Hellebore companions

Garden Forum » Hellebores in the Garden Forum » Hellebore companions « Previous    Next »

Author Message   Terryk  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 09:16 am EST :    What do you find to bloom reliably with your hellebores? I thought crocus 'cream beauty' would be in bloom with some, they came and went weeks ago. Galanthus is now going over and the hellebores are really at their peak. Muscari are not out yet, nor daffodils or the regular tulips. I have some of my hellebores in sun and some in part shade. I plan on transplanting some of the hellebores from the vegetable garden around young crab apple trees so they do not shade much at this point and are not in bloom yet. An 'arnold's promise' witch hazel has been in bloom and I thought of pairing them together but as of yesterday, the blooms are over on this. Any suggestions of what to team with these dark ones? Terryk - NY, Zone "6"   Gardenbug  Supporting Member Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 10:08 am EST :    I'm about to step outside to determine a home for 3 new hellebores too. My best suggestion has always been to plant them near the house entryways so as to see them! If I find the perfect spot, it is often so far away that I risk missing the blooms altogether. I don't mind planting them somewhere all mixed together and mixing later bloomers in with them. I have an area of mixed hellebores with martagon lilies growing along with. They bloom later on. It's a bit colder here than in your area, but does Jack Frost brunnera work for you? I also grow ferns, hostas, pulmonaria and some primula nearby. And clematis too of course. Gardenbug - Ontario, Zone "4/5"   Goswimmin  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 11:00 am EST :    I have several plants that I love to combine with my hellebores. One of the favorites is bleeding heart. Mary/Gainesville, GA where cold has returned! Goswimmin - Georgia, Zone "7b"   Goswimmin  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 11:18 am EST :    I have several plants that I love to combine with my hellebores. One of the favorites is bleeding heart. Mary/Gainesville, GA where cold has returned! Goswimmin - Georgia, Zone "7b"   Goswimmin  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 11:50 am EST :    Ajuga is a really nice perennial ground cover to have around hellebores. Even when their cheerful purple bloom is gone the purple leaves are a nice contrast. Mary Goswimmin - Georgia, Zone "7b"   Goswimmin  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 12:00 pm EST :    Another wildflower type of plant that comes up faithfully every year to join the aging hellebores is Scillia, Wood Hyacinth. They grow from little bulbs and are so very fresh looking in the spring. Mary Goswimmin - Georgia, Zone "7b"   Goswimmin  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 12:08 pm EST :    The last one, I promise! Celandine Poppy ( Wood Poppy) is a native and the pretty yellow flower seems to come up in different places very year. I like the way it looks next to everything. The picture of the Corydalis Lutea is not as clear as I wished. It also seems to travel in the garden. Mine will pop up flowers for most of the warm months. Mary Goswimmin - Georgia, Zone "7b"   Gardenbug  Supporting Member Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 01:58 pm EST :    OY! The wood poppies are EVERYWHERE at my place, impossible to remove...but their bright yellow is a treat I'll admit! I was also wondering if iris reticulata might not fit the bill. I like 'Cantab', a clear blue. On another note, I removed (with DH's help) some yellow foxgloves that spread everywhere and planted my hellebores. Nice to have that completed! Gardenbug - Ontario, Zone "4/5"   Terryk  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 02:32 pm EST :    Thanks Marie and Mary for all the suggestions. Scillia, Wood Hyacinth sounds interesting except I want it to be blooming with them. I'll have to research iris reticulata and see who that looks. I think the dark hellebores need something either white or yellow that at this point in time can take a sunnier location. The apple trees are only in a few years so they are very small. Terryk - NY, Zone "6"   Gardenfiend  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 03:05 pm EST :    Hellebores flower for such a long time you could accompany them with several different plants. Here they start with the snowdrops. Right now Corydalis solida are growing all through them (and pretty much everything in my garden). The combination looks nice. But once the Corydalis finish, they disappear, so it is good to have something that