The Green Thumb

By Cheryl Doyle Kearns

If you think the winter is drab, think again. Winter is an unique time to enjoy the garden's quieter, subtler beauty.

Evergreens come into their own, especially yellow ones on a gray day. Berries glow on several shrubs; silhouettes of bare trees are framed against clear blue skies; bark on crepe myrtles, birches, and deciduous magnolias make wonderful textural pictures; weeping forms of trees and shrubs lend grace to the scene; and flowers stand out in winter’s soft light.

Flowers? Yes, flowers are most welcome in these winter months, and I’m not just referring to pansies, cheerful as they are. Take a walk in the shade garden in mid to late January and you will find the magical Lenten rose (or Helleborus orientalis). These hardy evergreen perennials, whose blooms modestly face the ground, are one of winter’s wonders. Until recently, the blooms were single, of soft shades of purple, rose, cream, or light green, some with darker spots, and all lovely. Now, thanks to hybridizing efforts, there are hues of other pastels as well as deep rich colors. For added effect, some have flowers that are picotee (a narrow margin of contrasting color around the outer edge of the bloom) or are double in form. 

Hellebores are happiest in dappled to light shade, but they will take some morning sun, and prefer soil amended with leaf mold or compost, good drainage, and a regular watering schedule their first year. They form clumps up to two feet wide, and are about 18” in height, making them choice companions to early spring bulbs, ferns, and hostas, or as a border along a woodland walk. If they form seedlings, blooms will usually occur on the new plants three to five years hence, which explains why their cost is higher than most perennials. Occasionally removing older blackened leaf stalks is about the only care they need, apart from watering during dry spells.

Flowers last through ice and snowstorms, usually fading by April, although the seedheads remain until August, giving the appearance of a blossom from above. Turned up, the seeds are revealed in black shells that form a triangle. In a vase, the blossoms last for weeks and can be floated or cut on stems.

Hellebores are untroubled by insects or diseases. As the plants are poisonous, deer and rodents alike leave them alone. They can, however, cause a rash, so for some gardeners gloves are a must.

We are fortunate that two prominent hellebore breeders live near the Triangle. It is well worth a trip to Janice Nicholson’s Gethsemane Gardens in Greensboro and to Judith and Dick Tyler’s “Hellebore Days” at Pine Knot Farms in Clarksville, VA. In late February and early March these two breeders’ work can be admired in their personal landscapes. Each has display gardens featuring a multitude of hellebores among other winter beauties of the plant world. At Gethsemane Gardens, Gethlings and other pieces of art are interspersed in the winter garden, some of which is for sale, as are the hellebores at both nurseries.

Nicholson’s breeding has produced a more upward facing bloom, selections she has named “Ruffled Star,” while the Tylers are offering creamy yellow, peach, and a nearly black Lenten Rose, along with some doubles. Both growers offer a wide range of colors.

Check out Nicholson’s hellebores between February 19 and the end of March. Her website is <www.gethgardens.com>. Pine Knot Farms is open for Hellebore Days on February 26 and March 5 only. Their website is <www.pineknotfarms.com> or you can e-mail them at pineknot@gloryroad.net. Both websites give directions.

Another hellebore worth adding to the garden is a snow white one with larger blooms, Helleborus nige, “Nell Lewis.” In my garden it starts to open a week or two later than the others, although it is known as the Christmas rose. It is more comfortable in slightly drier soil than the Lenten rose. Like the others, it looks wonderful under deciduous trees with early crocus and small narcissus. 

A third hellebore, H. foetidus, has two descriptive common names: bear’s claw and stinking hellebore. The smell won’t bother most humans as it is the roots that are guilty of foul smell. The leaves of this hellebore are more deeply cut, thus the reference to the bear’s claw. The growth habit is more upright than spreading. In January, the light green flowers form clusters above the foliage and contrast nicely with the deep green of the leaves for two to three months.

In my garden, the hellebores are joined by sweet box (Sarcococca humilis), which has delicate white, fragrant blooms in March. Nearby is Algerian iris (Iris unguicularis), a small, bright blue iris which blooms throughout most of the winter. It also prefers drier conditions, growing happily near the roots of sweet gum trees.

Other flowering plants to enjoy during the dreary days of winter include winter blooming camellias (Camellia japonica) and Japanese apricots (Prunus mume), a small tree with scented pink or white blooms that, depending on the cultivar, starts to put on a show in January. Both are happy in part shade. While camellias are evergreen, the Japanese apricot is deciduous, with the blooms emerging before the leaves. 

For those with no shade, there are two sun-tolerant shrubs that are so fragrant they will surely perfume the whole neighborhood. The evergreen winter daphne (Daphne odora “Aureomarginata”) will reward the gardener who can provide excellent drainage with a show of clusters of tight pink buds and white blooms on a mounded shrub about 30” tall. The glossy leathery leaves are narrowly edged with a yellow band. The rather non-descript winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), a semi-evergreen shrub that is about 8’ tall, becomes the belle of the winter ball when it blooms. On a beautiful warm March day, brave honeybees are well rewarded, for the shrub is covered in sweetly scented, creamy yellow flowers. Like camellias and Japanese apricots, these make excellent cut flowers.

Hopefully, this article has whetted your appetite – and your nose. Your local garden center will have other selections to make your winter garden anything but gray and drab!

Photos of hellebores courtesy of Cheryl Doyle Kearns.

Cheryl Doyle Kearns is a member of the Garden Writers of America. She frequently lectures on gardening topics and teaches horticulture through Wake Technical College’s evening program. She is the perennials buyer and does landscape design work through Martin House and Garden in Youngsville. In her spare time, she tends a garden of unusual and rare plants at her home in Franklin County.