Growing Hellebores for the Flower Farmer
Hellebores are the first promise of the spring to come
I always am excited when I see the hellebores starting to bloom, because they are a sign that we are getting past the shortest days of the year and are making our way towards spring. They do bloom very early - far earlier than anything else - and can be enjoyed for a very long time when flowers in the garden are rare.
Personally, we love hellebores for just how elegant and structural they are - they seem like something supernatural, like some sort of alien flower that has come to sprout itself down here on the earth.
Their qualities are many. Lasting forever in the vase, a very clean and appealing look that is appreciated by floral designers and retail customers alike, coming in the most beautiful and elegant shades of color, their smooth and waxy petals and graceful form - what’s not to love? They are honestly one of our favorite flowers to grow and design with - but even when we just grew it in the garden we still enjoyed it immensely.
Even better is the fact that once established, hellebores are bulletproof plants to grow - requiring very little from us at all to the point where we almost neglect them aside from keeping them watered throughout the year. And yet they continue to bloom and greet us every year - how wonderful is that?
Hellebore getting ready to bloom
Growing Hellebores for the flower farmer
To grow hellebores for the flower farmer requires a multi-year approach. You can choose to either purchase hellebore plugs and grow them out, or successively plant more adult hellebores over the years. The plugs are more affordable as a whole - each plug costs a fraction of what the adult plant would cost - but of course they won’t flower for quite some time and you won’t be able to recoup your expenses quickly.
On the other hand, while you can immediately cut from an adult flowering hellebore (and make back your initial investment from the sales of its blooms) you won’t increase your crop that quickly if you’re just buying one or two plants at a time. I’ll admit, I have yet to meet a hellebore flower farmer - the majority of large collections of hellebores are owned by hobbyists - but if you wanted to have a go at it, it wouldn’t be a bad venture given that you could charge a good amount of money for hellebores per stem.
Personally, we find that the best (and easiest) way to propagate hellebores is to let them self seed and then move the seedlings that develop into new beds for them. Hellebores like our conditions, and will actually reseed very aggressively, so we just wait for the seedlings to start popping up and then move them to where we want them to go, and we’ve managed to start to grow our collection this way (although they are mostly mutt hybrids - see our details on breeding hellebores below)
Hellebores are slower growing - they take a couple years to start reaching their true potential, but once they do they are pretty tough, low maintenace drought tolerant and evergreen even throughout the winter. If you cut back their foliage, give them a little fertilizer or sidedressing of compost in spring, they will be pretty happy to continue to grow and bloom for you.
Breeding Hellebores
We grow a lot of random hybrids from seeds collected over the years, and they come in every color possible - white, green, black and a particularly lovely speckled purple that is by far my favorite.
To breed your own hellebores, use a paintbrush to collect pollen from the stamens of a plant and paint it onto the pistil of the other plant you’re wanting to breed it with. This is to ensure that they are pollinated - you can technically rely on the insects to do it for you, but this way you get a guarantee that they have been crossed.
Wait until the seedpods develop and swell - they will look like little green pods that look like little alien creations attached to the center of the flower, and will continue to grow and develop. The flower and a couple of the leaves will start to yellow and turn brown, cluing me in that the plant is putting energy into seed production. I personally prefer to cut them stems and bring them inside to continue to let them develop so I don’t lose the seeds!
The seedpods will eventually start to turn a brown and papery texture and it will start to open, at which point you’ll be able to see the black seeds inside. They are shiny and black, and are best sown right after they fall from the flower. Unlike some other plants, hellebore seeds are best sown fresh, with their germination decreasing as time goes on.
You can see the result of this as many hellebore prefer to seed around their base - which is usually how we let our hellebores propagate themselves. If on the other hand you want to sow them, get them into soil right away. Sowing the seeds into some regular potting compost or potting mix, they will take a little while to sprout but once they do they are relatively easy to take care of and grow on into little seedlings.
We were inspired to start growing hellebores from Max Gill’s many hybrids that he showcases on his IG- beautiful flowers that just take your breath away and make your plant lust rage out of control - so if you have the chance go and check out his Instagram!
