Lenten Rose for Winter Interest

Once we get past Christmas, I always start thinking about spring gardening again. I know it is very early to do that in January, but the seed catalogs start coming in the mail and I get excited for the growing season. One plant that blooms very early and could be added to your gardens is one called Helleborus, or more commonly, Lenten Rose.

Lenten Rose

Lenten Rose is a perennial plant that has evergreen leaves. It grows up to 15-18 inches in height and spread and will colonize in good growing conditions. The leaves are deeply serrate into 7-9 segments, but are not truly compound even though they look like palmately compound leaves. Helleborus blooms at the end of February into March, even blooming through the snow, and the blooms last until June. The flowers are cupped, 4 inches wide and vary in color including white or cream, yellow, burgundy, purple, or even black. There is also a green flowering variety, which I really like because it is so unique.

Varieties

There are many different species and varieties of Lenten Rose available to the homeowner. The most widely known species of Helleborus, would be the Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger, which blooms white. There is also one called Stinking Hellebore, or Helleborus foetidus, which has light green flowers with a purple tip to the petals, it can smell unpleasant. There are also many other types of Lenten Rose hybrids to choose from for additional characteristics and colors or the many varieties as well.

Where to Plant

Lenten Rose grows in part to full shade with moist, well-drained soils. It is a great plant to be used as an understory plant around trees. It is one of few plants that can actually tolerate deep shade, or 2 hours or less of no direct sunlight or those areas of dappled sunlight that many other plants wouldn’t survive in. However, if you don’t have that much shade, it will also survive in light shade, just don’t plant it in full sunlight on the hot, south or west side of the house and it should grow fine. It is a nice plant to use for an evergreen appearance to your landscape and it gives you early spring flowers. Helleborus is also very tolerant of frost, once established, and is very drought tolerant. 

Problems

All parts of Helleborus are poisonous via ingestion and skin irritation from the sap. The toxicity occurs when large quantities are eaten and the skin irritation is minor that lasts only a short while, according to NC State University Cooperative Extension. Just be careful when working with it if you are concerned about the toxicity and plant it in a location where pets and children cannot access it. The name Helleborus, in Greek means ‘helein’ = to injure and ‘bora’=food, which indicates the toxicity levels if consumed, according to NC Cooperative Extension with NC State University.

Lenten Rose, or Helleborus, is a beautiful plant found in many different colors. It is a great plant to use in any landscape for early spring color to your gardens, mainly in the shade or understory locations around your trees and shrubs. It’s a good addition to color up an otherwise dull winter landscape. You can purchase it this spring and plant it for winter interest next year, check your seed catalogs for all the color choices.

If you have any further questions please contact Nicole Stoner at (402) 223-1384, nstoner2@unl.edu, visit the Gage County Extension website at www.gage.unl.edu, or like my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NicoleStonerHorticulture and follow me on twitter @Nikki_Stoner 

Nicole Stoner
Extension Educator
Gage County
January 2023