Helleborus hybridus ViV Serafina

Oriental Hellebore ViV Serafina is a recognizable variety with distinctly bicoloured flowering, yellow spotted with red. Flowering for several weeks from November, this Lenten Rose produces simple, but original flowers with well-opened petals, whose contrasting colour is further enhanced by a yellow stamen centre. It is a robust and hardy perennial that mainly needs moisture and protection from scorching sunlight, and can thrive perfectly in shade. Its evergreen foliage forms a compact tuft, which will create beautiful flower beds in the garden, and it can easily be grown in a pot.

The ViV Hellebores are varieties resulting from in-vitro multiplication. Unlike varieties resulting from seed, hellebores produced by in-vitro guarantee a rigorously identical flowering to the variety from which they originate. They have the same genetic characteristics as the mother plant, are more vigorous, and develop uniformly.

Hellebore Serafina belongs to the Ranunculaceae family, which includes about sixty genera and around 2500 species, most of which are poisonous. The species Helleborus orientalis is native to Greece, Turkey, and the centre and east of the Caucasus. It is a perennial plant that hybridizes very easily with other species to produce hybrids with very varied colours and forms, so much so that these hybrids are rarely given variety names. They are instead distinguished by their shape and colour characteristics. The Oriental Hellebore is a hardy plant that tolerates temperatures down to -15°C (5°F), naturally growing in forests, thickets, and clearings up to 2,000 m (6.600 ft) altitude.

This variety forms a tuft 35 to 45 cm (14 to 18in) high and about thirty wide. Its vegetation consists of palmate, slightly toothed, dark green and shiny, evergreen basal leaves which actually only live for 8 months and are regularly replaced by new leaves. Serafina begins flowering in November and continues for long weeks, until December. Its large single flowers consist of 5 almost circular petals, forming a well-opened corolla, with a yellow stamen centre. This flowering is bicoloured and in a very marked manner: each petal carries a large reddish central spot, bordered by a wide yellow margin, thus creating a very strong and surprising contrast. These large flowers are borne on long peduncles standing out clearly above the dark foliage. As with most varieties, the corollas are arranged in a vertical plane, or even slightly inclined downwards, allowing water to slide off like an umbrella, avoiding accumulation in the centre which could cause rotting. The Hellebore does not like to be moved once established, with young plants sometimes taking time to flower. So be sure to choose their location carefully.

With its spectacular flowers, this Hellebore will enchant the late season in your garden. Its flowering is staggered compared to most other plants and will allow you to create an attractive semi-shaded flower bed all year round. To bring life to winter, you can count on many other varieties of Hellebores with later flowering, white, green, pink, purple... The decorative fruits of certain species such as European Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) in pink and orange bishop's caps will also be appreciated at this time. You can plant it in the background due to its size, and its flamboyant autumn colours will have a great effect in a flower bed. At its base, compact shrubs like Sarcococcas will bring the magic of their deliciously scented white winter flowering and allow you to create vegetation layers to highlight your Hellebores.