Gardening with Paul Maher: Lenten roses are blooming

I love hellebore season in the garden, they flower when other plants are taking a rest and brighten our days. Typically, they start their flowering period at Christmas time and continue into spring and later.

Hellebores are native to Europe and western Asia. They are members of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. They prefer growing in shade or partially shaded environments in well-drained, humus rich soil. They are perfectly hardy, withstanding cold temperatures, frost and snow.

We all look forward to Christmas for obvious reasons, but in our gardens, we are looking forward to Helleborus niger, coming into flower. They are commonly called the Christmas Rose. It is a tough low growing evergreen plant with pure white flowers growing to a height of 45cm. It is a beautiful sight in what can be a season without much else in flower.

Nurseries have been busy hybridising hellebores and there is now a huge range of cultivars available for the garden. I recommend Helleborus niger ‘Advent Star’ with its larger white flowers with yellow centres, it is a superior variety.

Better again is Helleborus niger ‘Christmas Carol’. This is a further improvement with similar foliage and upright flower to a height of 40cm. The flower colour is creamy white flushed with green. For a plant with fuller double flowers seek out Helleborus niger ‘Harvington Double Petticoat’ with its pure white double flowers, a plant with great presence.

Helleborus argutifolius, commonly known as the Corsican Hellebore, is a beautiful sight with very different light green foliage with jagged edges. It is a plant for all seasons because of its bulk, growing to 60cm. Its flowers are light apple-green in colour.

An improvement on this is is Helleborus argutifolius ‘Silver Lace’, the foliage has a silver sheen with a tracery of green veins adding to its beauty.

Helleborus x hybridus, is commonly called the Lenten Rose, as it flowers around the time of Lent. In my opinion the cultivars give us the most beautiful display. Again, the Harvington cultivars are the ones to look for, Helleborus x hybridus ‘Yellow Speckled’ is a butter-yellow colour that brightens the spring garden from mid-January, growing to 30cm.

In dark contrast is Helleborus x hybridus ‘Black Beauty’ with its dark purple almost black flowers adding mystery and intrigue, it insists you go and look at it.

English nurseryman Eric Smith is the creator of several good hellebores cultivars. They are mostly low growing and well behaved. I can recommend Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Winter Moonbeam’. This has foliage with a grey sheen highlighted by its silvery veins. The flowers are a cream colour initially ageing to various shades of pink. It grows to 30cm and is evergreen.

Equally beautiful is Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Winter Sunshine’. This taller specimen grows to 40cm. The bonus with these two hybrids is that they can grow in part sunshine.

Charming hybrid

Helleborus x ericsmithii, also known as Eric Smith’s hellebore, is a charming hybrid between Helleborus x sternii and Helleborus niger.

It is evergreen, grows to about 40cm in height and has leathery grey-green leaves that can reach up to 15cm, again it has bowl-shaped flowers that are white or light pink, sometimes tinged with green.

Helleborus x sternii itself is also an interesting plant, evergreen and growing to 40cm, the flowers are dark green and held well above the foliage.

Helleborus x nigercors is a hybrid of H. niger and H. argutifolius and the quality of being a good ground coverer, growing to a height of 35cm but spreading to 45cm. It has good quality green leaves. The flowers are large to 10cm, pale green in colour.

Cultivation: Hellebores are easy to cultivate, they tolerate shade and, in some species mentioned, will grow in some sunshine. The initial planting benefits from some preparation, digging in good quality compost, also ensuring that there is room for the new planting to develop and flourish.

Do not plant too deeply, make sure you do not go below the nursery pot soil level. Once hellebores are established they do not like transplanting and will suffer as a result.

Aphids are sometimes a problem, however we usually spray with a diluted washing-up liquid and while it does not eliminate them completely, it reduces them greatly.

Hellebore blackspot is the biggest problem. It is caused by the fungus Microsphaeropsis hellebori, and it appears as black or brown round spots. This can lead to leaf drop and stem rot.

It is wise to remove and destroy infected leaves as soon as seen. Remove old ragged leaves in November.

I have stored my dahlia tubers in dry compost in our garage. They are still looking healthy, with no rot. Is it too early to plant outside, if not when? – Helen, Tullamore, Co Offaly

Thank you for your question, well done, you have had success storing your dahlia tubers and you will benefit from good-quality plants for the year to come. It is too early to plant outside as we can never be confident that the weather will remain mild.

I suggest waiting for another two weeks and pot up your tubers in a good quality soil-based compost and start them into growth with a light watering. Position them near a bright window in your garage. This will give you the opportunity to take some cutting when shoots emerge, this will enlarge your stock. Planting out can take place when the threat of frost has passed.

• Send your question to: ICL@farmersjournal.ie

Trees, shrubs and roses: When all pruning is complete, tidy all planting spaces removing any debris and weeds. Feed where you feel it is required but observe manufacturers guidelines. Where applicable, mulch bare ground.

Flowers: Commence sowing half-hardy annuals in seed trays or pots indoors. Do not sow more than you feel you need.

Lawn: It not too late to scarify to remove moss. Aerate with a garden fork on smaller lawns or hire a scarifier. Lawns will benefit from moss and dead grass removal. Apply lawn sand, available in garden centres.

Fruit, vegetables and herbs: Get vegetable beds ready for sowing, make sure they are weed free. Decide what vegetable and herb seed you require.