Helleborus orientalis

Lenten Rose
Ranunculaceae
Evergreen, Perennials

HELLEBORUS

Distinctive, long-lived plants that add color to the garden for several months in winter and spring, hellebores are also appreciated for their attractive foliage. Each leaf consists of a long leafstalk ending in large, leathery leaflets grouped together like fingers on an outstretched hand. Flowers are usually shaped like cups or bells (those of Helleborus niger are saucer shaped), either outward facing or drooping; they consist of a ring of petal-like sepals ranging in color from white and green through pink and red to deep purple (rarely yellow). Flowers of all hellebores persist beyond the bloom periods listed, gradually turning green.

Helleborus orientalis

From Greece, Turkey, the Caucasus. Leaves have no obvious stems. Much like Helleborus niger in growth but more tolerant of warm-winter climates. Basal leaves with 5–11 sharply toothed leaflets; branched flowering stems to 1 ft. tall,with leaflike bracts at branching points. Blooms in late winter and spring; flowers are 2 to 4 in. wide, in colors including white, pink, purplish, cream, and greenish, often spotted with deep purple.