Helleborus foetidus question

[Chris_W]

Hi there,

We just received some seedlings of Helleborus foetidus and I noticed that the foliage is growing at the top of an elongated stem, well above the roots, on all of them. At Hosta College Arrowhead Alpines was selling some that also had these long stems coming out of the soil too, and at the time I thought they were planted too high, but now am wondering if that's just how this particular species grows? Anyone know if I should do something special when planting them, like planting deeper, or do they just get leggy in time?

Thanks for any info

Chris

[Chris_W]

Well, I searched for more info again, and found that individual stems tend to not have leaves at the base, so I should just plant them normal with lots of bare stem out of the ground. The search also finds that after flowering, individual stems often die off but if trimmed back you can get new growth from the base. Individual plants may be short lived but self-sow even faster than other forms.

Guess I answered my own question

[Tigger]

Yeah. I have a sort of "like/hate" relationship with this plant, where Stephen has a "love/meh" relationship. Some plants die young, others do the leggy thing, and they leave lots of babies (which may take several years to bloom). But that bloom, starting here in mid-December, is nice to see. We'll hope it colonizes behind the prettier hellebores (which are making quite a show already this year).

We've also tried the gold-leafed form, and killed it twice in different locations. Very hard to get the moisture right, apparently, as it will rot if you look at it funny or wither if you look at it funny from the other side.

David

[kHT]

I agree with David and glad you found the answer to your question. This one is totally different!