Christmas Rose
Christmas rose produces splendid flowers, often out of the snow, sometime between November and March or April. Its substantial, glossy foliage enlivens otherwise drab garden areas during the bleakest months. Not a rose but a relative of the buttercup, it forms drifts of ground cover. Its clumps enlarge by spreading rhizomes, but are slow-growing and never invasive. It is also useful as a specimen or a foreground planting with border shrubs, and it can be used in scattered groupings in woodland gardens.
The flowers, 2 to 4 inches wide, resemble single roses and are usually pure white with bright yellow stamens. Some forms are pinkish or greenish, or become pinkish green or purple as they age. They usually last for several months. The uncommonly handsome leaves are divided into seven or more glossy, dark leaflets, finely serrated toward the tips. The plant is bitter-tasting, and very poisonous to humans and animals.
Christmas rose accepts most rich soils but prefers well-drained neutral or slightly alkaline soil with high organic content.
Care is moderately easy as long as the plant is properly situated and kept moist. Fertilizer is not
usually necessary, or even desirable, as nitrogen can damage the roots. Occasional leaf spot fungus is easily treated. This plant dislikes being moved, but if division is necessary, it should be done in the spring, after blooming. The roots should be separated carefully so each division has several eyes (leaf buds). Eyes should be buried about an inch.
H. foctidus (Stinking Hellebore), despite its forbidding name, is a graceful 11/2-foot plant with lush, shining, compound leaves that are usually semi-evergreen. From January to April it produces a profusion of pendulous, bell-shaped, 1-inch blooms, greenish on the lower parts of the plant and reddish higher up. It is drought-tolerant and looks good in planters as well as in the garden situations described for H. niger.
H. lividus corsicus (Corsican Hellebore), from Corsica and the Balearic Islands, grows to 2 to 3 feet in height. In late winter or early spring it produces masses of large apple-green flowers that persist until summer. This is the best hellebore for the Southwest and similar climate areas. Like H. foetidus it is drought-tolerant when established. This species is hardy to Zone 7.
H. orientalis (Lenten Rose), from Greece and Asia Minor, is the best hellebore for the Southeast. (Actually, several forms are sold under this name. Most have leaves that die during coldest winter, although flowers appear in early to midspring.) It closely resembles H. niger, but its foliage is lighter green. Flowers may be deep red, purplish green, pink, or white. All are spotted in shades of green. Cultural requirements are essentially those of H. niger.
