Eastern Hellebore

Eastern Hellebore (Helleborus orientalis Lam.) – a species of the genus Helleborus (Helleborus) of the family Ranunculaceae (Ranunculáceae). In cultivation since 1839. First described in 1789 in Encycl. 3: 96 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.

In the wild it grows in Greece, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Turkey.

It is a perennial herbaceous plant up to 45 см in height. Rhizomes are many-branched. All parts of the plant are glabrous or hairy. Stems erect, branched in the inflorescence, with repeatedly divided, leaf-like bracts.

Basal leaves numbering 1-2, evergreen, up to 40 см or more in diameter, more or less palmately divided, leathery, densely green, glossy, on long petioles. Segments numbering 5-11, up to 20 см in length and up to 11 см in width, elliptic-lanceolate or broadly elliptic, cuneate at the base, gradually acuminate at the tip, margins doubly coarsely serrated.

Flowers 6-7 (8) cm in diameter, saucer-shaped, nodding, later becoming more erect, widely variable in color, grouped 3-4 in semi-umbels, forming a branched inflorescence up to 35 см in length. Sepals broadly ovate, overlapping like tiles at the edges, acuminate. Peduncles usually shorter than the leaves. Flowers from February to April.

Forms:

• ssp.orientalis – eastern hellebore
• ssp.abchasicus – Abkhazian eastern hellebore
• ssp.guttatus – spotted eastern hellebore

Hardiness zone: 6 (-18°C).

Location: Shade-tolerant, prefers partial shade under the canopy of deciduous trees or near shrubs in cool but sheltered corners of the garden. Moisture-loving; on dry sites it loses ornamental value, but it does not tolerate prolonged waterlogging or stagnant moisture on heavy soils. During the growing period it prefers moderately moist soils; in summer it can grow on moderately dry soils, but soil drying should be avoided. Not demanding in terms of fertility, it grows well on any cultivated soils, but is most hardy and ornamental on light, loose, well-drained, humus-rich, non-acid loams. Most species respond well to liming of the soil.

Planting: carried out in spring or autumn in pre-prepared holes measuring 25x25x25 cm, at a distance of about 30 см from each other. Fill the holes with soil mixed with compost in a 1:1 ratio. An ideal location is under the crowns of apple trees or other trees.

Care: during hot and dry periods it is recommended to provide the plants with moderate but regular watering, or, which is more beneficial for the plants, to regularly mulch the soil with compost or well-rotted peat after flowering.

Propagation: By seeds and division of the clump. Due to winter flowering, insects rarely pollinate hellebore flowers, and stigmas often freeze, which contributes to seeds being produced very rarely. Sow seeds immediately after collection or in spring after stratification, in boxes with loose humus soil to a depth of about 1 см. Seeds germinate with difficulty; often seedlings appear only after a year. Seedlings are pricked out at the 1-2 leaf stage into beds in semi-shaded parts of the garden at a distance of 20 см from each other. Transplant seedlings to their permanent place in the 3rd-4th year after sowing. Seedlings flower in the 4th-5th year. Usually plants are propagated vegetatively. Division of clumps is done no more often than once every 7-10 years, preferably in autumn, in August-September. In spring, immediately after flowering, propagation by sections of rhizomes is possible.

Diseases and pests: practically unaffected.

Uses: looks excellent among trees and shrubs, as well as in rockeries. Eastern hellebore can be used in the front of a mixed border. Hellebores combine well with other spring ephemerals: narcissus, crocus, snowdrop, primula, lungwort (Pulmonaria), cyclamen, hyacinth. Hellebores look great next to spring-flowering Erica (heather), and as a backdrop to flowering Gaultheria, Pieris, rhododendron, forsythia and camellia. Hellebore flowers are suitable for cutting and for dried bouquets. In cold regions, hellebore can be grown indoors as a houseplant.