Helleborus x nigercors 'CANDY LOVE'

Hellebore (Lenten rose) is not a new plant to Czech and Slovak gardens. I remember those flowering stems that surprisingly pushed through the snow in late winter and I kept asking grandma how come that a plant can flower while there is still snow on the ground. These evergreen perennials are still very popular, mainly thanks to newly hybridized varieties with fantastic flowers.

Candy Love is a hellebore variety whose name always recalls memories of an old tune by Diana Ross ‘Baby Love’. It is a hybrid hellebore, raised from crossing Corsican hellebore with Christmas rose. The result is an evergreen perennial with leathery, marginally serrated leaves of dark green colour with very light blue-green overlay. From midwinter it produces short stems with large flowers 5-7 cm. They are white but not transparent, more like chalk white with green centres, fading to pink when stamens fall off.

Hellebore likes heavy, evenly moist, neutral to alkaline, rich in humus soil in dappled shade or filtered sun. This hybrid will prefer partial shade all year round, especially in winter as protection against strong late winter sunshine. Fertilizing will increase flowering and help the leaves remain strong and nice throughout the winter. Grow it somewhere near your house entrance or close to the window you look out of frequently so that you can enjoy the plant when it starts flowering since at that time the weather outside is not yet ideal for walking around the garden. The flowers can cheer up a number of grey and dull days of late winter therefore thumbs up for hellebore! Hardy to about -25°C (USDA zone 5b).

Last update 12-04-2015