Description
Helleborus argutifolius, also known as the holly-leaved or Corsican Hellebore, has to be one of our favourite hellebores to grow. The flowers, which emerge on top of stems in clusters from late-winter, have an understated elegance that combines beautifully with the strong architectural foliage. They go on for ever – well into spring – before gracefully fading from the bright creamy yellow colour they emerge as into a pale green, just as the bright colours of early flowering perennials and late-flowering bulbs begin to decorate the garden. The neatly-serrated evergreen foliage looks good all year round in our experience – a little unusually for hellebores – and makes a great foil in summer for the main performance in the garden.
These established, garden-ready plants have been grown at our nursery in Cornwall in peat-free compost and are supplied in three-litre containers. They will grow to an ultimate height of about a metre high in the right conditions with a similar spread where happy.
Growing Advice
Holly-leaved hellebores are native to the Mediterranean, and as such are adapted to brighter conditions than many of our native hellebores. That said we’ve found they do well in sun or shade, as long as they are not allowed to completely dry out in summer or sit in boggy conditions in winter – give them well-drained, humus rich soils (think mountain-side woodlands). They’ll also grow in containers – though share with other hellebores a long tap root and a dislike of root disturbance, so give them plenty of room to breathe.
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