Plants: Helleborus 'SP Martha' - hellebore, Lenten rose

Hellebore (Lenten rose) is not a new plant to Czech and Slovak gardens. I remember those flowering stems that surprisingly pushed through the snow in late winter and I kept asking grandma how come that a plant can flower while there is still snow on the ground. These evergreen perennials are still very popular, mainly thanks to newly hybridized varieties with fantastic flowers. Spring Promise® series was developed and bred by Josef Heuger in Germany, and consists of very attractive varieties of large flowers of various shapes and colours.

Martha is a Spring Promise® series hellebore with double flowers. They are a combination of white and light green with somewhat wavy petals. They are large, 5-6 cm across and very early - they come out already in October and bloom until December. Leaves are leathery, mid green, palmately divided into 5 leaflets.

Hellebore likes heavy, evenly moist, neutral to alkaline, rich in humus soil in dappled shade or filtered sun. This hybrid will prefer at least half a day with direct sunlight. Fertilizing will increase flowering and help the leaves remain strong and nice throughout the winter. Grow it somewhere near your house entrance or close to the window you look out of frequently so that you can enjoy the plant when it starts flowering since at that time the weather outside is not yet ideal for walking around the garden. The flowers can cheer up a number of grey and dull days of late winter therefore thumbs up for hellebore! Hardy to min. -29°C (USDA zone 5).

Size/type: low perennial
Usual height: 0.3-0.4m
Usual width: 0.3-0.4m
Leaves: evergreen broadleaf
Colour of leaves: green
Flowers: showy
Colour of flowers: white, light green
Blooming time: october - december
Location: full to partial sun
Usda zone (lowest): 5 (down to -29°c)
Belongs to categories: perennials, winter blooms, evergreen broadleaf