Helleborus hybridus Magic Rouge

Magic Red Oriental Hellebore is another variety of the Magic series with simple, variable flowers to surprise the gardener with variable colours on the same plant and from one plant to another. Most often in shades of red and old pink, the corollas are sometimes bicoloured, pastel or brighter, adorned with small dots, spots, and contrasting stripes. Hellebore is a robust and hardy plant that will enliven borders, the ground under shrubs, flower beds and pots on the terrace. Easy to grow, even in heavy soil, it will thrive in shade or non-scorching sun.

Native to Greece, Turkey, and central and eastern Caucasus, Helleborus orientalis, sometimes called Lenten Rose, is a perennial plant of the buttercup family that readily hybridizes with other species to produce hybrids with very varied colours and forms, so that no variety names are given to these hybrids. They are distinguished by shape and colour characteristics. Oriental Hellebore can withstand temperatures down to -15°C (5°F), naturally growing in forests, thickets, and clearings up to 2,000 m (6.600 ft) altitude.

The Magic Red Hellebore forms a compact and leafy clump of 40 cm (16in) in all directions, of palmate, slightly toothed, dark green, and shiny, evergreen basal leaves composed of 7 to 9 thick toothed leaflets. They only live for 8 months and are regularly replaced by new leaves. Between February and April, a bouquet of cup-shaped, inclined flowers with satin petals 4 to 6 cm (2in) in diameter forms among the foliage. They are inclined downwards, allowing water to slide off like an umbrella to protect the heart of the flower from rotting. Hellebore does not like to be moved once established, with young plants taking a little time to flower. The seeds are sown by ants.

Use hellebores like elements of an old tapestry, mixing them with brightly coloured woodland plants. These perennials are highlighted close to Pieris, moderate-sized rhododendrons, under conifers (especially in windy sites), surrounded by primroses, wood anemones, Corydalis, dicentras, cardamines, or spring-flowering bulbs and snowdrops. You can also accompany them with ferns and shade iris to create a beautiful contrast a little later in the season. They can be planted in groups, like a bouquet, near the entrance of the house, in a shaded position, to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable as cut flowers and in beds, borders, or even containers... Over time, Hellebore flowers do not wilt like the majority of other flowers, but dry up and remain decorative for a long time.