The Score on Hellebore

                       This article appeared in The Landscaper in its original form

My youngest daughter asked me what I was doing with so many books open on the kitchen table. “I’m reading about the topic for my next column.” I replied.
 ”Oh, what are you writing about?” she asked.
 ”Hellebore,” I said.
 ”Mom! Don’t curse!” she said.
 
Frost nipped fingers and frozen toes aside, if you are patiently waiting for spring, keep your eyes peeled for one of the areas earliest blooming perennials. Helleborus is named from the Greek words helein –to injure, and bora- food, which tells you that it’s poisonous and doesn’t taste so good at all. Native to Europe and in the buttercup or Ranunculaceae Family, its leathery divided leaves are evergreen and deer proof making it a valuable landscape plant.
 
Helleborus niger or Christmas Rose blooms the earliest, with wide white flowers, perking up out of the soil searching for a winter challenge. Its foliage is a duller green than other Helleborus. Hardy to Zones 3-8.
 
Christmas Rose is quickly followed by Helleborus orientalis, or Lenten Rose, sprouting nodding flowers in a variety of colors ranging from dark wine to blush pink, to stark white with any combination of spotted hues in between. It grows from 15?-18? tall. Look for new cultivars of Hellebourus o. hybrids Immanence Series, from German breeder Josef Heuger who has over 30 years experience breeding Hellebores. The Immanence Series was bred for higher bud count; more compact plants with upright facing flowers, this series of  Lenten Rose will surely become a garden favorite.

Helleborus foetidus or Stinking Hellbore, is a taller species growing to 18?-24? tall. It has a regal display of light green cup-shaped nodding flowers that are malodorous. The flowers provide a nice contrast to the foliage. I haven’t had the pleasure, but the word foetidus means fetid or stinking and I’ll just take their word for it. H. f. ‘Wester Fisk’ is a popular variety, with a red tint to the stems.
 
Practice patience when growing Helleborus, they can be temperamental, and are slow to become established. If you’re not having any luck, re-site it. Plant your hellebore in part to full shade and deeply rich soil. Most prefer moist but well drained soil. A some what sheltered place will help to eliminate the leaf scorch that can sometime occur. Since it’s such an exceedingly early bloomer you’ll need to plant hellebore near the house or walkway where it can be appreciated.  We’ve had several confirmed reports of Hellebores blooming right through May; surely these stands of Hellebores are really, really happy.

 
Be sure to ring in the new season with Hellebore, it’s a heck of an un-boring plant

0 comments - Posted by Laura at 6:09 AM - Categories: Plant Profiles

The Landscape of Resolution

So, here were are at the end of February, and our New Year's Resolutions are to be implemented in a few short weeks. Yes the merry-go-round we call spring will be here in a few short weeks and there are those of us it seems who have already forgotten our new year's resolutions.
 
Here's a sampling of the few I've heard:
 
"I'm going to follow up every job with set periodic phone calls to gauge our customers satisfaction"
 
"I'm guaranteeing our work by returning to job sites for follow up inspections."
 
"Actually doing the basic soil testing we swear we are going to do on each new job site."
 
"I'm going to actually bill my clients the day I finish a job, instead of scurrying around a month later calling vendors for plant lists to sort out who got what."
 
Is 2010 the year we will actually  _____________ (fill in the blank.........bill, prune, divide, conquer) the way we promised ourselves we would? Are we spending enough time building a relationship with our clients? Are we educating them in the process?
 
If you're new year's resolution is as simple as mine: never ever again stick your thumb in molten-lava- right-out-of-the-oven-hot baked clams; then perhaps this spring will be a breeze for you. But if you've made a pact with yourself that you will follow up with clients or spend the extra buck to go back and prune then the application of that resolution comes from one simple action: Sacrifice.
 
The act of sacrifice is the way all resolutions come to fruition. You give something up to see another thing through to the end. So you get up earlier or stay out later each day so you can swing by a job site  and drop off a business card, that shows you are concerned follow-thru kinda guy, and then you go home and watch the end of Man vs. Food.
 
Or you take 15 mintues at the end of each day and call back every customer you visited last month to find out how the planting is getting along, or if they're interested in a walk-through the natty looking side yard just to go over some ideas that you are really excitied about, and then you go home and fix up the natty looking side yard at your house.

One year my new year's resolution was to actually water my own garden through one whole season. Every day. Actually water. I had to sign a blood oath to myself.......eeehhhh I won't tell you how it turned out.
 
Sacrifice 15 mintues each day for your resolution and don't ever stick your thumbs in molten-lava -hot baked clams and you'll escape second degree burns, and your customers will appreciate your diligence and tell their friends and neighbors about you.

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0 comments - Posted by Laura at 7:12 AM - Categories: Garden Smarty