Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: chris on December 15, 2006, 08:44:14 PM
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Hi I'm back, just register aand now searching my way for start a new topic. Here the crossing from Helleborus niger x Helleborus orientalis start flowering mid november and I hope it will make new flowers another two months:
I hope you will see the pictures,
Chris Belgium
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Welcome to the new forum Chris please fill in the signature strip in your profile so everyone knows where you are.
Nice plant, I love plants that will flower both before, during and after the winter.
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Hi Chris,
I was wondering about you,long time no see in the forum.
The Hellebores you are showing here is again A Juwel of the Crown.
Hope to see it live sometime in the spring. :) :) :)the Hepaticas I brought home last spring are all in puuurfect condition.
Geebo, 8)
This Picture is one I grow from your seeds
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Great plants, Chris, showing class.
Love that raspberry flower, Geebo, from our Dutch speaking Belgian forumist! A good deep colour that isn't easy to get all over the flower, you see lots of ones that look sort of tie-dyed, they can be pretty, but I like this solid tone.
I like to find such flowers but Ian says we have no room for more Hellebores.... funny how he always has room for Erythroniums!
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Hi all,
thank you for your reply, Geebo I had a verry buzzy year, my mother was for a wile in a hospital and now I'm building a new alpinehouse, I do my best to show more pics, I think my crossing of H.niger double x H.tibetanus will flower in a few weeks, Maggy my Hellebores growing together with Erythroniums but space is here also a problem together with time.
I dint say anything about the new Forum sorry, Congratulations I like it verry much, I just have to find better my way,
Chris
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Hi Chris,
I am very much interested in to know what species were already crossed with Helleborus thibetanus (besides H. niger). Was there any success in hybridisation between thibetanus x orientalis?
Gerd
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Hi Chris !
Great to see you back in action - with some great things to get started.
Looking forward to see lots more.
:)
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Hi Maggy,
Glad you like the Hellebore pic,and I think you have just give it a name,I like to call raspberry if I may?Oh its easy to understand Ian about having no more Hellebores,but for me it is one of my adictions.And it easy run out of hand.
And yes Maureen and myself are looking out for a few Erytroniums in the future,we have some lined up for next spring.
Geebo. :) :) ;)
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This sounds good, Geebo, I can just see the Raspberry Hellebore growing with some lovely pink Erythronium revolutum.... Mind you, it will need to flower much later to make a show at the same time as them, or is the hellebore picture not from right now?
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Sorry did not reply sooner,you were right Maggi the helleborus is one of last year,so she will flower this time,around the time the erythronium get to flower,although there are lots of Helleborus orien showing bud,it looks promising.Got some nice plants from "Harvey`s last week,also Erythronium revolutum "Knightshayes pink".
Posting a few Pictures taking with my new camera.sure the will improve with time.
Geebo.
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More post
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Try to get them on one page !!??
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and last My first Betty Ranicar from seed.
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Geebo, I'll email you with instructions how to get more pix in one post. Easier to do that than try to explain here because if I do that I cannot wite the proper orders or the machine will go looking for photos that are not there!
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Geebo,
Outstanding hellebores. I particularly like the H. orientalis white - it's so hard to get a good clear clean white. Your last posting of H. 'Betty Ranicar' is a most unusual flower in a hellebore, an excellent plant.
Paddy
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Hi Paddy,
Yes the white Hell Or is one I brought from Belgium,from Koen van Poeck a wel know breeder,as you noted it is the best of the whites I have seen,also a strong growing plant,with large flowers,standing slightly upright.
Betty Ranicar,Came from Seed from "Jellito" only a two year old plant,it looks the plants come true from seed as promised.
Post here a "Red Upstart" Also from Koen,but not in flower yet.
Thanks Maggi for your valuable info,your a miller.
Geebo.
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The Red Upstart is a very good colour, Geebo. I'd be feeling pleased with myself to have such a plant for my collection.
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Hi Maggi,
Sure there wil be a chance to do something about that,as soon the plant is out of flower, will try to get a split. 8)
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Geebo, that is very kind of you, but I did not mean to suggest that. The plant is young, let it grow and get fat, like me,do not disturb it! In a year or two it will make good seed, then remember me! I am happy to wait for a little seed to see if i can have that colour.
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sorry Geebo but I think there is something wrong with your H.Betty Ranicar, normally you must have a good open flower maby you must take a picture a week later.
here there are a lot of plants ready to show there flowers we do not have any frost till now.
I sow you one normaly flowers in februari:
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Yes Chris the flower was not fully open, could not wait to get some pics with the new camera ;)
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Lots of hellebores are coming into flower right now.
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Geebo,
The two frilly whites are outstanding, exceptionally clean. Very attractive plants.
Are you growing these under cover? I ask because the weather here has been so miserable, gale-force winds and heavy rain and any hellebore growing outside here looks miserable.
