As soon as the sun warms up the snowdrifts, the delicate flowers of hellebore stretch to the sun through the snow. This plant is characterized by early flowering. Helleborus opens its buds along with hazel grouses, crocuses and erantis. Hellebore - planting, care, growing in the open field, varieties and species, methods of reproduction are described in this article.

Hellebore: varieties and varieties

The adorable flowers of hellebore are so delicate and attractive that its perennial varieties are becoming more and more popular among lovers. garden flowers... A perennial plant belongs to the buttercup family. The hellebore is resistant to freezing in cold Russian winters, as well as drought resistance in hot summers.

The hellebore blooms as soon as the snow melts

The beginning of flowering period of hellyborus falls on March. At this time, there is an acute shortage in the garden flowering plants, therefore, large hellebore flowers become a wonderful decoration for still snow-covered flower beds.

The plant can reach a height of 0.5 m. The root rosette consists of opposite leaves on long petioles. Flowers rise above a rosette of leaves on a bare peduncle. The color of the petals is usually pale pastel colors.

Natural species of hellyborus grow in the foothills of the Caucasus, the forests of Adygea, in the Mediterranean and Western Asia. Recently, the natural habitat of hellebore has been significantly reduced. The plant is used extensively for medicinal purposes.

Several varieties of hellebore are grown outdoors:

• Hellebore black(Helleborus niger) - the plant blooms with white or pinkish flowers.

Hellebore black

• Eastern hellebore (Helleborus orientalis) - in comparison with other varieties, it is characterized by a later flowering.

Eastern hellebore

• Stinking hellebore(Helleborus foetidus) - unusual green flowers this plant has an unusual beauty, but not a very pleasant aroma.

Stinking hellebore

• Hellebore Caucasian(Helleborus caucasicus) - natural habitat - the foothills of the Caucasus. Small flowers are pale green, not distinguished by their beauty, but this variety is so winter-hardy that it does not shed its foliage even in some winters. All parts of the plant are highly poisonous.

Hellebore Caucasian

Advice! Hellebore: Grow with care for ornamental purposes.

Planting a plant

Considering that hellebores are perennial plants and have been growing in one place without transplanting for many years, you should choose a place for planting a crop in accordance with the requirements of agricultural technology.

Hellebores grow best on humus-rich soils, under tree crowns, where there is a lot of decayed foliage. The plant requires a shady location with little sunlight. Crowns of trees that miss sunlight, are the perfect neighborhood for a hellebore. The hellebore grows great when planting and caring for the plant is carried out correctly.

By choosing right place for planting, you will ensure the annual active flowering of perennials in your garden

The soil for planting a plant must retain moisture: the hellebore cannot stand a lack of moisture. Care should be taken that the soil for planting the hellebore does not contain clay particles, is not caked and heavy.

Planting of delenoks or hellebore bushes is carried out in specially prepared shallow square pits (approximately 0.25 x 0.25 m). A distance of at least 0.3 m is maintained between the plants. Compost is added to the bottom of the pit. The roots of the hellebore are spread in a pit, sprinkled with soil on all sides, squeezed and abundantly watered. Within about 3 weeks from the day of planting the plants, it is required to carry out abundant watering, while avoiding overflow and stagnation of water.

Hellebore care

Hellyborus does not require much maintenance. It is enough to provide the plant with regular watering, mulch the soil in the ridges, and also carry out several dressings - that's all the care of the hellebore. The cultivation of a perennial, the use of hellebore in the decoration of the landscape design of gardens and parks, and it is preferable that the plant does not require special care.

By mulching the soil around the culture, you will create comfortable conditions for it.

Fertilization and feeding

The plant responds to fertilization in the spring with exuberant flowering and development magnificent foliage... In early spring, you can fertilize the plant bone meal and double superphosphate. Foliar feeding with microelements, which should be carried out with the establishment of warm weather, on dry and clear days, perfectly stimulates the growth of the culture.

Advice! Feeding hellyborus with nitrogen fertilizers is not recommended.

Plant propagation

Hellebore propagation is possible by dividing bushes and seeds.

Seed reproduction - only when planting freshly harvested plant seeds: old seeds lose their germination. Sowing hellyborus should be in light, well-drained soil, embedding seeds to a depth of 1.5 cm. Plants grown from seeds can only bloom in the 3rd year of cultivation.

The grown seedlings require several picks. The plant is planted in a permanent place 2 years after sowing. The best time for planting a hellebore in the garden - September.

Hellebore seeds

After the flowering of adult hellebore bushes, you can carry out plant division, to obtain the planting material of the desired variety. To do this, you just need to divide the root system into several parts, dusting the cut points charcoal... The hellebore plots are planted in a permanent place in pre-dug holes.

Breeding methods for hellebore bushes are selected depending on the type of plant. Black and eastern hellebores are easiest to propagate vegetatively, by dividing a bush or rhizome. At the same time, it is better to divide the black hellebore in the spring, and the eastern one - in the fall. The smelly hellebore reproduces well by self-seeding; this species does not tolerate vegetative reproduction.

