Please stop posting these gorgeous pics. You're burning a hole in my wallet.

I hope this picture won't offend anyone... but our April Fools was that spring was actually starting last weekend.

Karen if you get any extra seeds from your Green gambler I'd love to give them a try. I stupidly bought one last spring and then let it sit for about a month too long on the side of the driveway. It did not appreciate the experience. btw the white, reddish and chartreuse flowers in my hand are from seed, the three smaller flowers were bought plants.

Totoro, as far as I know, the O'Byrne Winter Jewels are all seed grown. How old are your plants? They seem to be blooming very well already.

totora - You're so knowledgeable. No idea of the names or collection. Thank you, guys for the nice comments. perennialfan: They are already burning quite a few holes in my pocket.

This flower is not mine, but I do have this. Unfortunately, they were kissed or savaged by slug/snail brigade.

I also bought this yellow anemone

I really love this one which I think was bred from a lady called Lorna Jones.

This beauty is the most expensive of my buys in amongst hellebores. But you know what, once you have it, just take cuttings and your investment is more or less guaranteed.

katob: You have a lovely collection in your hand.. Beautiful!

So pretty, MYA! Love the pink veining on the above hellebores. The first one is really charming.

Finally the snow melted and gone. Here are some of mine. I really like this new one, Confetti Cake

Irish Ruffles

NOID

Amber Gem

Oh well. Perhaps I was mistaken about Winter Jewels being tissue culture d. Maybe that is why mine don't look like the catalog photo.

Here is Golden Lotus

All mine are about a year old and passed their first winter.

totoro: That's the excitement of hellebores. They are very promiscuous and hence sometimes out comes a beauty. If you hand pollinate them and in 2 to 3 years' time, you get something new, I have been doing that to mine and hope I can name one after myself! LOL! That's a nice flower and an asset for this time of the year!

KarenPA: I love the yellow double one and the one with the pinky edge! Coor! What beauties. I love pure doubles regardless of colours or big blotched singles. Thank you for uploading your delices! A nice way to start the drizzle dull, damp and dank morning in Essex, UK!

kato: Hope you upload more. I don't think I have perfect flowers this year. Half of my hellebores can't be photographed. I Just don't show them! LOL!

Peppermint Ice

Cotton Candy

These are planted next to each other and now they look alike to me.

Where do you guys (and gals) purchase your hellebores from?

sandyslopes: Very pretty. Thank you for sharing.

bella Everywhere - online, shops, diy gc, gc ..

Ok I feel really stupid right now. I think my hellebores actually have been blooming for awhile (maybe a week or so, not sure). They were just covered up by all the dead leaves we piled up in that bed last year. I thought they'd just grow through them for some reason.

You have to cut off the old leaves and they should be fine. That's what I do with mine every year.

bella is right, just tidy up the dead leaves or keep them for mulch and trim off the old leaves or big leaves so that sunshine can access the crown. They will flower very well after that. Don't get to share your beauty please. Funny enough, I even have doubles starting to flower in mid April. Normally, they have all gone to seeds. This year the weather has been freaky!

MYA that is great how you pollinate yours. I am newbie gardener and that might be a goal for the future.

Wow I am impressed with the vigor of Sparkling Diamonds. Here it is today. Seems to have doubled in size and blooms since my pic above

Oh, that's sooooo nice. I think the US and the UK have different names for similar things. I love your name. Here, we only have Double Ellen red spotted. Very boring.

Something to inspire you. It has inspired me as I like to mess about.

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/how-to-hand-pollinate-hellebores/

This thread is dangerous! We went to a nursery yesterday and I bought a few: Anna's Red, Red Sapphire (my fave!), Molly's White, Golden Lotus, and two other ones whose name I can't remember. I love the dark reds and wines. I won't be planting these out for awhile. Our weather is today is sleet, ice, windy and all around crappy! LOL. Tomorrow's forecast - snow. Old man Winter just won't let go!

Have been MIA for awhile on here due to a bad cold. THanks everyone for posting your blooms! I really like your Sparkling Diamonds, Totoro! It has a very nice shade of white.

Sandy, Peppermint Ice and Cotton Candy do look very similar. If you have to choose one or the other, which do you like better? I have been looking for a nice pink one.

Bella Rosa, you are adding a lot of nice hellebores to your garden! Do you have a lot of shady space in your garden? I currently have Berry Swirl growing in a sunny spot. THough its blooms are profuse, the sun definitely causes it to fade faster than the hellebores that are in the shade.