Paddy
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Hoi,Paddy,
Glad you like the frilly`s then he,I grow them from seed 2004 as Betty Ranicar,bought from Jellito in Germany,I have the plants under cover,(polythene tunnel)a few of them are in flower right now as you can see.i realy like them a lot, but any of my hellebores give me lots of pleasure,I grow my collection outside in a semi shaded area were I also grow some woodlandplants,post the pics in there own time,I gues Im addicted to Hellebores,I have to admid it,then in general I love plants,and growing them.
I admire your pics also Paddy I gues the viburnum is heavenly sented.
I used to have Carlesii,but thats an other story. :-\
Cheers,
Geebo. :) ;)
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Geebo,
To flower, such excellent flowers, from seed sown in 2004 is very good and, no doubt, very satisfying. Perhaps, growing them in a tunnel gives them a longer growing season that plants growing outdoors and this gets them to flowering size quicker.
Whichever it is, well done on very well grown plants and such good flowers.
Paddy
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Here is a lovely hellebore that you don't often see and nor is it easy to acquire.If you see it for sale,BUY IT.I germinated seed 2yrs. ago but lost all of them after pricking out.HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE?
i forgot to mention that it is HELLEBORE THIBETANUS
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I have not grown thibetanus from seed yet, but a few years ago I received small
seedlings from a friend. I am not sure what happened to them. They are deciduous
and that makes it hard to keep track. All the other hellebore seedlings I grow are
evergreen, so I assume a leafless pot is empty, and dump it out.
I should have tied a ribbon around the pots.
I bought a mature plant last year from Thimble Farms http://thimblefarms.com/
and planted it in a bright red pot. It is blooming now, with three flowers open already.
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I forgot to post this with the last post and although not as uncommon as the previous one it is not as widwly grown as it should be.This plant has been in flower for at least 2 weeks and I took the picture today.
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Dam! I forgot to say that it is called nigercors and is a cross between niger and argutifolius (previously corsicus)
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Just a few pictures of some Helleborus flowering now.
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can anyone recognise this Galanthus
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More pics
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Hi,
I like the viola pedata, here the snow is melting, the Helleborus doing well this year, I grow a lot of H.thibetanus from seed and you have to be carefull, the first yearthe seedlings die in april-may, and you let the pots outsite just not drying out, I let my seedlings in the pots for 3 years and then I pot them up in 10cm square pots and if you have luck you find the first flowers 7years afther sowing, with H.torquatus 'Pluto' it is the same but for me one of most beautiful Hellebores,
H.'Slaty Blue is nice even before opening the flowers
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Lovely photos, Chris... and Happy Birthday!
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My wish for Your birthday came threw 8)
Plants flowering so that You could share the pics. Thank You and have a nice bithday and weekend.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Those are lovely, Chris. Pluto may be an ancestor of some of the hellebores with red veins and a thin red edge that I am growing. I wonder if there are any other colours that form the same pattern?
Do Slaty Blue's leaves remain dark?
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Again Chris a very happy Birthday from here,
Just post here a few more of your Hellebores grown from Your valuble seeds,and Yes I do like that Pluto Very much,think i have a few in bud who will be close,keep you to date on that,thanks for the lovely pics Chris.
Cheers,
Geebo :) :D
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thanks for the whishes,
it is verry buzzy here, we made already 63 crossings and planning a lot more, Diane most of the crosses with good veins are children from another torquatus, H.torq.'Strippy' I will show you when it flowers, it is a wild clone find by Will Mc Lewin, the brackts of H.'Slaty Blue remains dark, the new leaves are first dark but in summer they turn dark green.
I like to see plants from seed who looks verry good at the parents,Geebo thanks for showing them
here a good anemone flowering and a yellow with golden nectaries
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Hi Chris Great pictures and plants. Do you have any pictures of how you go about crossing hellebores it would be good if you could show these for example do you open pollinate or emasculate flowers?
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I too would be interested in how you do your crossing.Are the plants grown in the open ground or in pots?
I love the purple anemone centre.
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When you look on the internet, you will see a lot names for double
Helleborus × hybridus:
Helleborus orientalis Double Queen
Helleborus orientalis washfield double
Helleborus orientalis DOUBLE VISION
Helleborus Heronswood Double Strain
Helleborus × hybridus Party Dress Group
Helleborus × hybridus 'Harvington Double
Helleborus × hybridus 'Hidcote Double'
Helleborus × hybridus Homelea hybrids
Helleborus × hybridus Ashwood Garden hybrids, double-flowered
Etc.
Can anyone tell me more, are they all the same???????
Will somebody be so kind and tell me a bit more about this Helleborus Niger:
Helleborus niger 'Ras Buis'
An elderly friend keeps talking about this Niger, that this the best Niger around????
Please keep posting those nice pictures.
