The Great Botanical Journey continues! Click here to see my visit to Mangrove Creek Flower Farm: https://youtu.be/jbSxq37pyfw
This time lets look at quick and easy ways of designing with one of my favourites: the heavenly Hellebore. Also known as the Lenten Rose, Winter Rose or Christmas Rose - whatever you call them, these plants are outstanding! The name Hellebore comes from the genus name Helleborus. Most of the Hellebores available are Helleborus orientalis or a hybrid Helleborus x hybridus.
Some interesting history: The hellebores were one of the first forms of biological warfare. In Ancient Greece, during the siege of Kirrha (595-585BC), also known as The First Sacred War, the Amphictyonic League of Delphi - an alliance of the other Greek states - used the toxic nature of Winter Roses to defeat the city of Kirrha, whose citizens had been terrorizing pilgrims on their journey to Delphi to worship Apollo.
An ally to the Amphictyonic League of Delphi, a doctor, Nebros (an ancestor of Hippocrates) suggested using the poison upon the discovery of the city’s major water pipe. The attackers poured a tincture of Helleborus roots, into the pipe, which soon left Kirrha’s citizens sick with diarrhea and vomiting, and unable to defend their city. The result was the destruction of Kirrha and all its citizens. The path to Delphi became safe once more for the Athenians.
And who knew - Roman author and naturalist Pliny wrote about the use of Christmas rose as early as in 1400 B.C. Ancients used Christmas rose medicinally and considered it to be a potential cure for a number of conditions - including insanity!
There aren’t many shade perennials that are evergreen and bloom. This is one of those perennials that sleep, creep, then leap! The first few years, the plant focuses on root growth, and if they are planted in a good location and have been given the right care, they take off and will happily offer up blooms for decades.
Older varieties of hellebores have nodding blooms that face downward. Breeding has been focused on the development of larger blooms, and blooms that face upward. What we see as flowers are actually the sepals of the bloom; the flowers themselves are inconspicuous.
I love this saying:
The Christmas Rose, the last flower of the year
Comes when the holly-berries glow & cheer.
When the pale snowdrop rises from the earth,
So white and spirit like a mid-Christmas mirth.
In the Christian tradition, a medieval nativity play tells of the origin of the flower. It is said that a young country girl who accompanied the Shepards when they visited Jesus in the stable, wept because she had no gift to offer the baby. An angel seeing her sorrow, led her from the stables, and on touching the cold earth a Christmas Rose appears. With joy, the girl was able to offer that flower as her token, and to this day, has become an emblem of the Nativity.
The blooms are generally shades of white, rose, purple, and green. Some varieties have spotted flowers, others are bicolor or streaked, and still others are double. Hellebore flowers can be up to 2 inches in diameter. You might have noticed that double flowers usually face downwards. This is a natural growth pattern to protect the blooms from rain, since the water sheds well off the downward facing blooms.
In the language of flowers they represent peace, serenity & tranquility & to some scandal and anxiety.
This truly beautiful flower really is stand-alone gorgeous, you can mix it in with other flowers of the season or display them own their own. When I was looking at them growing in their neat little rows, I immediately remember this design of my past. It simple and easy to put together and to me has an air of elegance that never fails to visually enhance any environment.
Things to gather –
- Oversized brandy balloon vase or even a round ceramic bowl would work well.
- Water to fill jar.
- Mixed heads of hellebores.
Thank you to Vania and Darryl at Mangrove Creek farm for your time is sharing what’s involved in growing these magnificent blooms! You can find Mangrove Creek at https://www.facebook.com/p/Mangrove-creek-flower-farm-100063906313346
and https://www.instagram.com/mangrove_creek
Also thankyou to New Zealand Bloom. They ship the blooms from here in NZ to a market near you.
https://www.nzbloom.com
https://www.instagram.com/newzealandbloom
http://www.facebook.com/astarsplace
Instagram: http://instagram.com/astarsplace
Go to http://www.astarsplace.com for more!
