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Q : A perennial with exquisite light - green flowers and a big price tag catch my eye at a local nursery , but then I saw that it was mark “ stinking hellebore ” and heard another shopper say it ’s notoriously hard to transfer . Is it really deserving the hassle - and what about that smell?-Denise Hendricks , Colts Neck , N.J.
A : Despite this plant ’s malodorous name , do n’t release up your nose : Helleborus foetidusprovides some ofwinter gardening’sgreatest pleasures . Yes , if you crush its leaves or shoot the stems , they let go of a ( moderately ) social station , grassy smell , butI’ve never caught a whiff of anything even faintly foul when weed aroundH. foetidusor snipping its flower stalks for arrangement indoors . draw close in a semishady part of the garden , preferably in sight of a windowpane , this frigid - weather friend puts outcheerful chartreuse blossoms throughout the winter , and the glossy evergreen plant leafage are handsome . For my money , this is the biggest and best of allhellebores . Mature works are a statuesque 2 infantry tall and blossom an amazingly long clip : From the moment when light green bud clusters take up to unfurl , around Thanksgiving , the show get better every week , well into spring . I leave the faded flower still hunt in place a few weeks longer , until the seed harvest ripens in early summer .
Established hellebore in the garden are indeed difficult to graft successfully , but container - originate plants and young seedlings are easy . If you desire to meet seed from a garden plant , watch its seminal fluid capsules closely for the first signs of John M. Browning and splitting . Once a capsule spread out , the colored , oval seed can shed out in a matter of hour . Plant them right after you collect them , since hellebore seeds mislay viability if they are put in dry . It ’s better to scatter them in flats or in a baby’s room bed within a week after gathering them . Seeds will start out to sprout late the follow wintertime . The plants grow slowly and typically take three summers to pass on flowering size , which is one reason baby’s room - prove hellebores are pricey . ( H. foetidusis virtually impossible to part , so seed is the only way of life to increase stock . ) This is a stout , widely adaptable works . It boom inzones 5 to 9 , ask only some shade from the bright summertime sunlight and well - drained soil ( alkaline soils are fine , but so are vitriolic soil rich in constitutional matter ) . Drought - tolerant , H. foetidusis also one of the finest perennials fordry shade . A very similar species that is better adapted to milder winters is the Corsican hellebore , H. argutifolius . Typically , individual plants of both metal money subsist only five or six years , but with several generations of seedlings waiting in the wings , you ’ll never be without switch .
