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Two Ferns and a Hellebore in the Circle Garden - Page 3

© Marge Talt

 This clump grows in almost total shade once the trees and shrubs have leafed out. They will take more sun, especially in cooler climates than mine. In another part of my garden I have H. foetidus 'Wester Flisk' that gets quite a bit of late afternoon sun and is flourishing as well as growing in almost total shade quite happily.

 Given a mild winter, my clump has started flowering as early as late December, but more generally starts in late January. Flowers remain until May, when seeds are set. After seed is dispersed (or I remember to gather it), I cut back the old stems. New leaves will have already started to open. Most leaves will remain nice until the plant is in flower, but I try to go around and remove those that have browned off or gotten otherwise disfigured. This keeps the plant tidy and helps to avoid the one problem they are sometimes subject to - black spot caused by the fungus Coniothyrium hellebori. If you see any black spots on the leaves of your plants, cut off the leaves and destroy immediately. Some plants and some gardens are more prone to this problem than others. So far, (knock on wood) I have been lucky to avoid it.

 The hybrids of H. orientalis can have flowers (the petals are actually sepals) in colors from white to yellow, pinks and deep purples and smokey blues. Incredible colors. Of course, many of these are quite expensive, if the can be found at all in the U.S. They are more readily available in the UK.

 Oh, and last, but not least, deer don't eat hellebores!

 Next time, I'll tell you about some more denizens of the Circle Garden. See ya' later.

More Information

• David Nicholls' excellent site, "Ferns of the Canberra Region", contains a page, About Ferns, with superior information as well as excellent photographs of spore, illustrations of fern life-cycle and more. This site should be one of your bookmarks, if you are interested in ferns - no matter where in the world you are. He has information, links to other fern sites and excellent photographs of ferns found in his region.

• What's in a Name? Anatomy of a Fern, by Ann Herrington, on the Southwestern Fern Society site, explains the names for the parts of a fern so that you can make sense of what you read about them.

The copyright of the article Two Ferns and a Hellebore in the Circle Garden - Page 3 in Shade Gardening is owned by Marge Talt. Permission to republish Two Ferns and a Hellebore in the Circle Garden - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.