Clumping together

THERE are a couple of hellebores in the front garden I see each time I leave the house. One is a clump of pure white flowers, the other has toothed leaves and the promise of blooms from swelling buds.

The plant already in flower is Helleborus niger, the popular Christmas rose that never seems to bloom in December, rather in February or March.

Legend has it that a shepherdess named Madelon was tending her herd when she saw three wise men and other shepherds taking gifts to the baby Jesus. She wept, having nothing to offer the new Lord. An angel, hearing her distress, appeared and brushed away the snow where Madelon's tears had fallen. A pink-tipped white flower was revealed, the Christmas rose, Madelon's gift for Jesus.

Our Christmas rose is new this year, bought from a market stall as a mass of buds and one open flower. It is quite root bound so I hope this substantial flowering won't take too much out of it. Hellebores are not keen to have their roots disturbed but I did loosen a few before it was planted into the garden in the hope that new roots would be able to push their way into the soil.

Helleborus niger is usually white, sometimes with a pink tinge to the flowers. The cultivar 'Potter's Wheel' which was introduced in the 1950s has larger flowers than the species, often as much as 10cm/4ins across while 'Maxima' has large pink-flushed flowers and 'White Magic' produces a good clump of pure white flowers on sturdy stems. The Blackthorn Group is compact with flushed flowers.

The other hellebore is Helleborus Argutifolius or Corsican hellebore - it used to be named Helleborus corsicus and is a splendid plant with serrated evergreen veined foliage on sprawling stems.

Clusters of apple-green, cup-shaped flowers appear in spring, they are weeks in development through February and March, and remain in reasonable condition until the summer when they can be deadheaded.

By then the new shoots, which appeared in late winter at the base of the plant should have developed enough to fill the space left by the removal of the faded blooms. Unusually for this genus of plants there is a variegated variety in the argutifolius branch called Helleborus argutifolius 'Pacific Frost', which has, as the name suggests, white marked leaves.

Hellebores are generally easy to grow so long as they are in moist soil that doesn't become water logged, in sun or part shade. Helleborus argutifolius is best in a sheltered site as severe frost or wind can damage the heavy clusters of flowers. Helleborus niger can cope with most positions but it can sometimes be affected by botrytis. This is grey mould, which starts off as brown patches on the buds and petals, and eventually forms fuzzy grey fungal growth that kills off the flowers and can travel down the stem.

One way of preventing it happening is by removing all the old leaves from the plant in winter, before flower buds appear. This foliage removal only seems to apply to the niger species.

Hellebores do not like to be moved, especially mature clumps and can even die as a result, so propagation is usually by seed rather than division.

This is done by tying a paper bag over the flower stems in mid-summer to collect the seed and sow immediately in pots of seed compost. Label and cover with a plastic bag. Once germinated, harden off the seedlings and grow on outside for about a year before planting out. Be patient, it may take two or three year for the plants to become mature enough to flower.

Alternatively, allow the seed to fall naturally from the mother plant and lift the resulting seedlings as soon as they are big enough - they seem to be able to cope with a certain amount of root disturbance when very small.

Hellebore weekend

A REMINDER that Green Garden Herbs in West Bank, near Carlton, Selby is holding a hellebore weekend on Saturday February 25 and Sunday February 26 from 10am-5pm.

Hellebores will be on sale as well as early flowering alpines and bulbs, early herbs and bare-rooted rhubarb varieties.

Admission is free and there will be expert advice on hand from proprietor Sarah Clark and hellebore expert Fred Bundy.

Fred will also be holding a short course entitled All About Hellebores on how to grow and propagate these lovely plants on Saturday February 25 at 1.30pm.

The course is organised in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society and places must be booked in advance by ringing 01405 860708 for details or by visiting:

www.greengardenherbs.co.uk

Tickets cost £7.95 for RHS members and £9.95 for non-members. This is the second course Fred is running - his original one on Friday is fully booked.

Gardening talk

BARRY Wright will give an illustrated talk entitled About Ferns at Askham Bryan College on Tuesday. Orcanised by the Askham Bryan College (ABC) Gardening Club, the talk will be held in the conference hall and will start at 7.30pm. ABC club members free, non-members £5 at the door.

Gardening TV and Radio

Sunday, February 19

9am, Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther, Joe Maiden.

Noon, Radio York, William Jenkyns. (Repeated on Wednesday at 8pm).

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. John Cushnie, Bob, Flowerdew, Carol Klein and chairman Eric Robson help gardeners in Birmingham. Meanwhile Anne Swithinbank explains how to convert a field into a wild flower meadow. The gardening weather forecast is at 2.25pm.

2.45, R4, Extreme Britain. Mike Dilger searches for Britains oldest tree.

Friday, February 24

8pm, BBC2, Gardeners' World Specials. Sarah Raven travels the UK to meet traditional fruit growers from plum enthusiasts in Worcestershire to the Tayside raspberry experts. With the country filled with expert growers producing such wonderful fruit, it is a sad fact that little will find its way to the supermarket shelves, unable to compete with mass-produced fruit imports. However, the increasing demand for locally produced goods might allow them to have their rightful place in our shopping baskets.

Saturday, February 25

8am, Radio York, Gardening Phone-in. Telephone Nigel Harrison on 0845 300 3000 with your gardening queries.

Updated: 16:39 Friday, February 17, 2006