provides colour later, when the hellebores are just green leaves. I think I'll try the combination with bleeding heart. I've already copied Marie and planted a few Martagon lilies betwixt and between. The leaves are already there :-) Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"   Terryk  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 05:01 pm EST :    Thanks Mara for your thoughts also. Terryk - NY, Zone "6"   Zephirine  Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 10:51 pm EST :    Many of my hellebores are in partial (or not so partial) shade. I have evergreen ferns planted with them (polystichum 'Tsu Sinense' for instance), and then Cyclamen coum, and Anemone nemerosa or its cousin Anemone nemerosa x ranunculoides, which is a lovely pale yellow, starting to bloom now. I also have, in a more sunny position, together with "black" and yellow hellebores, Geranium 'Claudine Dupont':its spotted yellow foliage in spring fits very well with them! Other "foliage-geraniums" like G. phaeum 'Spring Time' or 'Connie Broe' also add a touch of colour as they emerge early. A small-size, yellow-coloured ivy, like 'Buttercup', crawling (and not invasive), would also enhance "black" hellebores. Hacquetia epipactis is also a very early bloomer you might try (but it is very small!). But my best suggestion, for a sure companion plant, would be Erica x darleyensis cultivars. They bloom for ages, and you can't miss the combination! They come in white ('White Perfection), pink ('George Rendall') and "red" ('Kramer's rot), and even one has a yellowish foliage with pink/mauve blooms ('Jack Brummage')... Zephirine - Rhone-Alpes, Zone "7B"   Zephirine  Posted on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 11:46 pm EST :    Zephirine - Rhone-Alpes, Zone "7B"   Gardenfiend  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 01:37 am EST :    Zephirine, that is very beautiful indeed! Have you been growing them together for many years? I wonder about matching the Erica's soil requirement with that of hellebores. Can the hellebores tolerate acid soil? I've been dosing my hellebores with lime for some years and they do seem to respond very well. Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"   Zephirine  Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 02:26 am EST :    My soil is not acidic at all, Mara... It is well fitted to hellebores, apparently. As for Erica x darleyensis, my provider (Joy Stadler) said they would tolerate limey soils better than what people usually think, and she seems right, as they have been planted for two years in my garden (including 2 winters), and seem to be prosperous! It's my only available experience, since the garden is so new... Zephirine - Rhone-Alpes, Zone "7B"   Terryk  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 05:13 am EST :    Zepherine, thank you for all your suggestions! Your Erica x darleyensis looks wonderful with it. I must go shopping. Mara, my soil is acidic and I have some of very large hellebores that I grew from seed which are about 4-5 years old. They don't seem to mind it. Terryk - NY, Zone "6"   Gardenbug  Supporting Member Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 05:34 am EST :    Wish I could grow Ericas here, but they don't like it at all. I've tried in various locations too...but never near the hellebores. Food for thought. Gardenbug - Ontario, Zone "4/5"   Gardenfiend  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 06:10 am EST :    Thank you everyone. My soil is neutral to limey and I've never planted ericas (on the whole they are not my favourite plants) - but I'll look out for darleyensis and give it a try. Your photo, Zeph, is irresistible. Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"   Galanthophile  Supporting Member My Favorite Photo My Garden Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 12:44 pm EST :    My hellebores flower with snowdrops and crocus to start then comes epimedium, brunnera, pulmonaria, iris reticulata, chionodoxa, fritillaria meleagris and dwarf narcissi. This is the pulmonaria Blue Ensign Galanthophile - Ann (Northern England), Zone "8"   Gardenbug  Supporting Member Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 12:53 pm EST :    Ann, my plants all flower at different times from yours...it's so interesting! For me it goes this way: hellebores, snowdrops, iris reticulata, chionodoxa, pulmonaria, erythronium, brunnera, epimedium, narcissus Thalia. The ferns fill out after that. Later the Martagon lilies appear. Hostas too. Gardenbug - Ontario, Zone "4/5"   Gardenfiend  Supporting Member My Weather My Garden Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 - 01:22 pm EST :