Henk Westerhof
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can anyone tell where my reply is gone?
I was posting at the same time that Henk was and something went wrong I guess, it was a long storry about my crosses with some pics attached
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Sorry that your reply has been lost, Chris. We would be so pleased if you would take the time to make it again, there is obviously a lot in interest int your hellebores.
More fine forms in these pix...delicious flowers!Love the picotee.
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Chris,
I lost a message too, so when I rewrote it, I copied it and put it on my desktop on a little program called a "sticky note". Then if it went missing again, I could just copy and paste without having to write it a third time. It didn't happen the second time, but I think from now on I will copy and save any long posts, just in case. Short notes like this one are easy to redo, but long ones can take a long time, particularly if you have to check your data and a few books to make sure all your information is correct.
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Love the pictures, my hellebores are only just coming into bud, no open flowers yet.
John, you asked about seedlings dying - I've had this too and reading my hellebore book, they suggest it's because the stems on small seedlings are very delicate and if touched while potting up, bruise, rot and thats it, plant gone. Since I saw that, I now leave my seedlings in a pot for at least 12-18 months and only split them up then. They are quite sturdy plants ans the stems are MUCH tougher and don't seem to bruise and rot at all.
this may help you
Sue
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Chris,
The picotee hellebores are particularly beautiful. Great photographs also.
Henk,
As with other plants, once they become popular it is financially attractive to breeders to put names on plants with little or no discernible differences. It makes money.
Paddy
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I was taught to handle seedlings only by their cotyledons, never by their stems, so I haven't had small seedlings dying from anything I've done. Instead, my seedlings of H. x hybridus were eaten by rats last year. They bit off the cotyledons, leaving the little stems sticking up. Most of these stems went on to produce proper leaves, much to my surprise. I now put hardware cloth (wire net) over newly-germinated seedlings.
My problem is with potted plants of x sternii backcrossed to lividus - sturdy looking two year old plants which break off at ground level. They have such a little stem to support a big plant which moves around in the wind, or when I move the pot. I use sterile potting mix, but I guess it could later be colonized by fungi and such.
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Chris - lovely pictures - very delicate markings on the picotee & the pink anenome form is quite a stunner
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Hi here my reply again, I'm not that good in english, my dictionary is beside me,
about my crossings:
I will show you some pictures I use when I give my lecture about Hellebores,just give me some time.
I started my collection about 28 years ago and hybridise 25 years, I have worked a lot with wild plants and plants growing from seed from Ashwood and Washfield.
Most of my plants are planted out in open ground, I pollinate the flower when she just opens, than the pollen of this flower arent ripe and it is easy to put pollen from another plant on the pistils. I do that 3 days with the same flower so I'm sure the pollination is done well,3 years later I see what I have done, for good plants you need 4-6 crossings.
Diane not H.'Pluto' but another H.torquatus 'Strippy' is the start of the beautiful veins in most of H.'Picotee', if it opens I show a picture.If you backcrossed to H.lividus that means you backcrossed with a tender plant who dont likes cold and wet weather,you must make good drainage for your pottingsoil.
I try to repot my seedlings as soon as possible (and if I have time) one week before I repot I give my seedlings a firteliser with a lot of fosfor (10-52-10) so the roots have a good start to grow.
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Great pictures everybody ! I'm quite impressed - so hard to choose the best form.
I had the pleasure to pay Chris a visit last week and to enjoy his achievements "live" - it was quite worthwhile :)!
If anyone were still in doubt : this man breathes knowledge about Hellebores, Hepatica, etc...
I hope I didn't make you blush Chris... ;D
By the way, I got home safely with my plants and have given them a safe (I hope) harbour.
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Luc, perhaps we should be organising another bus trip... in Belgium!! ;D ::) :D
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I think we could make it worth your while Maggi !
And apart from plants you might even be tempted by some of our chocolates :P or some of our unequalled beers :D
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Bier, chocolate, chips, Chris' plants, what more could any visitor ask for?
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Diane
One of the striped wild forms.
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Well... I could think of a few other things Maggi... ;D
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Luc, you will get me into trouble and you know I can do that well enough already!
Johan, what an extraordinary flower. Such rich colours and the substance of the petals looks very strong and thick.
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Johan - what an unusual flower, with that lovely veining
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Maggi, I was thinking of visiting Manneken Pis, Bruges and more such things.... or my Pleione collection... ;D surely this wouldn't get you in to trouble ???
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Luc, the beer chocolate and chips is more than enough trouble for me! Also, I feel the bus trip turning into a fortnight's holiday!
