Hellebores 2013

[Tony Willis]

 there are an awful lot of so so ones which get given away

Not what you said about them when you gave me some.

We think they are lovely so clearly we lack taste.

[monocotman]

Tony,
having grown a bunch of open pollinated ashwoods seedlings to flowering I can say that
even the so-so plants are good! It's all relative.
A few years ago the so-so plants would have been market leaders and are still much better than most of plants you find in the retail sector.
The best ones are just lovely.
I have a selfed 'neon' that is much better than the parent and has an almost pure red central
star.
Sadly it photographs very badly,
Regards,
David

[ian mcenery]

Not what you said about them when you gave me some.

We think they are lovely so clearly we lack taste.

 

[ian mcenery]

Tony,
having grown a bunch of open pollinated ashwoods seedlings to flowering I can say that
even the so-so plants are good! It's all relative.
A few years ago the so-so plants would have been market leaders and are still much better than most of plants you find in the retail sector.
The best ones are just lovely.
I have a selfed 'neon' that is much better than the parent and has an almost pure red central
star.
Sadly it photographs very badly,
Regards,
David

I agree but when you have limited space there can only be room for the ones you really like

[Chuck]

Nice you guys should see the Hellebores doubles we have in the US. The winter Jewels line from Northwest Nursery has some of the best doubles.

http://www.northwestgardennursery.com/doubles.html

[Maggi Young]

Great link, Chuck - thank you.

The range of doubles is quite something   and I enjoyed seeing the other garden pix too.

[monocotman]

Chuck - some nice things there!
It is clear to me that if you start with some really good plants then a decent proportion of the seedlings will be at least as good.
Selfed plants from Ashwoods come fairly true.
Not a bad thought when you see the quality of some of the plants currently being produced around the world.
The only problem that I have with the doubles is their tendency to flop.
They need stouter stems to hold up the heavier flowers.
Some clones are fine and others not.
This problem is much less pronounced with the singles,
David

[Chuck]

Chuck - some nice things there!
It is clear to me that if you start with some really good plants then a decent proportion of the seedlings will be at least as good.
Selfed plants from Ashwoods come fairly true.
Not a bad thought when you see the quality of some of the plants currently being produced around the world.
The only problem that I have with the doubles is their tendency to flop.
They need stouter stems to hold up the heavier flowers.
Some clones are fine and others not.
This problem is much less pronounced with the singles,
David

David these plants seem have a more upright flower. From what I saw at several nurseries they didn't have a problem flopping. The problem is that the flowers get beaten up from the rain because they are facing partially up. The doubles do come true as doubles from seed but it takes a long time (2-5 years). I would rather go to a wholesale nursery and pick out all the ones I want.

[monocotman]

I quite agree. Choosing the plants when they are in flower is half the fun.
David

[Arykana]

Oh, my goodness yann, it is a beautiful selection! I hope one day I can buy them in my town

[Tim Ingram]

Fascinating to see some of the hellebores developed in the States. The doubles seem to have really taken off and it doesn't seem so long ago (re. Brian Mathew's book) that there were only one or two around! In the garden they can benefit from contrast and this is a lucky juxtaposition with Ranunculus ficaria 'Brazen Hussey' (a rather tremendous 'weed').

[zvone]

Hi!




In spite of bad weather (still)  Helleborus odorus (today) resists and cheers up!

Best Regards!  zvone

[Irm]

Helleborus torquatus a form I think from Bosnia photographed a couple of days ago before the SNOW

oh interesting 
I buyed this plant last saturday named "Helleborus multidus var. Bosnicus". Friends tell me, its a H.torquatus. (I buyed it AFTER snow) 

[Irm]

snow and cold wind ...

I showed my Helleborus thibetanus in flower here in Februar. Then we had snow and cold for 5 weeks. I took a glass pane over the plant, over the glass 15cm snow 

Yesterday :

[Maggi Young]

It was worth your effort to protect these beauties, Irm