I planted this last summer, like in September, it is half the size now as it was when I planted it, I suspect some of the brown/spotted leaves are still there from last year and just need trimmed off. The other one I planted a little ways from this one, and it did not have any blooms, which I just planted it last summer so did not expect much, but small as it is, it does look healthy so is it normal for them to not bloom the first year?

The last time I planted hellebores, they just looked scraggly w half dead leaves and after about 3 or 4 years I just got rid of it.

Is there anything special I should do for them? I did mulch this over the winter, I think it mostly washed out, I do have moles and then go around it, but not too close so I thought its not that, but who knows, maybe it's hollow down further underneath.

They do take till there 3rd sometimes 4th year to flower. A highly composted well drained soil with a ph between 7.0 to 8.0 . I feed just as they break ground using Osmocote. We have the same zone and the ones I have in the sun do better then those in the shade. Also the Lenten Rose do much better for me then the Christmas Rose . We also had very little snow cover this year and I always notice down years when that happens.

The plant pictured looks normal.
If your cutting on them, could explain why they pout.
Hellebore are toxic... Should be immune to underground dwellers.

Down here, the Lenten rose types are being decimated by "hellebore net necrosis".
Haven't noticed the Christmas rose types being affected yet.

If you are mulching thickly, everything should be roses.
Next Spring should show seedlings.

I haven't cut anything on it, it still has last years foliage. They were both covered in blooms when I bought them. Even if they are toxic to animals, they tunnel up next to them displacing them from the soil. These are the Lenten type, from what the tag said when I bought them. I understood these varieties I have do not produce seed unfortunately. Maybe that answers some of the questions.

I took to hybrid hellebores about ten years ago and find that they take well to our garden (soil, on the alkaline side, rich, well watered and sunny (latter, however, only in the spring and fall, because the spring flowering perennials are covered by taller perennials through the summer).

The hellebore foliage stands out, however, as looking quite ratty, when the snow melts back. Below the same 'Berry Swirl': March 21 and May 8, 2022, latter after a hatch job on the foliage which came out of the snow).

Mine is planted in morning sun only, quite shady, maybe they need more sun than that? Yours looks really nice w all those blooms, I'm jealous!

Frillylily said: These are the Lenten type, from what the tag said when I bought them. I understood these varieties I have do not produce seed...

Looks like helleborus niger.

It wouldn't be the first time that someone bought a plant with the wrong tag....

They all produce seed, even the double bloomers...

The trick is... don't mulch the babies... those are very tender, can't be moved for at least a year, and preferably 2 or 3.

Let me check my blog, and see if I can't find some helleborus orientalis...


tough plant... touched with ice

This is the pic of mine last year before I planted them. I thought they said lenten rose on the tag, but I can't find what I did w the tag now.

Hellebore (Helleborus x hybridus Frostkiss™ Anna's Red) Says its sterile (?)




Hellebore (Helleborus Gold Collection® Pink Frost) Looks like this one has seeds.

Ok... Thanks for a specific cultivar name...
Seems that those are also referred to as lenten rose... I'd previously associated the name specifically with Helleborus orientalis.

There are so many hellebore in cultivation:
https://gardenerspath.com/plan...

I don't know if your seeds will all be sterile or not...
I've seen (grown) the types with the white veining in the leaves and thought these were more of the same...
They keep coming out with new crosses....

well yours seem loaded w flowers, maybe mine will bloom next year. They must have not liked being moved. Also I am zone 6 but that is a lie, and it says on the tag -10 but here where I am it got colder than that for a few nights so wondering if they didn't like that especially since they are not really established, just being planted. I consider it more of a zone 5 here, but plants have a mind of their own sometimes too!

Frilly, that 'Berry Swirl' has been my own favourite hellebore plant in our garden for a number of years. I don't know, in our case, which is more important for the amount of bloom produced; the precise location in the garden (microclimate) or the particular cultivar concerned. Comparison: the picture below (May 3, 2022). Both of the hellebores were purchased, as 'Peppermint Ruffles', at the same time. Needless to say, the one was mislabelled (as per Stone above); still at least, for me, it puts on a better show.


I think, currently, that our best hellebore spreader (vegetally) is 'Merlin' (Helleborus x ballardiae), one of which I've already divided. That cultivar also has the great advantage, for me at least, of non-nodding flowers and hence colour which is easier to see.

I'm in Missouri, too and find hellebores to do fine here. I inherited most of them more than 20 years ago when we moved in. I also have some newer cultivars. They are all in pretty dense woodland shade and bloom fine. The old foliage looks ratty in spring but mine have spread around so much, it's too big a task to try to remove old foliage. I suspect yours just need a little more time. Here's a view of one of the areas from just last week. The old foliage gradually degrades leaving a nicer show in a few weeks.

Thank you! Yours both look so pretty, maybe mine will do better as it settles in more.