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I rest my case Maggi ;)
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Maggi,
this one showed up few days ago and is opening now
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As You can see Maggi,Belgium has a lot to offer he, 8)I have not seen so many beautiful Helleborus pictures,more posted everyday,Johan,Luc,Chris,its like the tree Belgium tenors for there Hellebores,wait and see next we find the hepatica`s and pleiones on time next,IHave to agree with You Luc a visit to chris is always worth the journey,Chris and Rita are such lovely people,great to know them.Always ready to share advice,his love for plants says it all.Thanks for your knowledge and sharing it Chris. :D
Cheers Geebo
:) :)
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Maggi,
this one showed up few days ago and is opening now
Beautiful!!
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Great plants Johan !
Thanks for the support Geebo !
Let me add a humble Helleborus orientalis of my own - not extraordinary, but I like it !
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thank you all for the lovely words. Yes Johan this is the wild H.torquatus I meant, I love the white with the dark centre, good to have you on this topic. Here a picture from H.'Sarastro',
selfcrossed give some good plants and the best (pic 2 + 3) I crossed with my best Yellow:
I have this warning again:
Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted. You may wish to review your post
but have made a copy from my reply, I try to post
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Sorry to repeat my question but I like to get some info on:
Helleborus niger 'Ras Buis'
An elderly friend keeps talking about this Niger, that this the best Niger around?
Please keep posting those nice pictures.
Henk Westerhof
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Hello Henk,
Maby this will help you to find out more,I remember reading about in some of my references,but can not find exactly were to go for,there are a lot of older bulletins of garden societys here
Just looked at google under "Helleborus niger Ras buis" a lot of info will be found. Hope you find out there what you be looking for
Cheers :)
Geebo
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Thanks Geebo,
I shall google a bit ont the Hellebrus. ;D
Henk
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Googling to find Ras Buis brings up a list of nurseries selling it, but I can't find any information about the actual plant. Last year I queried one of our local nurseries selling it (Thimble Farms) but could not get much information. Maybe someone in Europe is selling seeds to all these nurseries?
Perhaps it is like niger Potters Wheel that everyone thought they had, based on all the seeds of it donated to seed exchanges. I haven't noticed this so much anymore. This year's seedlist from the Scottish Rock Garden Society lists only niger, niger double and niger macranthus - no more Potters Wheel.
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These flowers are all super but Johan's 'white with dark center' shows the colour marking that both Ian and I find the most attractive in any flower we see it in. It was shown a page or two back, so I'll take the liberty of posting it again here, just because it is so perfect
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Sorry, I earlier said that this fab flower was one of Chris V.'s babies, when it is, of course, Johan Mens'
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I like that colour pattern too. I am sure it was developed to attract a pollinator. When I was in South Africa, I found that I was attracted to beetle-pollinated flowers. Imagine having the artistic sense of a beetle. I guess that's OK, though. I like beetles, too.
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Thanks all ! This plant dark centred white was a nice surprise. It is difficult to get this on pure white without getting into picotee.
I am now waiting for the pollen to ripen so I can play a bit with the combinations.
Chris, is that progeny from the Sarastro type division I gave you years ago ? And the yellow one a seedling or the parent? I am waiting for our new green dark centred generation to come into flower next years.
Some more of the centred type.
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Dear Johan, I am sorry, I attributed your wonderful dark centered white flower to Chris V. I have made a correction. Thanks to Chris Sanham for pointing out my mistake. I had been drooling over Chris V's green and yellows when I made the post and "lost the place", as we say!
Really, I am overwhelmed by the sumptuous flowers we are seeing on this thread. You chaps are all growing such fine forms that it is a joy to see your efforts here. thank you!
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Inspired by the pictures of the Belgian hellebores I thought I had better go and look at my own. Found this lovely stripped flower grown from a picottee parent, not quite up to belgium standards but not bad for around here. I particularly like the fact that the reverse is really dark and it is quite a surprise when you turn it over.
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Hi Chris,I post here some pics I would like to get some of your sound oppinion about the first two,The are growing out of the seed of your Torq Party dress,Was Pluto involved in the first one? the second has a velvety licht cream color and hold its color as it mature,I both like them a lot.
Next one of your pink veined with a dark center,and a bud of an apricot,slaty blue making his apearance.
And a few flowering today,Blue lady from jellito,with two from Ashwood Double white,and the last I dont know how to call (anemone Flow?)
Cheers,
Geebo
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Wel done Susan,that sure is on again to bring more addiction to the Hellebore clan,I often would like to keep them all.
And Maggi, the pic you post there from Johan its mouthwatering,keep sending them everyone,I be glued on my Monitor,dreaming for the next one
Cheers all,
Geebo
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Hello Henk and Diane,
There is one Nursery in the Uk who list Hell Niger "Ras Buis" www.bamboo-co.uk
There is a good reference book I use
The gardeners Guide to Growing Hellebores,
By Graham rice & Elisabeth Strangman.
Sorry could not find "Ras Buis" mentioned.I keep looking :-\
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Helleophiles you have been extremely busy in my absence. Keep up the good work.
