Helleborus orientalis 'APRICOT RED SPOTTED'

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. Achieving yellow and orange tones on hellebores was probably the same holy grail as breeding a blue rose. Thanks to Belgian nursery Het Wilgenbroek who introduced their Magic Apricot series they are here and boast a degree of apricot orange colour. Still, as an oriental hellebore hybrid there is some variability and plants of the same variety may slightly vary in colour depth and design.

Apricot Red Spotted is a very pretty, red freckled hellebore variety with single, soft apricot orange flowers. The centres are decorated with a profusion of creamy white stamens. Flowers come out according to weather, mostly from February until late April atop 30-35 cm tall, upright stems. Evergreen leaves are leathery, palmate, and deep green and form a compact clump.

Hellebore likes heavy, evenly moist, neutral to alkaline, rich in humus soil in dappled shade or filtered sun. This hybrid will prefer at least half a day with direct sunlight. 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! Harmful if eaten. Hardy to about -29°C (USDA zone 5).

Last update 23-11-2020