In addition to working with my favorite experts at Marders and Fowler’s garden centers in the Hamptons, I also learn lots of tips for my garden online, especially from Monrovia.com.  Many of my plants and flowers are grown on Monrovia farms, and their website gives great insight on how to care for them. Check out this recent feature on Hellebores which is really the only blooming plant in March in the Hamptons.

After a long, hard, cold, snowy, icy winter, what’s more welcome a sight than the first hellebores of the season!This trio are from the Winter Jewels series, which are hardy zones 4 – 8.  No garden is complete without a few of spring’s first bloomers, the hellebores. Just when you think the snow, rain, or gloom of winter will never end, up they come in late winter or early spring, depending on how cold your winters get.

Hardy and easy to grow Helleborus are the kinds of perennials that you’ll never regret investing in. Plant them now and in a few years, you can expect your mature hellebore to produce 50 or more flowers each season. That’s a lot of joy for a plant that takes so little space, blooms in shade, requires meager care, and did we mention deer don’t typically munch on them?

There are many different kinds of hellebores (Helleborus argutifolius, Helleborus foetidus, Helleborus lividus, Helleborus orientalis, Helleborus niger, Helleborus purpurascens, Helleborus viridis, etc). Find more about how to grow and enjoy them here. 

*Helleborus photos and tips originally by Kate Karam via Monrovia.com