Diseases and pests

The pests of culture are aphids, snails and slugs, rodents. It is not very common to see caterpillars of the hop dwarf moth on the hellebore, which gnaw out the rhizomes of the plant. Control measures: Apply systemic insecticides according to manufacturer's recommendations.

The defeat of hellebore leaves with a fungal disease

The leaves of the plant are damaged by the fungus Coniothyrium hellebori, which causes the formation of dark spots... The disease progresses in damp and warm weather. The fight against the spread of the disease is reduced to pruning diseased leaves and treating the plant with fungicides systemic action.

Hellebore: combination with other plants

The hellebore grows well and develops under the canopy of bushes and deciduous trees. In group plantings, the plant should only be used in shaded areas. An ideal combination of hellebore with early flowering crocuses, small-bulbous erantis and scylla, low-growing early, hazel grouses. The ornamental foliage of the hellebore is in harmony with the variegated crops that develop in the summer.

Hellebore in the flower bed

V landscape design hellebore is used for shade decoration. Early flowering culture allows you to decorate landscape composition in March, when the snow cover had not yet melted. Large ornamental hellebore bushes form an excellent combination in planting of different types of plants, when dense clumps are formed, blooming with delicate flowers of pastel colors.

The hellebore in landscape design

It is allowed to plant a hellebore in rabatki and mixboders. You should not plant the crop in places where children can play: all parts of the plant are very poisonous.

About the properties of hellebore: video

Hellebore: photo

Hellebore (Helliborum), he is winter house- perennial evergreen plant in open ground of the Buttercup family. It is appreciated by gardeners for very early flowering, compactness, shade tolerance, "livability" with the neighborhood of trees and shrubs, as well as for the picturesque corners of the garden where it is grown.

Features and availability

In culture, the plant is not difficult, however, you need to know some of its features and take them into account when planting, growing and reproducing. Planting material is purchased from seed shops, gardening fairs or from private owners. Most often, these are cuttings of overgrown bushes or annual seedlings.

Important: All parts of the plant are poisonous. While working with him, you need to be careful and work clothes - gloves. Do not allow children and animals to come into contact with the plant.

Planting a hellebore

Planting methods

On the site, it is possible to plant purchased seedlings or cuttings of hellebore bushes, which are placed immediately in a permanent place. When using a seed planting method, it is important to purchase fresh seeds - when buying, it is recommended to pay attention to the harvest year, because after six months, the germination of seeds is reduced by half, and after a year - by almost 100%. But even with freshly packed seeds, good germination is not guaranteed, industrial seeds do not always germinate well due to overdrying.

Optimal time

Sowing seeds and planting plants is carried out from spring to autumn. The main thing is not to overexpose. planting material outside the habitat, but place it in the ground as soon as possible after acquisition. Autumn plantings need to be completed by mid-September - cuttings and seedlings take time to root.

Substrate

The land under the wintering houses needs moisture-consuming, but not dense - water should not stagnate. The increased acidity of the soil inhibits the plant, so it needs to be neutralized. To do this, you can add lime, dolomite flour or a little ash to the soil. These additives must be thoroughly mixed with the soil, avoiding contact with hellebore roots. The planting pit can be filled with rotted manure or compost.

Location and lighting

The plant grows well with light shading in the summer, for example, under the crown of trees or near a fence on the south side. By themselves, the sun's rays will not harm the plant, but since the hellebore loves coolness, hot sunshine should be avoided.

Air humidity

In our latitudes, there is rarely a prolonged drying heat. But even with prolonged drought, the aboveground part of the plant does not suffer, because flowering ends by summer, and tough leaves are resistant to adverse weather conditions.

Watering

Usually, the plant has enough moisture coming from natural sources - melting snow, rain, dew. The soil around the hellebore can be covered with rotted manure or compost to prevent water from evaporating from the soil. It is not recommended to use sawdust and bark for these purposes, because this contributes to soil acidification. But, since the wintering house most often grows in the shade, complete drying of the earth layer occurs extremely rarely - it is not required to water it.

Top dressing

When grown outdoors, the plant is well supplied with nutrients. An excess of fertilizer is more harmful to the hellebore than a lack of it. Usually he is content with what he gets from feeding the trees growing nearby. It is possible to apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers once at the end of summer or in autumn. But this procedure can also be replaced by mulching the soil with sleeping tea or coffee. This cover will provide a safe overwintering and nourishment for the plant.

Important: In the first year after planting in a new place, the plant is not fertilized!

The plant does not need formative pruning.

Pruning methods

In a timely manner, diseased and dried leaves, as well as fruits with seeds, are removed, if the growth of the bush is not planned by self-sowing.

Transfer

If for some reason it is required to change the place of growth of the wintering house, then transplanting should be carried out with great care - the plant does not react well to movement.

Transplant method

The landing pit is prepared in advance. At the bottom of it, as a drainage and long-term fertilizer, you can put plant residues, for example, dry branches, banana peels, egg shells, the same sleeping tea. Having sprinkled all this with a thin layer of soil, they are taken directly for the plant. Dig it out with as large an earthen clod as possible, so as not to expose and damage the roots. They are carefully transferred to a new place and immediately placed in a pit. At the same time, it is desirable to maintain the same orientation to the cardinal points. The voids are filled with excavated soil, the soil around is compacted by irrigation. The first time after transplantation is watered more often than usual.

