Plants: Helleborus 'Winter Moonbeam' - Lenten rose, hellebore

Winter Moonbeam is an English variety of hellebore. It is sensational in many aspects offering striking foliage, beautiful flowers, and excellent hardiness. Its leathery leaves are very large, composed of 3-6 broadly elliptic leaflets. They are deep green with silvery-grey marbling and serrated margins. Stalks are purple red, same as the stems atop which appear flowers. They come out from warmer days of late winter into early spring. Their colour is a mixture of creamy white, pale green and soft pink, gradually changing to pale red as they mature. The centres are decorated with a green crown and white stamens.

Hellebore likes heavy, evenly moist, neutral to alkaline, rich in humus soil in dappled shade or filtered sun. This hybrid will prefer at least half a day with direct sunlight. Fertilizing will increase flowering and help the leaves remain strong and nice throughout the winter. Grow it somewhere near your house entrance or close to the window you look out of frequently so that you can enjoy the plant when it starts flowering since at that time the weather outside is not yet ideal for walking around the garden. The flowers can cheer up a number of grey and dull days of late winter therefore thumbs up for hellebore! Hardy to min. -27°C (USDA zone 5), possibly a few degrees lower.

Size/type: low perennial
Usual height: 0.2-0.3m
Usual width: 0.3-0.5m
Leaves: evergreen broadleaf
Colour of leaves: varigated, green a silver
Flowers: showy
Colour of flowers: cream, pink, light green
Blooming time: march - april
Location: full to partial sun
Usda zone (lowest): 5 (down to -29°c)
Belongs to categories: perennials, evergreen broadleaf, winter blooms