I may have the advantage on non-ratty leaves. Mine did not ever suffer from lack of water, nor do we have frozen conditions with winter wind. I'm sure it makes a difference.

nor do we have frozen conditions

And yet I am attributing my well preserved leaves to the snow cover this plant got in its location...kind of like being in a fridge/freezer...I dont know.

Even in my very mild winter climate, ratty leaves on any variety of xhybridus are common in winter. Although considered 'evergreen', the foliage just does not hold up well longer than a single growing season. That's why so many hellebore gardeners advocate removing ALL remaining foliage from the xhbridus forms (oriental hybrids) in late winter just as the flower buds begin to push up out of the soil. The new foliage growth will begin to emerge during peak bloom and as the flowers begin to go over.

Ratty leaves on the interspecific hybrids are much less common. They tend to be thicker and more durable to begin with, although periodic removal of dead or insect chewed or limp stems is necessary but after the flowers bloom, not before. These are caulescent or flowers and leaves produced on the same stem, whereas the xhybridus forms are acaulescent or with flowers and leaves appearing on separate stems.

it's not surprising that my leaves aren't perfect..we have some nasty winter days..but in the pic of the white one did you see the new leaves?..and I have tons of seedlings..they'll be pretty in a few weeks..

I am curious as to the real life hardiness of these plants...can they survive a zone 4 or lower? What say you extra cold weather gardenweb members?

Ooh, ooh--I just planted my first hellebore last year--Rio Carnival, too! It's got just one set of leaves unfurled and a couple more on the way here in NJ. I check its progress every day!

H. niger is good to zone 3; H. xhybridus to 4. Other species and the interspecific hybrids generally have less cold tolerance and are probably best in a zone 5 and up.

I, for one, being of the southern blood, welcome our new southern hardy strains of hellebore (lol). This being my first year with them, I can't say much, but I have high hopes for the interspecifics, I was impressed with bloom and love the leaves, now they have to pass the summer test.

And yet 'gg' I dont think I recall reading here about a z3/4 GW member having hellebores. I hope they notice this thread. Calling debbiecz3 and FrozeBudd_z3/4 ;).

I am on the southern edge of zone 4 temperatures and get between -17F and -23F most winters with varied amounts of snow. My hellebores always look ratty in spring. I also find that they don’t extend my bloom season, typically blooming in April and May. They bloom well after many of my early bulbs.

I noticed a lone random hellebores seedling blooming in one of the beds -- the seed must have been dispersed from elsewhere. It was white with kind of a checkered/spotty pattern of dark red in the middle. Pretty. I'll have to dig it up and move it, seeing as though I don't think the Rodgersia that it decided to pop up on top of will much appreciate it growing there :0)

The clumps of hellebores I have are doing well but it's not a plant I jump up and down about -- they're ok.

The clumps of hellebores I have are doing well but it's not a plant I jump up and down about -- they're ok.

You know mxk3 for the longest time I felt similarly and held off getting one. I only got them as my sis was moving and gifted me a couple from her garden. For a couple of years they were just ok. But then they "blossomed" ;) and I wouldn't be without them now.

I thought the leaves on mine looked good enough this spring, so left them on... but now that it's warmed a little they do not look as good. Most of the orientalis hybrids got a trim, but not the intersectional hybrids since their leaves are generally cooler. But then that went downhill as well once the damaged parts browned.

katob..I think you need to grab your pruners..Lol..l'm STILL working on mine..

I'm going to say I missed the boat this year :) The other ones were cleaned up and look decent enough to make up for this one

I have one hellebore. It started its blooms in November. They sat under the snow and now look like this. No leaves, oddly. The leaves evidently didn't survive winter. New ones are taking their time emerging. This little baby is nice to look at all by itself, but the garden surrounding it still looks bleak. Early bloomers just don't do much for my garden as a whole. They do give me some excitement though as I walk around with my morning coffee in my hand, looking for deer or rabbit damage or new growth.

Nice hellebores! I’ve forgotten the name, but this one is switched on.

I wonder if that's 'Cinnamon Snow', it looks similar to mine, but then again a lot look similar.

The hellebores are enjoying this year's steady weather, minus the blasts of cold which usually damage them.

A darker seedling

It was below 40 F yesterday and windy but I spotted my first open flower.

katob those are wonderful specimens :). (That GLotus is so different with the yellow...very nice. I will keep an eye out for that one).

brothergarm, that unnamed one is striking with the different colours in the flower. Although we are fellow Ontarians I am betting you are probably a bit south of me (I have probably previously inquired of you re your location...sorry for forgetting.)

No worries, I'm in Haldimand County, half-way between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

We have other Hellebores but these are definitely the earliest, so it may be geographic, or plant specific, or a bit of both. I had a Cinnamon Snow but I also had an Ivory Prince, and one of them has died, so it's one of those but not sure at the moment which is which.

Same plant, a week or so difference. First image has a bunch of flowers with creamy-white on them.

