Helleborus 'Joy Hybrids'

Helleborus, commonly called ‘Christmas Rose’, are the harbingers of spring, with their flowers showing themselves during mid winter, and well into the spring showing of bulbs. They add so much colour and character during the ‘gloomy’ winter period in the garden that every gardener will enjoy their wonderful show.

Helleborus are evergreen plants  and are perfect for well-watered areas of the garden that receive full or part shade, especially during the summer months. Helleborus are Mediterranean plants, and they prefer not to be wet all of the time, so a period of drying our between watering is of great benefit to good overall growth.

This wonderful selection of hybrid Helleborus have come from the renowned New Zealand plant breeder, Terry Hatch. Terry has been growing and breeding Hellebores for over 30 years, and the range in shape, colour, and markings of his 'Joy Hybrids', is a testament to the variability of this genus, and to the efforts of hellebore breeders and collectors from around the world.

This great range of Helleborus hybrids are strong, robust plants, with some of them measuring 50cm+ in height, when in flower. They make great accent plants in the garden, and are also good for growing in pots or tubs.

Cultivation tips:

When growing Helleborus in the ground there are a few ideas you can incorporate into your bed preparation to help produce strong healthy plants. Double digging the area  (digging out one shovel depth of soil, and then digging up the second layer of soil, and then putting the top layer back on and digging it all together)  is ideal for planting Hellebores, as they have a deep growing root system and they will certainly benefit greatly with this treatment.

The addition of organic matter is of great advantage, but you will need to make sure it is not too acidic, as Hellebores prefer a neutral to alkaline soil Ph (they will grow in a slightly acidic Ph soil too). I find Mushroom compost to be fairly good as an additive, and well decomposed garden compost would work well too. If your soil is high in organic matter, and has a fairly good water holding capacity, then Hellebores will grow wonderfully in your garden.

A range of sizes are available of the Helleborus 'Joy Hybrids', from seedlings to mature flowering sized plants. The colour range of mixed hybrids includes purple, pink, white and yellow, some are solid clear colours and other have a myriad of speckles and lines in the flowers. Many of these plants represent some of the best spotted and marked Helleborus in the world, and they will all be a wonderful addition to your garden.

Wholesale orders are happily accepted and a discount will apply to orders of 20 or more plants. Postage for all orders in Australia is $8.00. For orders of Helleborus hybrids over $100, your plants will be sent postage free. All plants will be sent bare-rooted, and ready for immediate planting.