The Sparkle Hellebores

Great mix of price, performance, and durability for planting en masse in the landscape. Often used in public parks, corporate plazas, and other public venues, it’s one of the first upwardly-facing Hellebores and a cultivar that kick-started serious commercial interest in the category. ‘Ivory Prince’ defines what a good Hellebore should do, and it has become an excellent introduction for people new to the genus.

Plants are similar in habit to ‘Ivory Prince’ but ‘Candy Love’s’ flowers display colors differently. They move through a broad range of shades from cream to pink to full red and green, sometimes overlapping. It’s a common Hellebore effect, but ‘Candy Love’ is highly saturated.

‘Snow Love’ cycles through colors the same way ‘Candy Love’ does but the palette is more muted, going through many stages from white to green. Once green, the bloom is muted no more. It’s the color of the brightest shamrock on the emerald hillside along Achill Island, off the coast of County Mayo in the West of Ireland. What it does, it does very well.

A European Hellebore with a very unique look to both the flowers and the plant, it’s popular among the enthusiasts of the category. Subtle, bell-style flowers have a greenish tint with red staining along the edges of the petals. Though not especially dramatic it’s visually very different. A tough plant that likes the shade. Then there’s the scent.

A different kettle of fish, ‘Mont Blanc’ blooms in early December without programming. With light control it blooms into the Lenten season as long as the weather is temperate. The snowy white is ideal for Christmas and Easter sales. In Southern gardens, blooms appear in late fall through early spring. Where snow is heavy enough, plants go dormant, then restart when warm days begin to appear among the frosty ones.

Just like that famous box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. In this case, whatever you get is bound to be colorful and dramatic. A wide assortment of tints and hues are available from the Pine Knot series, each one unique and brightly painted. This mix always sells well when the plants go into bloom.

A strong niger chassis and a powerful pink in a world of whites. Tough stems hold the upward facing flowers firmly in place in the garden. Bloom rate is very high in the first year after vernalization, and as the flowers age the pink becomes darker. Plants prefer more sun than shade.

This snowdrop style of Hellebore has a quirky habit: the blooms open extra early in the landscape, around the same time as the daffodils. It’s a go-to for providing early-rising pollinators with a hearty breakfast to open up the season. A planting of ‘Winterbells’ comes across with a lily-of-the-valley vibe, but bigger and more dense. Plants bloom all winter in moderate climates.