Thanks MYA! I too love that yellow double. It is the only yellow double that I have that does not have spots or speckles. The blooms fade to a beautiful chartreuse green too. I am starting to understand what you all mean about tissue cultured and seeds grown. Some of the ones that I bought from Michigan Bulb years ago were probably grown from seeds because the flowers are not identical to the named plants.

Here are a few more of mine that bloomed last week. This one contains some veining exhibited by MYA striking flowers posted above. I am glad that this one turns out this way because I am really taken by this hellebore bloom characteristic.

Picotee Lady

Double Red Prince

I love the veining, I think that pattern is my favorite.

Two warm days have brought a few up, they're just starting but who knows what the weather next week will bring, so better to share photos now!

I decided I don't have enough and only a few seedlings are coming along, plus seeing all these pictures has me a little excited, so better watch the wallet!

A white seedling

This one almost rotted away in a damp spot before I put it here, slowly it's recovering. I should surround it with whites :)

Maybe golden lotus?

Another seedling

Onyx Odyssey. Not very showy because it's so dark, but still cool

I bought some yellow picotee seeds years ago.

These are all seedlings from 'Goldfinch'. Quite a range from reddish with speckles down to plain greenish-yellow.

I think this is HGC Moonlight, I guess I missed my chance to trim back the foliage.

Karen, thanks. Yes, we have a semi-shady area. We have a few hostas there, but I'd like to expand the area and add other shady plants. I have just a handful of hellebores. With everyone posting pics, it's great to see all of the many beautiful varieties.

KarenPA Amazing green veined hellebore. Yes, this site is dangerous. Now I need to hunt for this one. I love my veined ones, but the slugs/snails love them too. I can't even take a decent photo as the SS have left holes and half petals.

katob Such lovely flowers. I wanted to have a black one so much. Kept buying them and kept being sent some insipid plants and after complaint, still being sent the wrong plants. Very frustrating.

Our Hellebores are doing well, for the first time I cut the old leaves off (I didn't know I had to do this) and they seem to be growing taller and it's been a crappy April here in the Nutmeg State (zone 6). They've been in bloom since March I believe. I purchased my Hellebores from a farm online that specializes in them and they've always done well. The only one that hasn't done well I purchased locally from a gardner I found on Craigslist-don't know why but her plants didn't do well in my yard.

Wow Katob! Love the contrast between your black Onyx Odyssey and the bright yellow daffs. Gorgeous combo for sure! Your yellow picotee seeds yield very nice seedlings. That rose colored on is beautiful!

Bella rosa, it's better to have space than not! I have no business in adding more hellebores but still can't help myself. I add two this spring and am on the hunt for Cherry Blossom hellebore. I just love the pink color and the cherry center of this hellebore.

So sorry to hear about slug damage to your hellebores, MYA. Luckily, I don't have it yet. I have only grown hellebores for 4 years so maybe they haven't found my stash yet?

Suzanne, I too did not know about cutting the old leaves off until last year. It was a mess when the new stems started to grow into and among the old leaves. Pruning gives it a nice presentation.

My hellebores are blooming, but they look terrible this year unfortunately. I fear the late spring frosts may have damaged them a bit.

Karen: You've done well. 4 years and all those beauties. We have had a lot of rain, unusual for the SE of England and hot it has suddenly jumped from 5c to 29c within a week. And the slugs and snails are feasting on leaves and what not. Not a pretty sight.

pereenilafan I thought the snow killed the lot as they looked like having been stewed, but even in April, I have new buds. Usually, they have all gone to seeds now.

I am sorry to hear that the bad weather had damaged blossoms on your hellebores, perennialfan. I totally sympathize. I think extended snow cover can make it really hard for the hellebores to come through esp if you get periods of warmth and then snows and cold. I hope you have better luck next year.

MYA, thanks. Some are certainly vigorous than others. I just read on another forum that using coffee grounds can deter slugs and snails. Also if you place cups of old brewed coffees sweetened with sugar, the slugs and snails will be attracted to the coffee and drink it and then die from caffeine overdose.

LOL! I will certainly try!

I guess we humans are not the only ones with low self control when it comes to delicious coffees. Evidently, the slugs find it very tasty too. LOL

Here are a few pictures of my hellebores in bloom! Enjoy!

And one more!

Wow! Lovely pics aluvaboy......enjoyed indeed!!

Very pretty! Such healthy and bushy plants!

