Helleborus hybridus Anemone Picotee

Helleborus x hybridus Anemone Picotee is a variety of Lenten rose with particular grace and refinement. Its flowers are pale mauve pink, delicately veined and edged with deep mauve and have a small collar of additional petals in a washed-out mauve at their centre. This variety blooms after the winter solstice, accompanying the lengthening of the day until the arrival of spring. Easy to grow, even in heavy soil, it thrives in shade or non-scorching sunlight. It can be planted in borders, under shrubs, in mixed borders and in pots.

Native to Greece, Turkey, and the central and eastern Caucasus, Helleborus orientalis, also known as Lenten Rose, is a perennial plant of the Ranunculaceae family that readily hybridizes with other species to produce many hybrids with a wide variety of colours and forms. These hybrids are no longer given variety names; they are distinguished by their shape and colour. Oriental Hellebore is a hardy plant that can withstand temperatures as low as -15°C (5°F). It naturally grows in forests, thickets, and clearings up to an altitude of 2,000 m (7ft), usually on limestone-rich substrates.

The 'Picotee Anemone' variety forms a compact, leafy tuft measuring 40 cm (16in) in all directions composed of evergreen palmate, slightly toothed, dark green and glossy basal leaves, 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) long, composed of 7 to 9 leaflets. They only live for 8 months, regularly being replaced by new leaves.

Between January and April, a bouquet of single flowers measuring 4 to 5 cm (2in) in diameter forms among the foliage. These are cup-shaped, inclined flowers with a row of finely veined and edged petals in deep mauve-pink. The mauve collar visible at the base of the petals, surrounding the stamens, is made up of nectar-bearing glands called nectaries, transformed into petal-like structures. This characteristic is obtained in plants resulting from double-flowered 'mothers' and single-flowered 'fathers'. The corollas are inclined downwards, allowing water to slide off like an umbrella to protect the heart of the flower from rotting. The Hellebore does not like to be moved once established, with the young plants taking some time to flower. Over time, Hellebore flowers do not wilt like the majority of other flowers but dry up. The seeds are sown by ants.

Use Hellebores like elements of an ancient tapestry, mixing them with woodland plants in brighter colours. They are complemented when planted near Pieris, moderately-sized rhododendrons, under conifers (especially on wind-exposed sites), and surrounded by primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentra, cardamines, or spring-flowering bulbs and snowdrops. They can also be accompanied by ferns and shade-loving irises to create a beautiful contrast a little later in the season. They can be planted in groups near the entrance of the house, in a shady location, to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable as cut flowers and in beds, borders, or containers,...

Each seed sown Hellebore has a unique flower colour, so slight variations in colour may exist between two plants, which is normal and inevitable. However, if the difference is too significant and detracts from the desired effect, we will refund or replace the plant in question.