Reproduction

Usually carried out in early summer, after flowering. But it is possible to carry it out at the end of summer, as well as at the beginning of autumn.

Reproduction methods

• Division of the bush: carried out during transplantation. Sufficiently mature plants are subjected to division, because hellebore grows very slowly, and in the first years it does not yet grow to the size of division. You can simply use a spade bayonet to separate part of the bush and remove its soil, leaving the mother plant in place. But usually they dig up the whole bush and divide the rhizome into several parts with sprouts or buds. The cuts are disinfected, the planting pits are filled in and the remaining plants are re-planted. Excess planting material is easily sold - there is always a demand for hellebores.
• By seeds: a month after flowering, the hellebore fruit is removed without waiting for it to dry and crack. Seeds can also be sown unripe - during the summer stratification in the ground, they will safely reach. Sow in open ground in May - June, immediately after harvest. A plot for seedlings is chosen in the shadows. The seeding depth is 1 - 2 cm. The seeds will germinate in the best case in spring, but they can even after a year or two. If the seedlings are dense, then they are transplanted and left to winter here, in the school. The next year, young shoots are planted in a permanent place or in containers for implementation. Seedlings bloom in 3 years.

Important: Hellebore does not reproduce by cuttings!

Bloom

Flower shape

A hellebore flower is essentially 5 perianth petals. Real petals have turned into nectaries. The diameter of the flower is from 8 to 15 cm, the color is different, depending on the species and variety.

Flowering time

V middle lane In Russia and in the north, hellebores bloom when the snow melts, earlier than other primroses. In the southern regions, some species can bloom in November - December.

Problems and pests

• With stagnant humid and warm air, the hellebore can be affected by fungal diseases. For prophylaxis, close planting of plants is avoided, and free air circulation is provided.
• With increased acidity of the soil, ugly brown spots sometimes appear on the leaves. The leaves are cut off, and an alkalizing substance is introduced into the soil.
• Slimes and snails can be annoying pests, and they are easy to collect by hand. Aphids may appear on weakened plants in the first half of summer, but young leaves will quickly become tough and inedible.

Popular types

• Black hellebore (Helleborusniger) -Natural species native to the Mediterranean blooms in December with snow-white flowers, the diameter of which is 8 cm. The peculiarity of flowers is erect, the heads do not drop, like in other hellebores. There is hybrid varieties with larger pink flowers. We bloom in spring, in the south of the country, earlier flowering is possible. Black named for the color of the rhizome. Seeds reproduce poorly.
• Eastern hellebore (Helleborusorientalis) -Natural species native to the Middle East. Plant height about 30 cm. Flowers are white, cream, pink, lilac, purple, often speckled inside. winter-hardy species... Many highly decorative hybrids have been created based on this species.
• Caucasian hellebore (Helleboruscaucasicus)– natures of the Caucasus. A plant with white-green flowers, sometimes with a yellow tint. Evergreen shiny leaves are especially decorative. The most poisonous of all frostbite.
• Stinking hellebore (Helleborusfoetidus) – numerous not too large flowers of a pale green range. Large toe leaves give the plant an exotic look. This species reproduces easily and quickly by self-seeding.

Note to the flower grower

• A reaction to transplanting or separating a plant may be a lack of flowering for 1 - 2 seasons. When deciding to move a hellebore, you need to be ready for this.
• Shelter for the winter is required only in areas where severe winters do not have enough snow. With a snow cover of 20 cm or more, the hellebore hibernates without shelter, but with such an amount of snow, the plant can be mechanically damaged - trampled or broken. Then flowering will come a little later, after the germination of dormant buds.
• After flowering, very old leaves die off, new ones appear in their place. It is important to store them until winter and next season as a source of nutrition and building material for the plant.

Answers to frequently asked questions

If the plant is not disturbed by frequent transplants, then it can grow in one place for 20 or more years, gradually spreading to the sides and forming a picturesque curtain. Choosing a landing site should take this factor into account.

Why doesn't hellebore bloom?

The plant blooms so early that you can skip its flowering if on personal plot appear irregularly. After the snow has completely melted, it is too late to wait for flowering - it has already happened. Throughout spring, summer and autumn, hellebore grows green mass, representing a non-flowering bush.

Perhaps the absence of flowering after transplanting or dividing the bush, as well as when growing one- or two-year seedlings.

How to care for a hellebore in winter?

Leaving a plant wintering in the ground is not required. In winters with little snow, they arrange a shelter with spruce branches or a layer of compost. At the end of winter, it must be removed.

Freezers - decorative and unpretentious plants that will enliven any garden with early beauty. We wish you good luck in growing!

The hellebore is a genus of perennial plants of the Buttercup family, which includes about 20 species, most of which are successfully planted and cared for in our climatic zone... Grows wild in the mountainous areas of Europe and Asia Minor. In Europe, this flower is called the "Rose of Christ", but in our country it is a "winter house", since it can begin to bloom in winter.

