Kellie's Hellebores

Doris_J · Post by **Doris_J** » Jan 28, 2006 2:37 pm

More shots of the lovely Hellebores that I'm babysitting for Kellie.

These are ones that her husband John selected as his favorites.

Doris_J · Post by **Doris_J** » Jan 28, 2006 2:39 pm

Some of my favorites. Look at the breeding potential here! Ohohohohohohohohohohohhohohohohohoh, baby Helleboressssss!

Doris_J · Post by **Doris_J** » Jan 28, 2006 2:41 pm

Are those your nectaries, or are you just happy to see me?

Doris_J · Post by **Doris_J** » Jan 28, 2006 7:00 pm

More...

KellieD · Post by **KellieD** » Jan 29, 2006 1:27 am

So, does anybody believe that she'll actually give these back to me??

I'm starting to wonder........!!

JoshS · Post by **JoshS** » Jan 29, 2006 12:58 pm

Love those doubles!! Are they Heronwood's?

pauhaus · Post by **pauhaus** » Jan 29, 2006 5:01 pm

Wow, those are just outstanding. Really, really nice.
I'm drooling over here...

Doris_J · Post by **Doris_J** » Jan 29, 2006 5:10 pm

Yes, they are Heronswood's (Kellie used to work there), and aren't they gorgeous?

kHT · Post by **kHT** » Jan 29, 2006 8:16 pm

Kellie, I don't know if you are going to get those back. Doris are you playing with them? You have some breath taking ones there.

insam · Post by **insam** » Jan 30, 2006 3:47 am

Those are all wonderful! The pink double kellhell.20 is particularly impressive. That form and density on doubles isn't common. Beautiful!

KellieD · Post by **KellieD** » Jan 30, 2006 11:37 am

Come he)) or high water I'm getting them back, KHT. Of course, she may make me divide them first..........

KellieD · Post by **KellieD** » Jan 30, 2006 11:39 am

Did I mention that she is babysitting only my very best ones?? I was shocked when we counted and it turned out to be EIGHTY of them!!!!!!!

kHT · Post by **kHT** » Jan 30, 2006 12:22 pm

EIGHTY of them!!!!!!! You counted them all, Doris EIGHTY of them!!!!!!! Are they in pots in the ground or just planted?

That's still a lot of diggin'!

insam · Post by **insam** » Jan 31, 2006 12:57 am

Kellie and Doris. Don't waste any more time before you start a breeding program! Honestly, you have a great start there if you have interest in such things. You can be the next Ballard and Strangman. Of course just letting them procreate on their own will make some beauties too and is far less work.

Just make sure you let me buy some seedlings for cheap since I gave you the idea. heehee I have grown many hundreds of plants and usually only a small pecentage are keepers. Love the photos.

Jealous Joseph

Doris_J · Post by **Doris_J** » Jan 31, 2006 9:24 am

All of Kellie's Hellebores are in the ground. I think it's been a year and a half now, hasn't it, Kellie? I've got plenty of babies cropping up.

KellieD · Post by **KellieD** » Jan 31, 2006 11:34 am

Yup, a year and a half. I'll be so embarrased if it reaches the two year mark!

doublemom2 · Post by **doublemom2** » Feb 01, 2006 10:04 pm

Um, did I mention that I live a lot closer to Doris than Kellie does? And I know where she lives, so I could, well, ummm... do a midnight raid??? Yeah, that sounds good!!!!

Andi
(very big grin !)

impatience · Post by **impatience** » Feb 01, 2006 11:41 pm

Kellie, do you have suggestions for ordering any of the plants? I really like John's favorites-every one of them that Doris posted are magnificient! Wow.

I looked at Heronswood website, but which are which? I assume the doubles, but is there anything specific? Is this one of those things that one needs to pick out at the nursery? Lucky you for getting to work there.

Thanks for your help.

PNWJudy · Post by **PNWJudy** » Feb 02, 2006 1:54 am

And, *I* live even closer than Andi. . .
Hmm, lets see, only a year and a half--ah, Kellie, you can wait a while, what's the hurry?
Now let's see, last year's babies might just bloom next year.
Yeah, that the ticket,-- Kellie, you can pick up yours next year. I'm sure 'Doris' won't mind.

insam · Post by **insam** » Feb 02, 2006 10:04 pm

Impatience, the plants I have from Heronswood are good and they are from mail order. But it is always best to hand-select plants if you have the chance. Kellie's are certainly not typical, especially in the details. A few other sources are good as well. To give you an example, I went to a well-known grower and out of many thousands of blooming plants I could only find a couple of dozen that I really felt like I wanted. But it also depends on taste and how picky one is.

For those new to hellebores or with an open mind, any plant from Heronswood would be great. The quality overall is quite good. There is also Northwest Garden Nursery which is outstanding but does not currently mail order. For those within driving distance, Pine Knot in Virginia will offer some of the O'Byrne plants this year, a rare opportunity for those on the East coast.

The artistic photos we see so often are also not necessarily representative of what they will look like when moved to other places. The sepals in hellebore flowers are very sensitive to environmental factors. Petals or nectaries are far more consistent.