Regal strain of double flowered Hellebores from the O’Byrnes. The colors vary but many are light pink with a pronounced picotee on each row of petals. And there are many. The more substance to the flower the longer it remains showy and these already bloom from February to April. To 2′ x 2′ vigorous plants for rich, well drained soil and regular summer water.
Family: Ranunculaceae
Helleborus x ‘Golden Lotus’ Winter Jewels ®
Spectacular strain of hybrids with fully double flowers. They range in color from lime green to vibrant chartreuse/light yellow. Blooms appear in January and remain showy and effective for several months. The flower retaining their form after they have released their pollen. To 2′ x 2′ forming an expanding clump in part shade to shade in well composted garden soil. Light consistent summer water. Highly deer resistant. Evergreen.
Helleborus x ‘Golden Sunrise’ Winter Jewels ®
The more we grow Hellebores the more we can advise which are truly the most spectacular to grow. ‘Golden Sunrise’ is a strain that sports true luminous yellow flowers (often with extra markings on the inside). Large vigorous plants whose foliage takes on yellow tints in winter- part of the yellow flower coloration shining through. Don’t be alarmed. These yellow flowers show up from a much farther distance than any other. Easy to grow shade perennial for well composted soil and light but consistent summer moisture. Deer resistant.
Helleborus x ‘Jade Star’ Winter Jewels ®
Understated but beautiful strain of hybrids that have simple single flowers marked with jade green and brushed with maroon highlights. Finely divided leaves are handsome also. To 2′ x 2′ in rich, well composted soil in part shade to shade with regular summer irrigation. Completely deer resistant.
Helleborus x ‘Ruby Wine’ Winter Jewels ®
We’ve fallen in love with this richly colored strain of Hellebores. Vivid and intense true wine red flowers are effective both up close and at a distance. Paired with the maroon new growth and you get a good looking total perennial. Hellebores bloom non-stop from February to April The large flowers of this strain do not fade with age. To 2′ x 2′ for part shade and rich, well composted soil. Light but consistent summer water.
Helleborus x ‘White Pearl’ Winter Jewels ®
There is no doubt that white flowers show up the best from a distance and this is no different with Hellebores. This strain of variants on white has single to semi-double flowers often marked with dots of red or green. Elegant, fascinating flowers that remains showy for months. To 2′ x 2′ in part shade to shade in rich, well composted soil Regular summer water. High deer resistance.
Helleborus x sternii ‘Pewter Leaf’
There are so many Hellebores flooding the market these days that this really good variety has been sidestepped. Bad move. It has so many great attributes that we can’t help but offer it. Large divided evergreen thick leaves are a scintillating metallic pewter. The undersides of the leaves are soft red. Great combination. In winter simple cupped celadon green flowers pop out of the top and remain fresh and showy for many weeks. To 2′ x 2′ and completely evergreen. Produces multiple stems as the years pass on. Excellently adapted to our climate and dry shade specifically. Light summer water in average to rich soil. Full sun to part shade to shade. High deer resistance. Long lived sturdy and pretty.
Helleborus x sternii ‘Variegata’
The O’Byrnes gave us this strain of the variegated form of Helleborus x sternii. Inheriting cold tolerance from H. corsica and nifty, thick palmate leaves from the more tender H. lividus .The result is a tough plant with green cupped flowers stained rose on the outside of the bell. The flowers remain effective for several months. Not quite as long as the straight H. x sternii, but a relatively long time. A shrubby species with large evergreen leaves. They are heavily speckled with cream dots with an underside to the leaves and the stems tinted pink. The palmate leaves become large and arching. Full sun with more frequent irrigation to full shade with less. To 2′ x 2′. Deer and possibly rabbit resistant. The rough leaves resist weather. Site as you would for a small shrub. It is elegant with other woodlanders or can be grown with drought tolerant to low water plants even in full sun. Flower bend over enshrouded in a cup shape that protects the pollen from rain and the vagaries of winter weather. Blooms January with flowers effective for three months. Great, sophisticated but tough plant for rural areas. May be afflicted with aphids in late spring. Hose those off or do not look closely.
Nigella sativa
Wonderful multi-use hardy annual that we love for its flowers, seed heads, and edible seeds. Love-in-a-Mist is the common name in reference to the mostly dark blue flowers that are ensconced in a haze of fine green stems. This is a charming cut flower. Upon finishing the ovaries transform to a ballon shaped structure full of yummy black seeds. You can then detach that as a cut flower as well. The dried black seeds have a peppery taste and are excellent sprinkled on salads. Be sure to sprinkle them on the ground where next year’s crop will be. Truth is once you plant this it is pretty much as permanent as a perennial, so reliable and prolific a re-seeding plant. The ferny seedlings are easy to spot, move or dispatch. Let them flow through your perennial borders. They make a wonderful addition to a cutting garden. Best in rich, open, disturbed soil with supplemental H20 all the way until seed are produced- though not entirely necessary it produces larger plants- and there fore stems, flowers, and more seeds. Blooms June-July. Full sun to light shade. VERY EASY.
Ranunculus occidentalis
Western Buttercup is our own wonderful wildflower. This is the real thing and NOT the invasive Ranunculus ficaria or repens. Traditionally it occupies open Oregon Oak woodlands and meadows including vernally wet meadows. Though it handles winter inundation it is also adapted to upland situations and in every biome it goes quickly summer dormant. Rosettes of pretty pinked leaves elongate in bloom to an airy spray of bright yellow flowers. Intimately, the petals have a glossy sheen. And growing up in the country it was traditional to put a picked flower under your chin and the reflected color yellow revealed that indeed you did like butter. Great cut flower that peaks on May Day and has made many a wild flower bouquet with purple Oregon Iris and purple Dodecatheon hendersonii- Shooting stars. Pictured here with Common Camas Camassia quamash at the Camassia reserve in West Linn, Oregon. Blooms from mid-April to early June. Vast meadows of western Oregon still harbor this sweet short lived perennial. Adapted to heavy clay soils- reseeds when happy. Suitable for mowed meadows as long as it has gone to seed by the time you mow. Wait until June. Good competitor with invasives and absolutely integral to a Willamette Valley meadow. High deer resistance. Oregon native plant