General information

The hellebore reaches a height of half a meter. The rhizome is powerful but short. The leaves are placed next to the roots, dissected. Cup-shaped flowers form on top of the stems. Flowering occurs almost throughout the first half of the year. The color of flowers is different, bicolor varieties are bred. There are also hellebores with double flowers.

When growing this herb, you should pay attention that it is extremely poisonous, so be careful when planting it. But, despite the toxicity, the hellebore has medicinal properties that help to normalize metabolism, pressure, blood sugar levels.

For the preparation of medicines, only the root of the plant is taken. An overdose of preparations containing hellebore is very dangerous, it is recognized by thirst, ringing in the ears, intoxication occurs, and sometimes there have been lethal cases.

Hellebore should not be taken by people with heart disease, heart attack victims, pregnant women, breastfeeding women and those who have liver problems. Children under 15 years of age are also not recommended to give such drugs.

Types and varieties

- It is a perennial evergreen plant that grows up to 30 cm. It has large white flowers, the outer wall of which is slightly pink tinged. Withstands very low temperatures, down to -35ºC. It blooms in April for about 15 days.

- the leaves of this species reach 15 cm, divided into wide parts. Flowers are white, slightly greenish, formed on high peduncles. This hellebore is the most poisonous of all.

- this type of hellebore has flowers of a lilac hue, which will differ depending on the variety. There are problems with its cultivation, as the eastern hellebore is very vulnerable to fungal diseases.

- its leaves and stems are not very different from other species, but the peduncles are very tall, and the flowers have an interesting green color. It reproduces easily by self-seeding.

Represents varieties formed from the crossing of different plant species.

Hellebore planting and care

For planting hellebore, clay soil is suitable, well moistened, and also loose. The place should be shaded, the acidity of the soil is required to be neutral, make drainage on the site for planting plants.

The best time to disembark is April and September. We advise you to plant flowers in groups - this way they will look much more beautiful. Plant holes need large - 30 cm in width, length and depth. The gap between the bushes is also 30 cm.

Half of the hole is covered with compost, and then the roots are lowered into it. Holding the hellebore upright, fill the rest of the free space in the hole with soil and moisten well.

For the next 20 days, the planted flowers require regular, strong watering. Hellebore maintenance should not be difficult, even for beginners in gardening. The most important thing is to remove all old leaves in the spring so that the plant does not rot. After flowering, cover the ground next to the hellebore with compost.

In summer, the plant needs to be watered, get rid of weeds, and also loosen the soil for it. A couple of times a season, the flower is fed with bone meal and mineral fertilizer.

The hellebore transplant is very painful and therefore it is grown in one area for a very long time, up to ten years.

Hellebore propagation by seeds and division

Usually seeds are used to propagate hellebore. Sowing is carried out immediately after harvest, which falls at the end of July - beginning of August. Sowing requires a moist, humus substrate. Sowing depth - 1.5 cm.

V next year hellebore will rise in March. With the formation of two leaves, it is dived to a permanent place, where it will begin to bloom in three years.

Five-year-old plants can be propagated by dividing the bush. Spring is better for black hellebore, and autumn for oriental.

Diseases and pests

• Dangerous for the hellebore are slugs that eat leaves, as well as aphids that drink juice .
• Mice gnaw on plant roots .
• Aphids can cause the flower to get ring spot. ... If this disease is affected, the diseased parts of the hellebore must be cut off and burned, and the plants and the growing area must be treated with a fungicide.
• Sometimes downy mildew is involved. It is diagnosed from stopping the growth of new leaves, as well as deformation of old ... The affected areas are also destroyed, and the plant and soil are treated with Previkur.
• Spots on hellebore leaves may indicate anthracnose. Sick leaves need to be cut off, and the flower should be treated with a copper-containing preparation.

But in general, diseases affect this plant, if something is wrong with the care. For example, the plant lacks moisture or the soil is of the wrong acidity.

The plant's incredible resistance to winter cold has gained considerable popularity among flower growers.

According to legend, a flower was born at the same time as Jesus, when a shepherd's or a young girl's tear fell to the ground out of annoyance that there was nothing to give the baby. Since then, the hellebore has been called the flower of Christ.

Planting and caring for an evergreen herbaceous shrub will take very little time, because it grows without requiring it at all special attention.

And only by showing the world wonderful flowers that open right from under the snow, does it surprise people with its vitality, the desire to withstand the cold and survive in such conditions where most plants die.

The hellebore herb has been known to people for so long that it is extremely difficult to determine its homeland. The plant is most widespread in the Balkans - there are about 10 of its species.

The range covers most of Europe, especially the Mediterranean and the mountain slopes of the Alps. In Asia, the plant is found on the border between Syria and Turkey, in Western China and the Caucasus.

It prefers to grow in the mountains, choosing shady gorges and darkened ledges of the plateau, it develops well among the sparse growth of bushes and under the scattered veil of the crown of trees.

Hellebore flower is a herbaceous perennial plant with long-petiolate basal leaves, leathery and finger-dissected in species wintering with a non-dying aerial part and more delicate with a fine texture in deciduous bushes.

