Helleborus x hybridus Anemone-centred Yellow Guttatus

Helleborus x hybridus Anemone-centred Yellow Guttatus is a delightful variety of Christmas Rose with tender yellow anemone-like flowers speckled with purple. Its uniquely structured flowers feature a pretty collar in the same tone at their centre, a characteristic of this category. This Christmas rose blooms for several weeks in late winter, in the shade. It is a robust and hardy perennial, whose bright flowers will enliven the ground at the base of shrubs and highlight the layout of a north or east-facing pathway. Christmas roses also make beautiful blooming pots to brighten up the dreary days of winter.  

Native to Greece, Turkey, and the central and eastern Caucasus, Oriental Hellebore, sometimes called Lenten Rose, is a perennial plant from the buttercup family that readily hybridizes with other species to produce hybrids with very varied colours and forms. No variety names are given to these hybrids anymore; they are distinguished by their shape and colour characteristics. The Oriental Hellebore is a hardy plant that can withstand temperatures as low as -15°C (5°F), naturally growing in forests, thickets, and clearings up to 2,000 m (2,187 yards) in altitude. The guttatus subspecies has flowers speckled with purple or brown.

The Yellow Anemone Guttatus variety forms a compact and leafy clump, 40 cm (16in) in all directions composed of palmate, slightly toothed, dark green and shiny basal leaves. These are evergreen, 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) long and composed of 7 to 9 leaflets. They only live for 8 months and are regularly replaced by new leaves.

Between February and April, a bunch of single flowers, 4 to 5 cm (2in) in diameter, forms. These are cup-shaped and inclined, with a collar of petals at their centre, a characteristic of this group of hybrids. They are inclined downwards, allowing water to slide off like an umbrella to protect the heart from rotting. Hellebore is a bushy plant. It does not like to be moved once established, and young plants taking some time to flower. The seeds are sown by ants.

Use hellebores like elements of an ancient tapestry, mixing them with brightly coloured woodland plants. They are showcased planted near Pieris, small-sized rhododendrons, under conifers (especially in windy sites), surrounded by primroses, wood anemones, corydalis, dicentras, cardamines, or spring-flowering bulbs and snowdrops. You can also accompany them with ferns and shade-loving irises to create a beautiful contrast a little later in the season. They can be planted in groups near the entrance of the house in shaded areas, to enjoy their early flowering up close. They are suitable as cut flowers and in borders, edgings, or containers... Over time, Hellebore flowers do not fade like the majority of other flowers but dry out instead.

Each seed-sown hellebore has a unique flower colour, so slight colour variations may exist between two plants, which is normal and unavoidable. However, if the difference is too significant and detracts from the desired effect, we will refund or replace the affected plant.