Someone needs to start breeding miniatures so I can grow some but top of my hit list, of which I got a seedling - thanks Brian, is H. thibetanus
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hi all,
yes the flower of Johan is the best I ever seen. The H.Sarastro is the division you give to me Johan. Geebo, the first 2 have maby some torquatus blood but that's all I think, the others are good I think I wait until you show the apricot open,
Susan these veins in your flower are very nice I like them very much.
Here somethink I have heard 15 years ago of H.niger Ras Buis:It is a plant with a lot of pure white flowers, the plant has been forced in the Netherlands (Is this correct English?)YES<,M for flowering on Christmas,
probably a cross from H.niger'Preacox' x H.niger'Madame Fourcade',
Preacox is an early flowering form with large pure white rounded flowers with a green eye,
Madame Fourcade is a dwarf plant with large white flowers and a plant who was already offered in the 19th century, a very good potplant.
is it true I dont now but that I have heard from a old helleborusbreeder
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Stunning pix of what I think is more correctly H. thibetanus , "wiv an aitch" as one of the contestants of Celebrity Big Brother might have said! Are these in Maureen and Brian's garden, Mark? Ian said they were lovely and way ahead of ours, which are barely through the ground, even though we live only about three quarters of a mile away. It is a truly lovely plant.
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yes days ahead of yours and from Brian and Maureen's garden
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Keep it up, Susan, soon they'll make you an Honorary Belgian with flowers like yours!
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here one of my Ester collection: H.'Eveline'
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4 years ago I crossed a double H.niger with some variegated leaves and a pale form of H.thibetanus, here are two plants one with variegated leaves where you can see some of the thibetanus pink, the other with more or less the double form of the niger with some nectaries of the thibetanus
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you can see some of the thibetanus pink
Fabulous pink colour Chris - thank you for sharing
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Like everybody else I have been enjoying all of the hellebore photos. There are some fantastic plants being shown off in this thread. I would like to add a few photos of my own. These are all hybrids flowering now.
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Wow!! Those are some great plants....making me wish it was Hellebore season here, but we've got a couple months to go!
That dark one is particularly attractive Tim, appears black on my computer screen. A bed of it mixed with that green one would be nice!
Jim
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Some stunning doubles you thave there Tim. I haven't had much success with seedlings from my double but I have to admit I ljust et nature take her course. It might be worth trying harder when you can see what amazing results can be gained by careful selection and breeding.
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Fantastic pics! No wonder Hellebores have become a fashion statement!
Chris,
That double niger is lovely and should be an interesting line of breeding!
Keep up the good work.
cheers
fermi
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Just collected my annual fix of Hellebores from Aswoods. There are always more than I intended.
The darker reds blacks are in reality much deeper than shown I will experiment with a polarizer to see if that improves the accuracy of the colour, meanwhile do any of you expert photograhers out there have any suggestions?
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We can see where this week's housekeeping money has gone, Ian :D
Just as well that dry toast is good for you, don't suppose you can afford the beans?
Joking apart, it is easy to forget just how much time and effort go into producing plants like these and I believe that often the prices charged by nurserymen, especially for alpine plants, are not truely representative of the time invested to get us a plant ready to buy. Not always the case, of course, but often so.
Michael J. Campbell had posted some romulea pix here, I have moved them to the Flowering Now, Early February page. http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=230.new#new
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Maggi ssh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pam doesn't know ::)
But seriously I am raising some from seed as well and also have almost a full range of all the species so who knows I might raise a few gems myself given 15 /20 years (I should live so long)
You are right about the prices for plants it's a labour of love except for some of those snpwdrops where the prices for a bulb reflect the rareness not the time and effort - or even any difference for that matter sometimes. A well known grower told me of this theory he says that the ease of cultivation guide always appears against all plants in a nurseryman's catalogue. It's the price ;D
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the more I see the more I want some!!
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as you see the pictures from you Ian than there is no doubt that Ashwood is still the best nursery, Tim your plants are beautiful especialy the dard double.
here a few from me
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Chris you have some fabulous plants I particulary like the Apricot Anemone form.
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Chris, that black IS BLACK! Wonderful!
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Thank you Chris, I've been admiring your plants also. As nice as some hybrids are, I still (and always will have) a preference for species hellebores and as you also grow them, I thought you might be interested in these photos.
The first is a plant from very high up in the Velebit mountains, Croatia. I transferred the pollen from this plant to a pure white flowered hybrid. The second photo shows the result of that cross. It's nothing special by a long way, but it is interesting to see which characteristics pass across to the species x hybrid plant.
I might plant it out just to see how it stands up to hard frosts compared to the rest of the hybrids here, which are looking awful now that we've had a few very cold nights. Seed set will be affected here this year. The species parent in that cross is from a site that is so high up and that receives so much snow that flowering plants can been seen during late June and seed isn't ripe there until very late July/early August. As a comparison, I collect seed of all the other species in that part of the world in either late May or late June. It would be interesting if this hybrid proved to be a little more tough because of the pollen parent plant's origins.