The rhizome is thick and branched with numerous black lateral roots.

Large hellebore flowers appear in early spring, often bloom when the snow has not yet melted, but the snowdrops are not outstripped.

In some species, they are borne by a flowering stem that develops in the spring of the current season, in others, flowers are formed from a bud at the top of a wintering leafy stem, which dies off after flowering.

The flowers are large, light green, snow-white or purple, over 10 cm in circumference.

They have five sepals, many of them mistaken for petals that have not fallen for several months, but the latter have been reborn into funnel-shaped tubular small nectaries.

The fruits are multileaf with rounded black seeds.

The poisonous properties of hellebore have been known since antiquity. Many legends and historical facts indicate the use of the plant not only for medicinal, but also for poisoning purposes.

According to Greek mythology, the priest Melampus used the hellebore to heal the daughters of the king of Argos from bouts of madness.

And the inhabitants of the besieged city of Kirra were forced by the enemies to surrender by poisoning the aqueduct with the help of a plant.

And in the death of Alexander the Great, some historians blame the hellebore or the white hellebore, which the commander poisoned himself with as a result of an overdose while treating an unknown disease, possibly malaria or some other.

Types and varieties of hellebore with photos and names

In the genus Helleborus of the Buttercup family, there are up to 14, according to other sources - up to 22 species of herbaceous evergreen or deciduous perennials.

Confusion with the number of species arises, because some sources call some species independent, while others only the forms of the more famous hellebores.

Black hellebore (Helleborus niger) is one of the most common and decorative species, also known by the synonym Christmas rose.

An evergreen bush no more than 30 cm high with spectacular snow-white flowers about 8 cm in a circle, directed upwards, and not drooping, like in other species.

The foliage is overwintering, leathery, dark emerald in color, persists until the corolla wilts, and then a new one grows. Black hellebore can withstand temperatures up to 35 degrees.

Varieties with pink and scarlet flowers have been bred, the form with gray-green leaves and big flowers- up to 11 cm in diameter.

Known hybrids that are less frost-resistant - nigristern (N. nigristern) and nigerkors (N. nigercors).

Oriental hellebore (Helleborus orientalis) is a very variable evergreen species that poses a lot of trouble for taxonomists.

Distributed in natural conditions in the Caucasus, Turkey and Greece. In height, like many representatives of the genus, it reaches no more than 30 cm.

The Schmiemann Strain Lady Series, abbreviated as Lady Series, is popular among flower growers:

Pink Lady - with pale pink flowers;
hellebore Red Lady - with velvety dark cherry corollas;
Blue Lady - with deep purple sepals;
White Lady Spotted - with white flowers covered with small coral specks;
Yellow Lady - with lemon-cream whisk;
Metallic Blue - with a stunning bluish tint against the purple background of the sepals.

The new Double series with double flowers is also incredibly attractive:

Double White - with snow-white double flowers;
Eastern double hellebore Ellen Picottee Double Ellen Picottee - with delicate pink-peach terry corollas;
Double Ellen Red Double Ellen Red has red double flowers;
Golden Lotus - with lemon-yellow terry corollas;
Double Ellen Purple - luxurious purple flowers;

• Spring Driam - with white and light green terry sepals.

Abkhaz hellebore (Helleborus orientalis abchasicus) - in some sources it is considered independent species, in others - the form of an oriental hellebore. The shiny basal leaves have an unusual purple hue.

The flower stalks are cherry-purple in color, rise 30-40 cm above the bush, bear relatively small saturated red flowers about 8 cm in circumference, often with maroon specks.

The hellebore or the Caucasian wintering (Helleborus caucasicus) is also not distinguished in all reference books as an independent genus. Grows on the shaded slopes of the Caucasus.

Long-petiolized leaves, dissected into several segments, like a fan, overwintering.

Peduncles grow up to half a meter upward, at their top one or 2-3 flowers of a yellowish-lime or white-green color with a slight reddish-brown tint are formed. The fruits are long-billed leaflets.

Stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) - grows in light forests and shaded rocky spurs throughout Southwestern Europe.

A perennial with a leafy stem, at the top of which a dense inflorescence is formed of small greenish bell-shaped flowers with a cherry-chocolate border, despite the species epithet, completely odorless.

Known variety Wester Flisk with a grayish tint of foliage, very drought-resistant and requires a high lime content in the soil.

The reddish or reddish hellebore (Helleborus purpurascens) - the range of the species spreads throughout Southeast Europe from Hungary and Romania to Western Ukraine.

Large, finger-dissected leaves, unlike other species, die off for the winter. Above, the leaf blades are glossy, rich emerald, below a bluish-green hue.

On peduncles 20-40 cm high, small, only 4 cm in diameter, purple-violet flowers are formed, with a grayish tint on the outside and green inside the corolla. Possess unpleasant odor.

The Tibetan hellebore (Helleborus thibetanus) is native to Northwest China.

Finger-dissected leaves, divided into 10-12 segments, die off in the middle of summer. The flowers are very delicate, white-pink in color, drooping.

Planting and transplanting a hellebore in open ground

Adult plant the hellebore does not withstand the transplant, so they try not to bother him unnecessarily, but only in case of special need.

