for a long time, between December and March, with open flowers. It produces up to 15 stems per plant, each developing several flowers on compact stems, with a dense and uniform purple-pink colour, contrasted by yellow stamens. Its ornamental foliage is dark green, slightly veined with light green, toothed, and leathery. This hellebore will live for many years in the garden, in all climates.

Hellebores belong to the Ranunculaceae family. The Hellebore Ice Breaker Ruby is a complex horticultural hybrid belonging to a series of Christmas roses developed in Germany, after many years of research and rigorous selection. Ice Breaker Ruby is a sturdy perennial, remarkably long-lived, with fairly rapid growth and vigorous vegetation, but sterile; its reproduction is only possible (and delicate) through clump division. It has a bushy habit, with a mature plant reaching 50cm (20in) in height and at least 60cm (24in) in spread. From December to March, brownish stems appear, not very tall, bearing purple buds that open into 5-petalled flowers of a beautiful purple-pink colour, with a satiny texture, 6-7cm (2-3in) wide, and with beautiful yellow stamens at their centre. The evergreen foliage is composed of rather leathery leaves, 10 to 30cm (4 to 12in) long, carried by brownish petioles. They are divided into 5 to 7 oval or lanceolate segments, strongly toothed, dark green with a satin texture, marbled with light green. This Hellebore is hardy down to -20°C (-4°F) and tolerates a wide range of very diverse soils, whether they are limestone or clay, humiferous or sandy, constantly moist or even dry in summer.

This revolutionary hellebore is full of qualities. It should thrive in all our gardens, from the north to the south. From the first year, many flowers already appear on the plants. New flowers constantly form, creating a beautiful contrast between open and faded flowers. These flowers can be perfectly used in bouquets. It is also a good ground cover for partially shaded areas of the garden. Use hellebores like elements of an old tapestry, mixing them with woodland plants in brighter colours. They are well highlighted when planted near small-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 plant them in groups, like a bouquet, near the entrance of the house, in a shady position, to fully enjoy their early flowering. They are suitable for beds, borders, and containers. Over time, the flowers of the Hellebore do not fade like the majority of other flowers, but dry up.