It’s a little early for collecting hellebore blooms — only about half of mine have opened so far; the rest are still quite tightly budded. But I wanted a little bit of indoor flower power, so I went ahead and gathered a few.
They bring me so much joy every early spring, they bloom quietly for months, their leaves stay green and pleasant up through autumn frost, and once they’re planted and established, they require almost no care — just a little water in the high heat of summer.
Older varieties tend to have downward facing blooms, so you may need to get low to really appreciate them (or cut and float the blooms), but newer varieties often feature much more upward-facing blooms. I like both.
Hellebores are somewhat expensive perennials, generally around $25 each. But if you add, say, one a year to your garden, you’ll eventually have a splendid collection.
And even better, after five years or so, if they’re happy, they’ll generally be big enough that you can dig them up and divide them, either to fill out your hellebore bed, or to trade for other varieties with other hellebore fans. Hellebores like high shade and thrive under deciduous trees in well-drained fertile soil.
If you picked up some of the less expensive hellebores at Trader Joe’s a few months ago, you can plant them out in the garden as soon as the soil can be worked — just remember that they’ll need regular watering for the first few weeks, until they’re well established. So you might want to wait to plant them out until you’re already out in the garden regularly, so you don’t forget to water them.
That last photo is of my favorite, the first perennial I planted when we bought our house, 13 years ago. It’s been divided once so far — still going strong!
This has been my annual I-love-hellebores post. 