In one place the flower lives for several years, vegetates well and blooms profusely, and after transplanting it withers for almost a year, does not form buds, but, as a rule, does not die.

When and in what soil is the hellebore planted

Transplant robots are produced either in very early spring, before flowering, or at the end of summer.

Choose a semi-shaded area in the garden between trees or shrubs.

In a brighter place, the hellebore also grows well, but it will have to be watered more abundantly.

The plant prefers to grow in severe clay soil drained and generously enriched with humus.

It responds very well to the introduction of lime, but it is still not worth alkalizing the soil too much, it is better to maintain a neutral pH.

Some species, for example, the smelly and reddish hellebore, can be grown without problems in poorer sandy soil.

How to plant correctly

Planting holes are dug at a distance of 30-40 cm from one another. The approximate dimensions are 0.3x0.3x0.3 m. The dug soil is mixed with humus and sand.

The plant is dug up with an earthen clod and they try to disturb the root system less.

Gently roll it into a new hole and sprinkle it with the prepared mixture.

Thoroughly tamp, water abundantly and crush the near-root space with dry soil.

For another 2-3 weeks, moisturize regularly, not sparing water, but also without creating a swamp around the plant.

The water should not stagnate, and it is undesirable for the roots to sour for a long time in a puddle.

How to propagate hellebore

The hellebore is propagated in two ways - by seed and by dividing the rhizome during transplantation, but the latter is not practiced very often due to the long survival of the plant in a new place.

Most often, a hellebore is grown from seeds.

Sowing hellebore seeds in open ground

They are harvested as they ripen from late May to late June and immediately sown in open ground.

Seedlings will appear early in the next growing season, but the likelihood of a high germination rate is greater compared to sowing in spring after dry storage.

Hellebore seeds lose their ability to germinate within a year.

It is possible to sow in open ground even later, the main thing is that at least 2-2.5 months remain before the onset of cold weather.

On the bed, grooves are made in loose, moist, humus soil and seeds are embedded in them to a depth of no more than one and a half centimeters.

Seedlings should be expected next year in the month of March, and the first flowers will bloom on them only in the 3rd year.

After the first 2-3 true leaves are formed on the sprouts, they are dived onto semi-shaded schools for growing, and transplanted to a permanent place after 2-3 years in September.

Growing hellebore seedlings from seeds

If sowing immediately after collecting the seeds is impossible, they must be satisfied with double stratification - first warm, then cold.

To do this, planting material is sown in containers filled with a peat-sand mixture in a ratio of 3: 1, and they are kept for 3 months at room temperature at about 18-20 degrees of heat.

For the next 1-3 months, containers with crops are moved to a cooler place, where the air temperature is about 4 degrees above zero.

Moisturize slightly and make sure that mold does not appear on the surface of the soil mixture. After a month or later, the first shoots begin to hatch.

In the spring, after return frosts on the soil, seedlings dive into semi-shaded places on the site, maintaining a distance of 20 cm between them, or into a greenhouse for further growing.

On a permanent place of growth, seedlings are planted already well-strengthened in late August or early September, 3-4 years after sowing. They will bloom for 3-5 years of life.

Dividing the bush

It is possible to propagate the hellebore by dividing the bush immediately after flowering or at the optimal time for transplanting in early spring or with the arrival of autumn.

The root is divided into several parts and transplanted into pre-prepared pits.

Vegetative propagation is good because all the decorative characteristics of the parent plant are probably preserved.

With seed reproduction, such confidence does not exist, usually varietal characteristics are lost, and the features of the natural species participating in the creation of a hybrid appear.

Hellebore care

The plant grows well in loose soil, therefore, in the summer, periodically weeding is carried out between hellebore bushes and at the same time weeds are removed.

Watering and feeding

They moisten the shrubs all summer long if the weather is hot.

Periodic rainfall will satisfy the plant's moisture needs.

For the sake of its preservation, the hellebore is mulched with dry grass in the root circle, and after flowering - with compost or decomposed peat.

Early spring feeding with superphosphate or bone meal stimulates well the development of the plant, and with the establishment of warm sunny days, foliar feeding with microelements is carried out.

For the winter, varieties that are weakly resistant to winter colds are covered with spruce branches.

Natural species are more resistant to temperature drops and do not need special shelter for the winter, especially if they are planted in a place protected from the wind.

Hellebore pruning

The hellebore pruning procedure is necessary in caring for the plant, but it is equally important to do it correctly and in a timely manner.

Faded inflorescences are removed immediately after the flower stalks wilt to prolong flowering and prevent seed formation and self-seeding.

During the growing season from the beginning of flowering to winter, only diseased and mechanically damaged leaves are removed from the plant.

Usually, at the end of the growing season, the leaves of perennials are cut off, but for hellebores they remain decorative all winter, and it is quite logical to leave them to decorate the garden.

In addition, if you cut the foliage in the fall, pathogenic microorganisms accumulate on the cuts, which, with the arrival of heat, create a serious problem for the plant.

So when is the right time to prune old leaves?

Experienced florists consider - immediately after the emergence of flower stalks from the ground of the current season.

