Hellebores are here, and you won’t want to miss out on these varieties

We have raved about hellebores before.

But if any plant deserves extensive raving, it’s the hellebore (latin: helleborus).

What other cold-hearty perennial flowers early in March – a lot of times pushing their blooms through the snow and ice – has waxy, shiny, evergreen foliage that add texture to any garden, are deer resistant, self-seed quite readily, and have so many beautiful varieties to choose from?

Answer: none. Which is why every garden should feature this early spring bloomer.

Our favorites?

Helleborus foetidus

We also have more traditional varieties, like Helleborus ‘Royal Heritage’, which gets quite large when mature, and Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ with its bluish-green foliage and red stems, which takes a little longer to reach full maturity. (The slower growing varieties tend to be the more expensive varieties, because it literally takes years longer for growers to raise them to a size suitable for retail nurseries.)

Also hellebores are the best deer resistant alternative to hosta. They thrive in the same conditions, they have beautiful, textured foliage and as a bonus they bloom in March! The flowers often dry green on the plants, and the ornamental papery blooms remain – sometimes as long as August.

Helleborus ‘Frost Kiss’ Dana’s Dulcet

Helleborus ‘Frost Kiss’ Dana’s Dulcet

Helleborus ‘Frilly Kitty’

Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince”

Helleborus ‘Royal Heritage’

Helleborus ‘Bridget’