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Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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Posted by coolplantsguy z6 Ontario (My Page) on Mon, Nov 16, 09 at 18:28
| During a late afternoon stroll through my garden, I noticed that my newly planted (early summer, this year) Helleborus niger 'HGC Josef Lemper' was blooming already. Is that OK? Will it bloom again next year? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| I'd guess they might not bloom another time this spring if they are blooming now. Have you had cooler weather and now it's being followed by a warm spell? I've even noticed early spring bulb foliage, possibly Galanthus nivalis, or Snowdrops, poking up through the soil surface this week and we haven't had any winter yet. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| I have Colchicum foliage coming up. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| We've certainly had our "Indian Summer" the past couple of weeks, so maybe that's doing it. I can't imagine it blooming again in the spring, but here's to hoping... ;) |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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My gran grew Helleborus niger, hers always bloomed before Christmas here on Vancouver Island (Z8) it didn't repeat in the spring.
I had one of the orientalis bloom in the summer one year then it skipped a year, bloomed march the following year. Annette |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| Perhaps it should be renamed the Thanksgiving Rose. I'll be curious to hear whether it does bloom next spring. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| 'Josef Lemper' is known to be rather precocious in its blooming habit. The orginal cross was made in November 1997, so both parents were early bloomers as well. And one of the distinctions of the patent specifications is that it is reputed to bloom about a month earlier than other H. niger selections. It also has a very prolonged bloom season for Helleborus niger so it would not be out of line to see this same plant, once properly established in the garden, still pushing flowers in late winter/early spring. Depending on the weather, Helleborus x hybridus will produce some sporadic bloom in late summer and early fall - we got a shipment into the nursery recently that were blooming here and there - and this has happened in my own garden, but it typically has not affected later flowering at the appropriate time of year. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| Thanks for the info gardengal -- it certainly is a vigorous clone -- I'm very impressed so far. For years, H. niger was such a dog in the nursery for me, but these German hybrids (and tissue-culture process) have been great. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| I agree!! 'Josef Lemper' and its cousins 'Jacob' and 'Joshua' are the only selections of niger I've encountered that don't promptly fall victim to botrytis in my area. I never carried H. niger in my nursery for that reason. This apparent disease resistance, combined with their early flowering, long bloom season and lots of upright, clear white flowers, make them winners in my book. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| Just to update you all on this beauty -- it's still blooming! So, technically it's been "in flower" for essentially four months now. Now that's a cool plant! I will try to post a pic. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| I looked Josef Lemper up, such a lovely helleborus. I've grown some hellebores from seed, this is the 1st year they have REALLY bloomed for me. Of course they are different colors, but so nice to see something blooming at this time of the year, isn't it? |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| H. niger is often a disappointment it seems in eastern US climates anyway, gets ravaged by winter. Having said that I have a stunning clump in bloom right now in my garden, it's a named selection though I lost the tag. Anybody know of any good wholesale sources for Josef Lemper? I would love one that might start blooming in the frequently mild late fall weather we have, or might make a good container plant for the greenhouse inclined to really bloom for Christmas. BTW, I know there is lots of hype about 'Potters Wheel', impostors are rampant. But one of the winters I went to England to see hellebores I did see a *giant* flowered niger (5" across) at Blackthorn nursery so labelled, growing in a container and positiviely sublime. And the same year I went back the first weekend in March and saw many 1000s of H. niger for sale at the wonderful nursery associated with RHS Wisley (my advice, probably don't go ye poor Yankees, ye will be SO overcome with unattainable plant lust you will bust a gut). And if you looked, the 'Potters Wheel' labelled plants were nice, but among the 1000s of others (it was really amazing how many there were) were a number of plants with 4" flowers...... There is just something really wonderful about a spectacular pure white niger in full bloom that no white H x hybridus can match..... |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| Gardengal, is botrytis why I lost H. lividus 'Pink Marble'? it seemed to rot away but was in a pot with nice Black Gold soil with lots of drain holes. It got sort of mushy. |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| Hellebores are susceptible to quite a few fungal infections. Botrytis is among them, so are crown and root rot, which are fungal infections sometimes associated with cultural conditions (Overwatering is one, so is a too-retentive medium, so is just plain bad luck...). Growing hellebores in containers is a tricky business, and I think you are sometimes going to lose good plants which look healthy for nothing that you did wrong at all. When the plant starts to unexplainably wilt leaves, lose flowering stems "get mushy", the problem is often crown or root rot. Unpot the plant, look at the roots, cut away any that look unhealthy (black is bad, healthy roots are tan-orange with white rootlets), repot in new medium or plant outside, drench with Cu sulfate and cross yer fingers....). |
RE: Helleborus blooming now already!?!
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| David, I have an excellent wholesale source for 'Josef Lemper' (and 'Jacob' and 'Joshua') but they do not do any mail order :-) You would have to come visit up here in the PNW.........and they do #1's only. BorS, IME, botrytis is less common on the strongly leatherleafed forms like lividus or argutifolius or many of the hybrids that include these species. That doesn't mean it can't happen but I think other fungal issues may be more common, as David notes. I have problems with potting mixes like Black Gold - I find they are just too moisture retentive, especially in our wet winters. The soil easily becomes saturated and no amount of drainage seems to help. Rots ensue......:-( I prefer a very barky, highly textured mix that is extremely fast draining. |
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