Seven Reasons to Grow Hellebores

March 24th, 2008

Have you grown hellebores yet?

I have long been a big fan of hellebores. I planted ours about four years ago. They were a bit slow to get established, which apparently is not altogether unusual. Then last year–their third year–they took off. This year they are really making a show of themselves. I tidied mine up yesterday and thought I would do a little show and tell. But now I can’t resist a bit of hellebores boosterism too. So if you haven’t yet added some to your garden, let me offer seven reasons why you should.

1. Hellebores can be grown in a variety of locations. They are most famously known as shade plants. That is true. They do grow nicely in the shade, as you can see from the hellebores on the north side of our house. But they are very flexible plants and will bloom very nicely, thank you very much, in partly sunny areas as well.

2. Hellebores bloom very early. Here in Maryland they bloom in February–long before the forsythia and daffodils make an appearance–and last well into summer.

3. Hellebores are green all year long. Unlike some perennials, such as irises, that get unsightly after the blooms are spent, hellebores keep up their appearance even in the coldest and hottest months of the year.

4. Hellebores require little care. Once you have established hellebores in a well-prepared bed, the only maintenance required is trimming off the old foliage in February or late winter or when they become scraggly. Divide them in the spring to ensure good ventilation.

5. Although not the boldest colors in the garden, hellebores come in a variety of colors, from white to pink to deep purple to green.

6. Hellebores have relatively few pests and diseases. Although no plant is invulnerable to attack, hellebores are amazingly hardy.

7. Once established, hellebores are drought tolerant. And if you lived through the drought last summer like I did, you know there are lots of other plants that are much more finicky about their water than hellebores.

Are you convinced yet? And if you have them, how are you hellebores?

Posted In: Flowers, Gardening

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My Field of Dreams

February 22nd, 2008

Behind our house and beyond the garden is a messy field that needs attention.

It’s about three-quarters of an acre that used to be in hay production until the farmer who tends the rest of our field decided that I should mow it instead of him farming it. (Thanks for that.)

My husband would love to see a huge swath of neatly mown green grass. I haven’t yet convinced him that traditional lawns should be a relic of the past. The chemicals that must be dumped on them to keep them as pristine as he likes are bad for the environment, as are the emissions of my riding lawn mower.

The other option is just to let is grow scraggly grass. As ugly as that is, it’s very good for the environment and as a habitat for the wildlife.

A more manicured idea is to make it a wildflower meadow. But those don’t just pop up from seed and look picturesque without some serious seeding and tilling.

If I’m going to go to all that trouble, why not make it my own field of dreams? A lavender field of dreams!

Have you ever been around lavender in bloom? The scent is intoxicating! Heavenly! I grew lavender for a couple of years as the border in my herb beds before I had to tear them out to install the raised beds. As the lavender bloomed, the bumblebees would be everywhere, working slowly and peacefully around the lavender blooms.

Before they faded altogether, I cut bunches of lavender to place around the house and lined my drawers with the blossoms. I even made a pound cake with lavender scented water and lined the baking pans with the lavender blooms.

Then, there’s lavender sugar, lavender lemonade, lavender ice cream…

Lavender farms seem to abound judging from a Google search. Most of the farms at the top of the Google listings seem to be small artisan enterprises that also produce their own products. Well, forget that. There’s no time.

I wonder if there’s a market for pick-your-own lavender farms? Nope. I don’t want all those people down here invading my privacy.

Let’s see…Maybe I can grow it for some large-scale producer? Probably not. They would want me to meet some quality control standards or obey other rules. I’m not good at rules.

Perhaps…nah. Not that either.

Maybe I’ll just make some lavender borders for now…And get a lavender colored chair so I can sit and watch the bumblebees at work. And those lavender fields will just have to remain my field of dreams. At least for now.

About those Survey Results…

Have you cast your vote for how you would spend the $10,000 Donald Trump is going to give you? It’s interesting that so many people are choosing hardscaping. And although I made my case for nice garden seating, as of this writing no one has chosen furniture!

Posted In: Flowers, Gardening

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