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Tim, I am surprised at how pink the hybrid is - did all that colour come from the red rim on the Velebit wild flower?
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Hello Diane, I can't give you a definite answer as I don't know the history of the pure white flowered hybrid; whether it came from a line of pure whites, in which case the pink is from the wild plant, or whether the white flowered hybrid is from a line of pinks, in which case the pink colour could be influence from the hybrid. Either is possible. If I had thought more about it when I did the cross, I would have used a plant of true species orientalis with wild provenance. Then, if the pink was as visible as it is in my photo, we would know that it originates from the species plant.
It's perfectly reasonable to presume that it is from the species plant too; this plant is from an extremely variable colony (like most hellebores) and all sorts of flower colours and patterns can be seen there. As I'm sure you know, one can take 20 seeds from one wild species plant (of torquatus for example) sow it, and find that three or four years later the offspring are extremely variable; some will resemble the parent whilst other seedlings show no resemblance at all. It's perfectly reasonable to presume that the species plant in the photo has the capacity to produce offspring with more colour on the sepals than it has on its own sepals.
Here is another plant from a site close to, but at a lower altitude than the site mentioned in the post above. It has a very attractive dark rim which breaks into veins.
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Hello to all,
I enjoy all the picures and post for the last day`s as always,in the same time we have been planthunting again,this time to Altemont Gardens in county Carlow where the run a Galanthus week every february,the garden center attached to the garden has always some hellebores in stock from Ashwood,so you understand the temptation,it is imposible to go home empty handed,Ian we know the feeling he,the are pricy but we wont mention,was reading an article in the press were a lady has a Hellebore growing in there garden for around 100 years,so its a small price realy.
Chris here is the Apricot after opening up and showing the colors ??!!
I just love it,Your double is fab,Im loosing sleep over it,found a anemone flowering pink today,post it on later
Tim,Your post is very interesting to read,I also like the species,this year im doing some crossing with Odorus and Multifidus/mult,who knows what the end result will be.
Here my pics enjoy,
Cheers,
Geebo
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Geebo, I wish I sow that Apricot, I'm looking forward to your crossings with odorus, sometimes the result will be good yellows.
Tim beautiful plants, about that pink crossing here my opinion: I made also crossings with a lot of species an with Hibrids where I can go 5 generations back and it is strange that some caracteristics from the first plant shows up afther all these crossings, so I think that your hibrid was maby a crossing where pink was involved, I hope you do the crossing with a true orientalis specie,
here one of me:
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Very nice flowers Geebo and Chris. I agree with you Chris that Geebo may well end up with some nice yellows from crossing mult. mult. with odorus. The added advantage is that some nice foliage will also appear, mainly because of the finely divided foliage of mult. mult. Intermediate foliage would be very attractive, don't you think?
The development of attractive foliage appeals to me and I will be using H. abruzzicus in many of my crosses this year and in the future. Bringing finely divided foliage into the hybrid group will extend the season of interest, and H. abruzzicus has the added advantage of being a vigorous species.
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Geebo,
Fabulous flowers. I love the double picotee in particular.
HOWEVER, I think the chap in the garden centre at Altamont Gardens has the flower fashion well sussed out. He travels over to Ashwood to select and purchase hellebores, transports then back to Co. Carlow and can be sure of selling them - even at very high prices. You see this plant gathering is an illness which strikes us and we are helpless to resist.
Paddy
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Chris-your yellow is beautiful, absolutely beautiful
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See how we all have different tastes, even in one genera.
I go for Chris's black any day - though I quite like the yellow as well!
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here another three, the same yellow after 2 weeks, a double Picotee and another pink anemone flower
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Hello Chris,
The are just fab pictures again.and such beauties,Whow
Is there odorus involved in the first one ?
Geebo.
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hi Geebo,
no H.odorus but H.multifidus ssp.bocconei 4 crosses back
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Chris, does the foliage resemble bocconei, or has that quality been lost in the hybridising you've done since the original cross?
I don't particularly like double flowered hybrids (although I grow a lot of them because they sell well), but I can't find a lot wrong with your plant in the second photo. The veining makes it very attractive.
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Chris I just love Julie. What is the parentage?
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Beautiful pictures Chris !
Like Ian Mc I've also fallen in love with Julie ! What a beauty !
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Ian here the parents of 'Julie', and these parents came from:
the first is a cross from H.torq.'Dido' with a good red, the second is H.torq.double white x H.'Picotee'
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Chris
The parents of Julie is also pretty.
I love the dark one it is really special to my untrained eye.
