The Winter Rose

An absolute winter favourite are Hellebores, often referred to as the Christmas Rose. It’s the soft colours that they come in from pure winter whites, to gentle pinks and dusky purple tones that catch the attention with their dark evergreen leaves. Hellebores are a welcome sight at this time of year, adding a delightful splash of colour in the garden against grey and gloomy skies.

The plants are easy to grow, hardy and happily establish themselves quickly in the right conditions, however they aren’t a fan of wet or soggy soil and don’t like to be moved, otherwise they are fairly easily pleased little chaps. The have a long flowering range from winter through to spring which helps add to their appeal.

However, if you would like to use them as cut flowers to pop in a vase or bouquet they are notoriously tricky to condition. Hellebores can be prone to wilting very quickly once cut and can’t be revived. There are a couple of tips to try which can help stop them wilting once cut. 

Cut the stems with a sharp knife to limit the damage caused to the stem cells and uptake of water, place in cold but not really water once cut, try sealing the stems by dipping them up to an inch in boiling water. 

Finally, and most importantly, harvest only when the seed pods are forming and the flowers are more mature, younger flowers tend to wilt much more, so keep an eye out for seeds pods before snipping from the garden.

Published: January 2024