The flowers are getting darker, greener in the second image. Only one flower still has the light cream color on it. I wish the photos showed this difference more clearly. I was shocked at how dark/greensih the flowers looked when I looked at it closely this morning. Is this normal with hellebore blossoms?

Liquifeet, article below seems to cover it.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/hellebore/why-is-hellebore-changing-color.htm

It will depend on the particular hybrid but flower color change as they age is 100% totally normal!! It is also pretty normal with a whole bunch of other flowering plants as well :-)

I love hellebores, and have too ;-) many for the size of my garden. But they are absolutely lovely in spring, and the foliage is nice enough the rest of the year, especially in the interspecific hybrids. The first one every year is ‘Jacob’. It forms its buds in November, they develop under the snow, and are all but open when the snow disappears. It usually beats the snowdrops by a few days. No flowers though in years with a hard frost without snow cover.

‘Cinnamon Snow’ is another early one, beautiful in bud and flower, but it also needs snowcover.

My favourites are the Xhybridus though. I have dark red, lighter red, pink and white original plants, some with a tendency to face out instead of down, and the seedlings are fascinating. I keep the best ones, the rest goes to a plant sale. A dull mauve double that grew together with another one, is long gone, but it seems to have produced a nice double white.

A few more pictures in another post, before I lose this one.

But they are absolutely lovely in spring, and the foliage is nice enough the rest of the year,

For sure but for some of mine I find the flowers hold their own for months...great plants.

Help, it is freezing, we are dying!

An hour later: Oh well, never mind.

Remember 'gdinie' they are beasts :).

my new leaves have grown..I still need to clip some old ones Lol..

What a show! It looks great, so full of flowers.

Thanks katob. I have 4 other hellebores and none get even close to the size and floriferousness of this particular one. (And it will get bigger and have more flowers.)

It's almost Christmas, during a pandemic and my 'Christmas rose' is blooming in Ohio! How uplifting it is that a plant chooses to bloom during the darkest time of the year! Hellebores give gardeners something to look forward to during the winter!

escolat, your post has made my day!

(Have you seen similarly in past years?)

Mine aren't showing any signs of bloom yet!

rouge21, I am admiring your very bonny plants. Do you do anything to encourage such blooms, or is it simply the variety? Mine never have so many blossoms.

rouge21_gw (CDN Z6a) : Helleborus Niger(cultivar 'Jacob') is renowned for blooming around Christmas if the weather is mild enough...thus the name 'Christmas rose...and, it does ! The buds appear late fall. It took a couple of years for the plant to become established.My plant grows next to the house, east side.

I have helleborus niger blooming now (also cv Jacob I believe). I have clearly visible buds on some interspecific hybrids and barely visible buds on orientalis hybrids. Hellebores are great to have something happening during the winter.

I also have ‘Jacob’ in full bloom:

It usually sets bud in November, and stay asleep till the snow disappears by February or March. This year it could not resist the bedside alarm. It should have stayed in bed like ‘Frère Jacques’ in the song. (The name always reminds me of the Dutch version of the song: Vader Jacob.) Now it will get spoilt once the real winter sets in, like in this picture from January 2016, after a similarly mild December.

I have other hellebores that don’t know what is good for them.

’Cinnamon Snow’:

‘Pink Frost’:

And even H. foetidus:

All these will give little bloom the coming spring. I try to enjoy them while I can.

The snowdrops are showing their noses too, but they should be okay:

Despite being in Ontario, I feel like your plants are ahead of mine, way down here in Arkansas!

I am fairly close to Lake Ontario, which mitigates the cold for us. We pay for the privilege with muggy summers. I am on top of the escarpment that runs from Niagara west along the lake. If you go down there, you suddenly are at least half a zone warmer yet. Spring arrives there one or two weeks earlier than where I am. Half an hour’s walk to an early spring!

dbarron, I have had the pleasure of visiting gdinieontario as well as corresponding with her re plants we have in common and I am often surprised at how much further ahead her plants are as compared to mine.

Here is our "prized" H as of yesterday.

That's a lot of leaves...a WHOLE lot...but where are the flower buds ? (lol...teasing, I know)

but where are the flower buds ? (lol...teasing, I know)

That was a zinger! ;)

So we had snow on Christmas, a beautiful 5 inches with frigid temperatures in the teens. It didn't phase my hellebore! Recovered nicely with no damage to provide beauty in the dead of winter! I wonder if there are any pollinators that are out in the winter? I'm fascinated with this plant.

And oddly, my honeysuckle vine is loaded with flower buds that seem to be just as tough! It is out in the open on a trellis.

Actually for 'Major Wheeler' var of Lonicera sempervirens, it's business as normal to produce flowers pretty much any month of the year. This was my first full year of growing hellebore niger, and perhaps due to a relatively warm December, but I expected more flower longevity, it's green already and thus only lasted about two weeks in fully opened white condition. Is that normal (lol)?

I think winter hellebores may be fly pollinated, but that's just a hunch really.