Have You made them Yourself? Thanks for Your patience with all our questions.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Joakim, here the parents of the anemone flower,these two and also the anemone are verry small flowers +/- 3cm across, 'Jullie' is a medium size 5-6cm
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Chris thanks wonderful plants all of them
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Here is my H Ballardii. It was in the greenhouse but Ihave put t out on the terrace where we can see it better.
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Thanks Chris
It is amazing to follow the genes backwards.
It is very educational.
The pics and the flowers are very pretty.
To me it is imposible to guess how the parents would look when seeing the seedling. From the parents it is easier to see the seedling.
Maybe it is like for humans. If You see a child it is not always possible to know how the mother and father look but when You have all three there it is easy to see the resembelence.
Very nice to follow a plant in so many lines backwards.
Kind regards
Joakim
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A nice one Ian
Good to have it close to enjoy it better.
Joakim
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Ian,I bought an H.Ballardiae and an Eric Smithii last year in spring the were verry good plants and flowered for a long time,then the H Ballardiae slowly but surley give up,ending up with the sad looking remains of an expensive plant :'( .The H.Smitthii is very healthy and full of flowers for the last month ::)I wonder is Ballardiae a weaker of the two and difficult in cultivation ?
Thanks Chris for the Pics and sound advice on your breeding program.Will I ever get time enouf left to get such results,I keep trying :)
post a pic of H.Er Sm 05-01-07
Cheers,
Guy
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Geebo I have only had this plant just over 12 months and because it was a hybrid of Lividus I put it in a pot to protect it and it has done well - so far anyway. Though with some of these Niger hybrids they may be short lived particularly as most are grown by cell culture rather than as a result of hybridisation so I will have to wait and see. Also keeping this in a pot may not be really necessary since at the moment I have been growing my own Lividus seedlings in the scree which are surviving so far and as ballardii should be hardier than Lividus it might be OK outside in a sheltered and well drained spot - maybe a shaded part of my scree. I also have ericsmithii and nigericors and it is the latter that has done least well this year.
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just make new crosses every year, Geebo. Here another few
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Stunning!!!!!!
It is nice to see such good plants and not just the standards we get here in Sweden if we are luckey.
Great work and so pretty.
I get dream eyed here with a silly smile.
Thanks and keep up that work of making the heleborus a lot prettier and thereby the World a bit prettier 8)
Kind regards
Joakim
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Seeing all theese lovely plants at a time when my garden is covered in snow isn't healthy!
Having so many experienced Hellebore breeders around maybe someone can give me a hint as to what I can expect from my sowing. I have sown seed from two different seed exchangses of black flowered hybrids, presumably open pollinated. I hope the offspring will be on the dark side, but do I stand a fair chance to get some proper black flowered plants?
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Now some Austrian seedlings - nearly 2 months too early this year
Hans
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My hellebores are only just starting to look good and not up to .the standard of Chris and others but here are one or two anyway
Ashwood anemone centred.jpg
Ashwood primrose.jpg
Ashwood yellow.jpg
Own seedling.jpg
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Lovely pictures folks, here I go drooling again ;D
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Thanks for all the lovely pictures and advice of all,
Staale, I started with Hellebores 15 years ago and the litlle advice to give you,start off with a few good plants from good breeding and you will save yourselve a lot of time in waiting for extra years,mind you the are very adictive.Also the book on Hellebores,The Gardeners Guide to Growing Hellebores / by Graham Rice & Elisabeth Strangman.
Ian,incidently I found an article by Will Mclewin on Hell Hybr as Ballardiae/Ericsmithii/Nigercors he mention the influence of Niger in Ballardiae as a problem in groing the plant succesful,also mentian the habit of nigercors were the leaves are unsichtfull when the plant is in flower.I found my Ballardiae flowered itself to dead,post my Ericsmithii in the sunlight this morning and a few more seedlings apearing daily.
Chris you give me sleeples nights !!
Cheers,Guy
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........Also the book on Hellebores,The Gardeners Guide to Growing Hellebores / by Graham Rice & Elisabeth Strangman.........
Is available on www.abebooks.co.uk £5 plus £3.35 postage and package.
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Thanks for the tip David,if you see Brian Mathew`s Gardeners Guide to Hellebores for sale somewere give me a sign up he. ;)Please.
Cheers,
Guy.
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Are you sure you want it? It was listed at over $700 the last place I looked.
At that rate, it would be worth counterfeiting it.
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$700?! Wow, Diane, perhaps I'd better start to counterfeit my copy; I'd settle for $350 each :)
Geebo, copies occasionally pop up for sale in the UK for around £100-£130, give or take a few pounds. Mine came from a small, independent book shop. It's just a case of looking regularly on the internet.
There are some great photos in this thread now; I'm enjoying them all. Just wish I could get outside to take some photos myself.
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Geebo, I forgot to ask you about the contraptions you are using to hood you hellebores. Did you find these for sale somewhere (but perhaps they are used for something else), or did you make them yourself? They look as good and as effective as anything else I've seen before.