The plant may look a little bare after pruning, but new foliage will grow back quickly.

It makes no sense to leave the old foliage until the end of flowering - during this time, young leaves grow, and last year's ones generally become impossible to cut off.

Diseases and pests

Among the insect pests, hellebores are most annoyed by the aphid Macrosiphum hellebori, which infects the flowers and leaves of the plant.

Whitish-green individuals are about 2-4 mm long and form dense colonies on hellebores, covering them with honeydew, which can lead to the growth of consistent mold on leaves and flowers.

In Germany, the stinking leaf fly, Phytomyza hellebori, is wreaking havoc on the hellebore. Its larvae damage the leaves, arranging passages in the tissues.

Affected leaf blades are covered with brownish-black spots. Adults hibernate on evergreen hellebore leaves.

If you cut them before the eggs emerge and lay, you can protect the plants from damage.

Insecticides of systemic action help in getting rid of pests, but during flowering, pollinating insects suffer from them.

Hellebores also suffer from infestations of slugs, snails and mice.

The most common plant disease is gray mold, the symptoms of which are greyish brown mold spots on leaves, buds and flowers.

The spores of the fungus are spread by air, and the infection does not depend on the season, favorable conditions for it are warm and high humidity.

First of all, weakened specimens with damage to the tissues of leaves, petioles, peduncles suffer.

Other diseases of hellebore include black or brown spot caused by the fungus Coniothyrium hellebori, which appears as spots of the corresponding color.

Diseased leaves, buds, flowers are cut out and destroyed, and the plants are sprayed with fungicides.

Also dangerous is the bacterial disease Pseudomonas viridiflava, which manifests itself on hellebores in the form of black leaf spots, petal necrosis and damage to the stems, and a viral infection of the Helleborus net necrosis virus plant, also called Black Death, or black death, signs of which are blackening of veins and ring patterns on leaf blades.

It is difficult to fight these ailments of hellebores, and diseased plants are destroyed so that they do not infect the entire backyard flora.

Hellebore in garden landscaping

The primrose forms flower buds in the fall and blooms as soon as the spring sun comes through.

Only snowdrops are ahead of it, and with it crocuses, woodlands, early primroses bloom.

However, ephemeroids quickly leave the proscenium of the spring garden, and hellebores, preening themselves with young juicy foliage, remain decorative all summer long.

For them, the ideal place in the so-called "wild" parks and gardens, created in the form of a natural landscape with not too tall grass.

The hellebores are also indispensable for creating shady rock gardens and rocky gardens.

Growing up, they form extensive clumps in group plantings, in curbs and mixborders, along alleys and decorate the garden from April to late autumn, or even all winter.

We recommend to know:

Hellebore is a perennial herb from the Buttercup family. It lives in the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the Balkans. Hellebore can be found on shady mountain slopes or in light forests. It can be called a primrose, because flowers appear in early spring. Sometimes at the end of winter you can see the blossoming buds on the freshly fallen snow. Blooming hellebore is considered a good Christmas present in some European countries, which is why it is sometimes called the "Christmas rose" or "winter house". The scientific name of the plant is helleborus. The plant is popular not only among gardeners, but also among those who want to lose weight, because many consider the hellebore effective remedy to combat obesity.

Botanical characteristics

The hellebore is a herbaceous perennial with shoots 20-50 cm high. A short thickened rhizome is located close to the surface of the earth. The bare stem is weakly branched and completely devoid of leaves. The foliage is concentrated in a rosette near the ground and forms a dense green bush. It grows on long fleshy stalks and has a pinnately dissected or stop-dissected shape. On the petiole there can be from 5 segments located radially. Each leathery lobe is colored in dark green color, it has solid edges and a groove along the central vein.

The flowering period is from February to April, depending on weather conditions. At this time, a flower or a small inflorescence is formed at the top of the stem. Each bud has its own short drooping peduncle. The bell-shaped corolla has 5 bright sepals, which are often mistaken for petals. They are tinted white, pink, yellow, inky or purple. The petals themselves were transformed into nectaries. The lush pith consists of a bundle of stamens and an ovary. During the flowering period, a weak hovers over the flower bed bad smell... In some species, it is completely absent.

The multifoliate fruit contains a large number of small seeds, which are released after full maturation... Throughout this period, bright sepals remain and only after the seeds ripen do they shrivel and fall off. Even after the shoot with inflorescence wilts, a lush green bush remains and gradually the old stem is replaced by a new, more juicy and green one.

Hellebore species

Various scientists attribute 14-22 plant species to the hellebore genus. Most of them are able to grow in culture in central Russia.

Rhizome perennial with dark green leathery foliage that can survive even in frosty winters. The leaf plates are glabrous, pinnately dissected into lanceolate or oval segments. The top of the fleshy shoot up to 20 cm long is decorated with 1-3 flowers. Sepals white gradually turn pinkish, and when ripe, the fruits turn green.

