Hellebores

After the landscaper finished the new stone pathway to the front door, I asked for a small raised bed in front of the porch. He brought a pallet of mossy stones and some topsoil mixed with compost. When he was finished, a neighbor remarked that the bed looked as if it had always been there. A fine compliment to his work.

This planting area is sheltered between the porch and a stand of mature trees. Dry shade is a challenge here. In other parts of my garden, I have solved dry shade conditions by using spring wildflowers like mayapple and columbine, or false Solomons seal and woodland aster. In the most challenging areas, only vines like Virginia creeper or crossvine can survive. These are all native plants, as has been my focus for many years.

That was before I bought my first hellebore. Two years ago I attended the winter open house at a local mail order nursery. I was tempted by aHeronswood hybrid in pink. The next year, I bought a yellow one. Then friends gave me seedlings they had dug from their yards.

I confess, I love this plant. The foliage stays fresh and green, even in the heat and humidity of our NC summers. And in late January, when the holidays are over and winter seems long, dark and cold, the hellebores begin to bloom. I check them every day, as they can be easily seen through the living room window.

I wish hellebores were native. I searched the internet to see if they were valuable to wildlife. The only websites that made that claim were from England, where Helleborus foetidus is said to be native. I also read that many other hellebores originated in the Balkans as did my grandparents many years before.

Then yesterday I was sitting on our front porch admiring the hellebores, when a hover fly landed at my feet. It surveyed the hellebore flowers and flew off again. Are hellebores useless beauties or winter pollen providers? When I see seedlings, I'll know.