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Guy I have emailed you re the Brian Mathew book
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The SRGC library is planning to sell off some its duplicates, this book will probabally not be on the list but would be worth looking out for. I think it will be a while before Boyd ( the new librarian ) has everything sorted out. No doubt there will be details in one of the journals or website.
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Geebo, thanks for your advice. I guess I must plan a february trip to a couple of nurseries in England next winter. It's a lot easier with Hepatica, where I can always keep an eye open for nice forms when roaming about in the hills. Darned ice age (for leaving scandinavia without Helleborus and lots of other good stuff)!
Also interesting to see your covers for the plants. I have made similar arrangements for my best Hepatica plants, only most of them are in ground, so I put soil around the cover edges to make it tight between my visits with the brush.
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One from me amongst all these very special beauties !
Helleborus sternii Hawthorn strain
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Home made Tim,The are some of my Hellebores I have grown in large pots,the are most of my stockplants i self pollinate,and there is not always the time to tend them properly i found this idea,I use 4 canes and 4 cut lengts of waterpipe to fit over the top of the cane,cross over to make the hood,then get a lengt of white fleece and just tye on the top,no bees no flies no wind to polute my precious.The plants I use for crosspollination are under cover in the polytunnel,end try to pollinate before the pollen are ripe on the flower recieving the pollen,and find that satisfactory. :D
Hoi Luc,Vertel je eens wat meer,Sorry luc Im very interested to learn more about the lovely sternii you posted ?? ::)
No Maggy this is not welsh !! 8)
cheers,
Guy
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Hi Guy !
Groetjes vanuit nat Vlaanderen (again no Welsh Maggi... ;D)
Sorry but there's no fascinating story behind my H.x sternii - I'm not a Helleborus specialist like a lot of you guys - I'm a plain rock gardener interested in lots of stuff. ;D
I must have had it for over 15 years - bought from Noel Portier who you must know as well.
I produces quite good seedlings true to the mother - if you would be interested, let me know Guy, I'll be happy to send you some - or anybody else for that matter.
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More species hellebores are starting to show here now.
Photos 1 & 2 show H. hercegovinus from Montenegro.
Photo 3 is H. viridis from a site in northern Italy (this particular site is the locus classicus for H. viridis).
Photo 4 shows H. odorus from Hungary, close to the border with Croatia.
Photo 5 shows Bosnian H. torquatus flowering for the first time at 3 years old.
Photo 6 is of an unclassified species growing in the Velebit mountains, Croatia.
As above for photo 7.
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A very tiny Helleborus (4cm). Does anybody know the name?
Hans
from Austria
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I have never seen such a tiny hellebore! It is exquisite! I hope it makes seed !! ::)
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Does it have provenance, Hans?
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No, I have no provenance and I have never bought Hellebores. I have seen this Helleborus in my garden for the first time. I grow H. orientalis hybrids and many H. niger grow behind my house in the forest.
Hans
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Just found this website for Hellebore nuts great piccies etc
http://www.hellebores.org/helleborus/species.html
I should also have said some pictures from one of our forumists
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Ian, a very interesting Site, thanks for sharing
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Thanks Ian,
Its just what I was looking for,great info 8)
Cheers,
Guy
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A womderful Hellebore, but in the neighbour's garden and does not give seed.
Hans
from Austria
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Ooh, yes, that is a good one. Is it the neighbour or the plant who does not give seed? If the plant, then I would suggest repeated attempts at artificial pollination, it is worth it for this colour!
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It is the plant :(
Hans
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Hans, have you tried to pollinate this plant with the pollen from another hellebore? This can often work if a plant seems not to produce seed if pollinated with its own pollen. If this doesn't work, feed it heavily so that it bulks up and you can take a division as soon as possible :)
Would you be able to take a photo of the hellebore in your post dated February 25th when the growth has advanced? I would like to see the flower bracts and some young leaves if possible.
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Tim, 2 new photos of my very tiny Hellebore. The plant does not grow more, but show new flowers.
Hans
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That is a very nice Hellebore Hans! I hope you try to self it, or at least save the seed to see if it breeds true.
Jim
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Helleborus hybrid, double spotted
Helleborus "Party Dress" is from Chris.
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Hi Ewelina,
Beautiful Pictures of most lovely Hellebores,thanks for sending.
Here another one from Chris V.
Cheers
Guy
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Even when Chris V isn't posting his plants are all over the place... ;D
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:)Think its hard to beat them he Luc ;)
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:)Think its hard to beat them
Well, that is very true! :)
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Lovely to see a double Helleborus niger. I figured there were likely to be double variants somewhere, but had never seen them. Great pics everyone.
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Hello, Paul, great to have you back! I just knew you were going to love these double hellebores, have a good look around Chris Vermeire's website... the longing will knock you flat!