Helleborus hybridus Double White Red/Purple Edge

Helleborus x hybridus Double White Red/Purple Edge is a true gem for shade. It offers double, bicoloured flowers in late winter, with each petal of creamy white finely edged with red, around a heart of white stamens. Sculptural and elegant, it is also a robust and hardy perennial that will bring a touch of charm to shaded areas of the garden. Easy to grow, even in heavy soil, it will thrive in shade or non-burning sun.

Native to Greece, Turkey, and the central and eastern Caucasus, Helleborus orientalis,  sometimes called Lenten Rose, is a perennial plant of the buttercup family that hybridizes very easily with other species to produce many hybrids with very varied colours and forms. We no longer give names of varieties to these hybrids, they are distinguished by their shape and colour. The Oriental Hellebore is a hardy plant that can withstand temperatures as low as -15°C (5°F), growing naturally in forests, thickets, and clearings up to 2,000m (2,187 yards) altitude.

The Double White with Red/Purple Edges variety forms a compact and leafy clump measuring 40cm (16in) in all directions. It is composed of palmate, slightly toothed, dark green and shiny, evergreen basal leaves, 30 to 40cm (12 to 16in) long, composed of 7 to 9 leaflets. They only live for 8 months and are regularly replaced by new leaves.

Between February and April, a bouquet of single flowers measuring 4 to 5cm (2in) in diameter forms among the foliage. These are cup-shaped with three rows of petals increasing in size from the centre to the outer edge of the corolla. They are inclined downwards, allowing water to slide off like an umbrella to protect the heart of the flower from rotting. Hellebore is a bushy plant that does not like to be moved once established, with young plants taking a little time to flower. The seeds are sown by ants.

Use hellebores as elements of an old tapestry, mixing them with understory plants in brighter colours. They are highlighted when planted near Pieris, small-sized rhododendrons, under conifers (especially on wind-exposed sites), and surrounded by primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentras, cardamines, or spring-flowering bulbs and snowdrops. You can also accompany them with ferns and shade irises to create a beautiful contrast a little later in the season. They can be planted in groups, like a bouquet, in the shade near the entrance of the house to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable as cut flowers and in borders, edges, or containers,... Over time, the flowers of the Hellebore do not wither like the majority of other flowers but dry out instead.

Each seed-sown hellebore has a unique flower colour: so slight variations in colour may exist between two plants, which is normal and inevitable. However, if the difference is too significant and distorts the desired effect, we will refund or replace the affected plant.