Helleborus hybridus Double Aubergine White Edge

Helleborus x hybridus Double Aubergine White Edge is a rather original variety. It offers double flowers of perfect shape in the heart of winter, where each rich aubergine violet petal is finely bordered with a white edge, around a centre of white stamens. Dark but sparkling, it is also a robust and very hardy plant that will enliven borders, the ground under shrubs and pots. Easy to succeed, even in heavy soil, it will thrive in shade or non-scorching sunlight.

Originating from Greece, Turkey, and central and eastern Caucasus, Helleborus orientalis, sometimes called Lenten Rose, is a perennial plant of the Ranunculaceae family that hybridizes very easily with other species to produce many hybrids with very varied colours and shapes. Variety names are no longer given to these hybrids; they are distinguished by their characteristic shape and colour. Oriental Hellebore is a hardy plant that can withstand temperatures as low as -15°C (5°F), naturally growing in forests, thickets, and clearings up to 2,000m (7ft) in altitude. Aubergine with a pink edge forms a compact and leafy clump 40cm (16in) in all directions. It consists of palmate, slightly toothed, dark green and shiny, evergreen basal leaves, 30 to 40cm (12 to 16in) long, composed of 7 to 9 leaflets. They only live for 8 months and are regularly replaced by new leaves.

Between February and April, a bouquet of single, cup-shaped flowers, 4 to 5cm (2in) in diameter, forms among the foliage with three rows of petals increasing in size from the centre of the flower to the outer part of the corolla. They are inclined downwards, allowing water to slide off like an umbrella to protect the heart of the flower from rotting. Hellebore is a bushy plant that does not like to be moved once established, as the young plants take a little time to flower. The seeds are sown by ants.

Use hellebores as elements of an ancient tapestry, mixing them with woodland plants in brighter colours. They are highlighted when planted near Pieris, small-sized rhododendrons, under conifers (especially in windy sites), and surrounded by primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentras, cardamines, or early-flowering bulbs, and snowdrops. You can also accompany them with 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 shaded areas, to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable as cut flowers and in borders, or even containers,... Over time, the flowers of the Hellebore do not fade like the majority of other flowers but dry out.

 Each seed-sown hellebore has a unique flower colour,  so slight colour variations may exist between two plants, which is normal and unavoidable. However, if the difference is too significant and distorts the desired effect, we will refund or replace the affected plant.