Helleborus Madame Lemonnier

The Hellebore or Helleborus 'Madame Lemonnier' is a superb French creation. It is born from the unlikely union between the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, and the Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis. Combining the qualities of its parents, it offers a fantastic flowering that lasts 5 months, from autumn to spring. Its flowers have a colour that varies in intensity depending on the temperatures, from pink veined with white to dark purple. This robust and hardy perennial can be grown as a border plant and under shrubs, in mixed borders, and in pots. Easy to succeed in all regions, even in heavy and chalky soil, it will thrive in shade or indirect sun. Its flowers are very beautiful and precious in winter bouquets.

The hybridisation between the Helleborus niger and Helleborus orientalis seemed impossible until now. However, this crossbreeding has been successfully carried out at the Jardins de Bellevue in Beaumont-le-Hareng, Normandy, by Martine and Lucie Lemonnier. The result of their work is simply called Helleborus 'Madame Lemonnier', a herbaceous perennial with evergreen foliage belonging to the family of Ranunculaceae. Forming a tuft 30 cm (12in) high and spreading over at least 50 cm (20in), this variety stands out for the duration of its continuous flowering, which starts in November and ends in April. Its flowers produced abundantly, stand above beautiful glossy foliage, proudly showing their yellow stamen hearts. They measure more than 15cm (6in) in diameter and are composed of 5 rounded petals arranged in an open cup. The foliage consists of palmate basal leaves, slightly dentate, dark green and shiny. These are evergreen leaves 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) long, composed of 7 to 9 leaflets. They only live for 8 months and are regularly replaced by new leaves. The Hellebore does not like to be moved once established, with the young shoots taking a little time to flower. Ants sow the seeds.

Hellebores can be used as elements in an ancient tapestry by mixing them with undergrowth plants with brighter colours. They look great when planted near Pieris, small-sized rhododendrons, under conifers (especially in wind-exposed sites), and surrounded by primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentras, cardamines, or spring-flowering bulbs and snowdrops. You can also combine them with ferns and shade-loving irises to create a beautiful contrast later in the season. Planting them in groups, like a bouquet, near the entrance of the house, in shaded areas makes it possible to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable as cut flowers and can be planted in borders, edges, or flower beds. Unlike most other flowers, the flowers of Hellebores do not wither over time, but dry up.