Thanks Daisy & MYA. I just cleaned them up by cutting off all the old foliage for the photo op. All these plants are mail order from "Burpees". I was stung by the "hellebore bug" two years ago and ordered them like crazy. LOL. There are more plants that have to be cleaned up. I will post more pictures over the weekend. I now have around 20 different types. The Kingston Cardinal is the one with most flowers.

Wow, what a great collection you have here! What is the name of the double white hellebore in the ninth pic on your first post? Is that Wedding Party Wedding Bells? I bought some hellebores from Burpees this year. Do you happen to grow Pheobe and Wedding Party Wedding Bells?

Gorgeous!

KarenPA,

I do have Pheobe and Wedding Party Wedding Bells. I will post more pictures over the weekend. One advice that I have for all that love Hellebores, do not plant them in too much shade. The plants that I planted in deep shade are scraggly looking with one or two flowers at the most. Whereas the ones in sunny locations have much more flowers and the flowers are larger too!. The scraggly ones are going to be moved to sunnier locations. Bear in mind that all these where planted at the same time and were pretty much given the same care (watering and fertilizing etc,). I am planning to order more from Burpees again. One tip I can give for Burpees: if you are on their email list, they send periodic discount notifications. Some time you can buy for up to 30% discount. Typically hellebores at Burpees are priced at about $20.00. If you end up getting the discount, you pay only $14.00 each. That is a good deal IMHO.

Aluvaboy, that's great advice! I purchased a few from a local nursery and will be planting them in a semi-shady area. I have some others that I would like to move after they finish blooming. This is a wonderful plant.

KarenPA,

The following is the list of hellebores I ordered from Burpees.

• Hellebore, Ivory Prince - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Phoebe - 1 Plant

• Helleborus, Wedding Party Maid of Honor - 1 Plant

• Helleborus, Honeyhill Joy - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Double Fantasy - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Golden Lotus - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Wedding Party Wedding Bells - 1 Plant

• Helleborus, Ballerina Ruffles - 1 Plant

• Helleborus, Cotton Candy - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Peppermint Ice - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Onyx Odyssey - 1 Plant

• Helleborus, Painted Doubles - 1 Plant

• Hellebore, Kingston Cardinal - 1 Plant

  Helleborus, Amber Gem - 1 Plant

• I just went and copied it off the order history from the Burpees web site!

Would love to see them in bloom next year. Your hellebores have got lovely names. Ours is like Anemome red, anemome green.. Pretty boring but you get the picture. Onyx Odyssey is probably onyx colour. Amber is amber in colour ... The rest is beyond my imagination. Lovely names..

I purchased Hellebore, Onyx Odyssey and true to it's name it's a black color. It's beautiful and unique, I think. The flowers are double blooms.

Gah, how have I missed this thread! Thanks to all who have shared your lovely plants. Hellebores are certainly photogenic in addition to all of their other positive qualities.

posierosie, Your bicolor hellebore looks a lot like one I have that was labeled as Pink Frost when I bought it, but I'm not convinced that's it. I'll try and add a picture tomorrow.

I have most of my hellebores together in a little colony here but I plan to break them apart into other areas of the garden this year.

Amethyst Gem and Peppermint Ruffles

Here's a pic from earlier this spring. The pink one in the back is Maestro and it comes into bloom before the snowdrops.

They look so great together!

posierosie, Thanks! Here is Pink Frost today. It has pinked up a lot since it started opening right around the same time as yours upthread, but it looked a lot like yours around the same time. How is your bicolor one looking these days? I'd love to see a current picture if you're able to post one.

Your hellebores are beautiful, Arlene! Thank you for sharing. I particularly like the deep yet glowing color of Amethyst Gem. May have to add that one! THe problem is how do I know if the one I buy is exactly the same as yours? I don't want to get a strain or seedling plant from it.

Arlene, I'm sorry I didn't see your request before it went dark! I'll try to remember to take a picture. It has gone a dusky pink.

Your Pink Frost is lovely!

Here you go - turning a mauve / green color

Golden Lotus as cut flower

Beautiful, Totoro. The rectangular crystal vase really sets the flowers off nicely.

Karen, Thank you, I got my Amethyst Gem from bluestone perennials, but I don't know if they still carry it. I have two of them I believe, as one was mislabeled as Amber Gem which I'd intended to buy.

Posierosie, oooh I love how yours has aged into that mauve/bluish lime green combo! Please post an update if you can identify it...would love to add that one. Very pretty.