http://www.gardengatenotes.com...

For early winter till they get snow covered I love the colors of Heuchera, Heucherella and Tiarella.

I planted Heuchera and Tiarella this year and I have been so pleased with their ease of care and how well they stand up to some tough conditions. I am really liking them.

SongofJoy said:http://www.gardengatenotes.com/2011/12/20/great-plants-for-winter/?utm_source=GardenGateNotes&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5427

Really nice picture SongofJoy and thanks for the link, I love the little flowers and the shrubs.

My "Northern Beauty" hellebore has been blooming since mid-November. This is the first hellebore I've ever had - don't they usually start in the early spring?

And if so, should I tell her?

NJBob said:For early winter till they get snow covered I love the colors of Heuchera, Heucherella and Tiarella.

ME TOO BOB
I was surprised at how hardy these plants really are. My Georgia Peach has been through four frostings and temps down to 28 and they do not bat an eye, the color is actually deeper and more beautiful, I was very surprised. This is four liners I got in September and they continue to thrive.
susan

Susan for you in zone 7 they will most likely stay evergreen. In the spring cut off the sadder looking leaves and new growth will come in. Best color is early spring and late fall. You can usually divide during the third spring.

Sheryl Northern Beauty is a hybrid of Christmas Rose which flower before the Lenten Rose. November is a little early but in the right zones Christmas Rose flowers around Christmas and Lenten Rose around Easter. By me my Lenten Roses flower late April to early May just before most of my spring bulbs come up.

That is good news! Hopefully I can have color all winter. I finally decided on two more which I got in the mail last month. One is Appalachian Trail and the other is Solar eclipse. I have got some seeds coming from a seed swap, plum pudding' and 'pretty polly'. Whoohoo my garden is growing!
susan

I have 'Appalachian Trail' and really like it. Here it put out long runners quickly.

I wish the Hellebores co-op could have been a "go". I want some. Well, maybe next year for a co-op. I hope the ones I decide to buy here will flower early like that, Sheryl (I'm not very far away from her).

Look for ones that say Helleborus niger or nigercors in the name this will indicate Christmas Rose.

Thanks, Bob.

I wanted to make a hanging basket for my Appalachian Trail

I don't know much, ok nothing about Helleborus but I really did like that Christmas Rose, I wonder if you can grow them from seed, I never seem to see them anywhere. Yahoo coop has a variety of stuff, things just come and go. I check-in once in a while to just see what is being offered. Thats where I got my Georgia Peach liners for 3.99. As a matter of fact they were offering Helleborus back in April of 2011, maybe again this year you never can tell.

susan

mamajack on cubits had some with one of her sales and might have some left. i got pink parachutes, green gambler, cinnamon snow, and pink frost from her.

Both of these plants are great! Susan, if you wait until later in the spring I'll bet you will find some helleborus on sale. You can grow from seed but they take so long to mature into flowering plants 3-4 years. If you buy one or two and leave the flower heads you will get a ton of seedlings. These are hybrids plants so they will not be exactly like the parents. There are so many gorgeous helleboues on the market.

Another great plant is euphorbia 'Blackbird' it stays small and holds its color well. They are short live thou. The yahoo coop helleborus was a no go. Who knows what the New year will hold on that front.

Someone told me about mamajack's and gave me the link and I forgot who gave it to me and I didn't write it down. Can you give us the link?

susan

Thanks Springcolor
I will check them out in the spring. I don't want to wait 4 years, that's for sure!

Here's the link for Mamajacks co-ops. She had some nice fancy hellebores for cheap.

http://cubits.org/notfortheser...

Susan, if you just want some to try, give me a holler in the spring. I always have a ton of babies around my Lady series. They will be variable, but all pretty. I'd love to send you a few seedlings. Of course then you'll be hooked.

Sheryl, that Northern Beauty is a beauty. And yes, as Bob says the nigercor hellebores bloom very early. They don't bloom for me in the fall, like you, but when the snow goes, there they are. Nigercors, by the way is a cross between H. niger and H. argutifolius (sometimes called Corsican hellebore). Can you tell I love hellebores?

I had looked over there previously, but didn't see the Hellebores. Which co-op are they in?

SongofJoy Where did you look??
I was looking on mamajacks website and I did not see any Hellebores. But when I went to Yahoo-coop I saw Hellebores listed under closed coops. They had them available last April.

susan