Last week, author Kate Forsyth and I were having a little tweet exchange on the magic that is the winter-flowering hellebore, so I thought I’d share some of the photos, together with a little more information, here as well.

A mix of red and deep pink colours…

I always refer to all hellebores as “winter roses”, but in fact that’s not correct. There are two main types: “Helleborus niger” (black hellebore), the actual ‘winter rose’ (aka ‘Christmas rose’), and “Helleborus orientalis”, which is traditionally called the ‘Lenten Rose.’

The green flower is Kate Forsyth’s favourite 🙂

As you’ve probably guessed, one flowers earlier than the other, but they’re both associated with winter and late winter/early spring.

These wonderful, almost-purple flowers look “niger” but are probably “orientalis.”

To be honest, I’m not quite sure what varieties I have now, since they were planted many years ago and the tags have been lost, but I suspect a mix judging by the range of colours and time of flowering. Mine started six weeks back, so definitely mid winter, but are going all out now, which is feeling like early spring.

This one *may* be Helleborus niger, but canna be certain…

Apparently the “niger” in “Helleborus niger” refers to the roots, which are black, rather than the flowers, which grade between white and blush pink.

“Helleborus orientalis” is actually the one with the deep pink to purple flowers.

Getting the view from below again, which shows the colours more vividly.

It’s also worth noting that they’re not a rose at all, but part of the Ranunculaceae family.

This one’s shy…

And don’t eat ’em: the hellebore’s leaves, stems and roots are poisonous to humans if consumed.

They are, however, totally gorgeous imho and add great winter interest to the garden, especially since are long flowering.

It’s not all hellebores though: this winter flowering japonica is also cool. 🙂