The inhabitant of the Caucasus, Turkey, Greece and other warm countries grows 20-50 cm in height. The length of the dark green leathery leaf is about 15 cm. It is divided into 5-11 broadly oval parts with a pointed edge. The peduncle bears several greenish-white flowers up to 8 cm in diameter. They bloom in the second half of spring and last about 6 weeks. The rhizome of this plant contains the most poisonous alkaloids and glycosides, which in case of an overdose have a depressing effect on the cardiovascular system.

Perennial grasses no more than 30 cm high are distinguished by grayish-green vegetation and lilac bell-shaped flowers with a diameter of about 5 cm. This variety is especially susceptible to fungal infections. The juice from the leaflets causes burns on contact with the skin.

The plant is found in Hungary, Romania and other countries of Southeast Europe. All ground growth has a pinkish tint. Unlike most other species, this one does not retain its large basal leaves for the winter. The foliage has a pinnately dissected shape and consists of 5-7 shiny pink-green lobes. Flowers on drooping peduncles inside are painted in a violet-purple color, and on the outside they have a faded, gray-violet hue.

Breeding rules

The hellebore can be grown from seed or by dividing the bush. Seed propagation requires more time and effort, since the planting material must be stratified for a long time. First, the harvested and dried seeds need 2.5-3 months of heat, and then the same amount of cold. In dry form, seeds quickly lose their germination, so you should not hesitate with sowing. It is convenient to sow them in open ground immediately after collection. The purchased planting material is sown in the garden (if there are about 3 months left before the cold weather) or in pots for growing seedlings.

At home, use pots or boxes with loose garden soil or sandy-peat soil. The seeds are buried 5-10 mm and moisten the soil. First, they are kept for 3 months at room temperature(about + 20 ° C), and then put in the refrigerator for the same period. After stratification, seedlings are expected to appear soon. Keep the seedling pot warm. The grown seedlings dive in separate pots and put in a shaded place. Young hellebores are transplanted into open ground to a permanent place at 3-4 years of age. Bloom decorative varieties can occur from the second year after planting, but usually occurs after 3-5 years.

A strongly overgrown bush in early spring (before the start of sap flow) or already in September (after the seeds have ripened) can be divided into parts. First, the hellebore is completely dug up, and then, with great care, it is freed from the earthen coma. The rhizome is cut into pieces. 1-2 buds or several leaves are left on each. Seedlings are distributed in holes about 30 cm deep with a distance of 30-40 cm. Before planting, the soil must be well loosened and fertilized. More careful maintenance and abundant watering will be needed within 2-3 weeks. The adaptation period can take a long time. In the year of transplantation or division, the bush is sick for a long time and withers away. However, you should not worry, the hellebore will definitely survive and begin to grow actively.

Outdoor care

In the garden, the hellebore should be better protected from drafts and bright sun a place. Partial shade is suitable for him, where the sun is only in the morning or evening hours. At noon it is necessary reliable protection... In a strongly lit place, flowers will appear earlier, but will fade pretty soon. The leaves are also crushed, they do not form such a large lush rosette. Flowers can be planted under trees with a translucent crown, so they receive optimal lighting and nutrition from rotted leaves.

Sod soil with a neutral, or better alkaline reaction is suitable for planting. Before planting, the earth is dug up with lime, ash or bone meal. Plants planted in autumn adapt better.
Taking care of the hellebore is easy. Usually he has enough water from the soil. Hard foliage has little moisture evaporation. Only in dry and hot weather is it watered 1-2 times a month.

On the site with nutritious soil hellebore does not need regular feeding. The earth already contains enough humus. Flowers also use nitrogen from the atmosphere and very few other minerals from the earth. It is enough to form a layer of fresh mulch in the spring. It will also protect the rhizomes, because they are located very close to the surface and can be exposed.

It is recommended to weed the plantings and thin out the plants several times during the season. Although it can grow in one place for many years without problems, self-seeding thickens the vegetation. This adversely affects the appearance and provokes disease.

Almost all hellebore species are susceptible to fungal diseases (anthracnose, powdery mildew, leaf spot, rust). Humidity spreads faster. Having found the leaves damaged by spots, they must be cut off and destroyed immediately. The adjacent vegetation is treated with copper-containing preparations.

Medicinal properties and contraindications

Hellebore black and Caucasian used in folk medicine... V to a greater extent they are known as a means for losing weight and normalizing metabolism. However, hellebore can be used more widely. The roots of hellebore contain a large amount of glycosides, alkaloids, saponins, coumarins, flavonoids.

If the dosage is observed, the hellebore treatment contributes to:

• lowering blood pressure and sugar levels;
• getting rid of stones and sand in the kidneys and gallbladder;
• strengthening immunity;
• prevention of oncological diseases;
• cleansing the intestines from toxins and toxins.

Weight loss occurs due to the elimination of excess fluid from the body and the normalization of metabolism.

As already mentioned, the Caucasian hellebore is especially poisonous, since it contains a large amount of active substances and has a depressing effect on the human circulatory system. Therefore, any treatment must be carried out under the strict supervision of a physician. A contraindication to taking drugs in any quantity is a tendency to allergies, childhood (up to 12 years), pregnancy and lactation. In case of an overdose, the following symptoms may appear: weakness, decreased heart rate and blood pressure, severe thirst, shortness of breath.