Helleborus 2019

[Steve Garvie]

It’s a pity that most Helleborus flowers face downwards. It can be a struggle to get images in the open garden. I needed help to get on my feet afterwards! 

[Gail]

But well worth the effort Steve - lovely images, as always.

[Steve Garvie]

Many thanks Gail.

Here are a few more Helleborus from the garden. Images were taken on an ipad in the rain.
First up, a black-flowered plant:


Next is a ruby-flowered plant and another with less deflexed dark-pink flowers:





Lastly a clump with strongly deflexed flowers which are worth flipping to see the attractive inner markings:

[Mariette]

Indeed some flowers are well worth seeing from beneath, Steve!

Helleborus dumetorum

[Leena]

Helleborus multifidus is the first one here, though it also grows in a bed from which the snow melts first. All other of my Hellebores are still under snow.
When snow melted a few days ago, it's buds were ready above the ground. I find it interesting that it's buds all face south. How can it know which way south is when there is a lot of snow above it? I have noticed the same behavior also in previous years. Ground is still frozen solid under the leaf carpet, yet it is ready to start to flower as soon as the temperatures will raise more  .

[Gabriela]

Helleborus multifidus is the first one here, though it also grows in a bed from which the snow melts first. All other of my Hellebores are still under snow.
When snow melted a few days ago, it's buds were ready above the ground. I find it interesting that it's buds all face south. How can it know which way south is when there is a lot of snow above it? I have noticed the same behavior also in previous years. Ground is still frozen solid under the leaf carpet, yet it is ready to start to flower as soon as the temperatures will raise more  .

Same here Leena, still frozen solid in the shade so your multifidus is really early!
That's a good question - how do they know to face towards the sun? I'm sure there is more to these plants than anyone can imagine.

[Jeffnz]

They are pre programmed to avoid damage to the stigmas and anthers by exposure to the elements.

[Diane Whitehead]

Well, I don't know about avoiding the sun.  In my garden, most flowers turn their backs to me.

[Leena]

H.multifidus today. It is so pretty with it's lime color when there is not so much color elsewhere yet, and it gives good contrast with Crocus 'Ruby Giant'. These were plants which I have grown from wild collected seeds (from Croatia near Plitvice) eight years ago. They are always my earliest Hellebores, all H. x hybridus are still in bud close to ground.
H.niger is also an early one, these plants were saved from Christmas decoration basket some years ago, and I planted them outside the following spring. Their buds were visible already in December, but survived in snow all winter.

[Hoy]

Leena,
 nice plants! Seem they like your cold snowy winter more than mine mild wet one!

[Rick R.]

But a secondary flowering I have never seen. I thought the plants looked unusually full. Is this something common?

Yes, I think so, Bart.  That is, if you are talking about multiple flowers per stem, like this:
 

Even the old Royal Heritage strain does it.

How can it know which way south is when there is a lot of snow above it?

A surprising amount of light gets through the snow.  I remember a few decades back, when we had reliable zone 3&4 weather with reliable snow, lots of people owned snowmobiles.  Some of the lakes were so heavily used that 80% of the surfaces were packed down by the snowmobiles.  There was concern that the packed snow wouldn't  allow enough light to penetrate to the lake underneath to support the ecosystem that apparently depends on the light.  Our Minnesota state Department of Natural Resources conducted a study  to determine the effects.  But there was never any change in snowmobile use legislation, so I assume results of the study were either inconclusive or negligible.

[Jeffnz]

The flowers on the niger plant are very upward facing and of good construction. Niger Jacob?

[Leena]

Leena, nice plants! Seem they like your cold snowy winter more than mine mild wet one!

Thanks. Most of them like our weather, the problem may be when after a relatively warm early winter is followed with very cold with no snow cover, like it was in January 2016. I lost several plants that winter, and many Helleborus seeds outside had started to germinate in December and were then killed by very cold weather. I lost some special seedlings which I hadn't sowed in pots but outside in woodland bed (where I then thought they would do better). This was after we had two very nice and warm winters in 2014 and 2015 when everything was doing better outside than in my pots inside.

The flowers on the niger plant are very upward facing and of good construction. Niger Jacob?

They have very nice and upward facing flowers, also flowers are quite big. These were sold with no name, and I don't think they are 'Jacob'. I have 'Jacob', and it always starts to flower in December, and then many times winter destroys it's flowers. This last autumn we got snow already in early December, and 'Jacob' wasn't very advanced then, but still it doesn't flower well now.
Here it is today.

[Leena]

A surprising amount of light gets through the snow.  I remember a few decades back, when we had reliable zone 3&4 weather with reliable snow, lots of people owned snowmobiles.  Some of the lakes were so heavily used that 80% of the surfaces were packed down by the snowmobiles.  There was concern that the packed snow wouldn't  allow enough light to penetrate to the lake underneath to support the ecosystem that apparently depends on the light.  Our Minnesota state Department of Natural Resources conducted a study  to determine the effects.  But there was never any change in snowmobile use legislation, so I assume results of the study were either inconclusive or negligible.

Thank you Rick!

[Gabriela]

They have very nice and upward facing flowers, also flowers are quite big. These were sold with no name, and I don't think they are 'Jacob'. I have 'Jacob', and it always starts to flower in December, and then many times winter destroys it's flowers. This last autumn we got snow already in early December, and 'Jacob' wasn't very advanced then, but still it doesn't flower well now.
Here it is today.

A very nice H. niger Leena with those upward flowers!