I recently dug and potted twenty hellebores for the local high school horticulture department to sell at their spring plant sale. All are two year seedlings, I think, probably another year before flowering. I could have dug dozens more, but I like to keep a few to fill in blank spots in the shaded part of the garden that is bordered by forest.

There are hundreds more smaller seedlings, with many to be weeded out so older hellebores don’t become too crowded. I usually find someone willing to take a few seedlings, but the plant sale is a worthy cause and a way for me to get rid of some of the four inch pots I’ve accumulated. I also potted a handful of rohdea (Rohdea japonica), and I might dig a few more if the hort teacher thinks they can sell. I suspect both hellebores and rohdea are a little out of the ordinary for the plant sale, but I have lots of both, so someone will get a good deal on a good plant.

The garden is far past the point where variations in flower color from new hellebore introductions are needed. Finally, there are several yellows that join the purples, whites, almost greens, nearly reds, and doubles. I’m often tempted seeing a new variety, but I enjoy the oldtimers and seedlings equally, so the price for newcomers discourages the purchase. Plus, where would another be planted? Shoehorned into a back corner?

In any case, the first of the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger, above) types has been flowering for the past week. I think I’ve had a flower or two by late November a few times, so it’s not a surprise, but this year, there are more, and flowers appear larger. Probably not, but I’m happy to have the start of hellebore flowering that could be uninterrupted through mid-March, though occasionally, the early ones fade by the second week of January with a gap of a week or two until hybrids come into flower.

If you’re wondering, typically, I don’t remove the somewhat evergreen leaves of hellebores unless they’re damaged by freezes. Most flowers are visible through the foliage, and with many newer ones, the flowers rise above the leaves. I like to see as much green as possible through the winter months, but if you don’t, the leaves can be cut back any time until early in the new year. If you cut later, as I sometimes do following a severe freeze to remove crispy brown leaves, care must be taken to avoid chopping the emerging flowers.

Also, I recently potted a bunch of tiny Japanese maple seedlings. I usually weed these out since there are many dozens, but maybe there’ll be something of value to someone. It’ll probably take another year, and as I’m messing with this, I’ve also harvested seed from several of the less common maples. I expect growing maples from seed will be an utter failure. I don’t dependably keep up with watering, so I’m rarely successful with growing from seed. But possibly, with an end user in mind, I’ll become more focused.