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Community Corner

Late Winter Treasures

Lenten rose flowers appear in late winter or early spring, a time when few flowers are in the garden.

Strolling through Historic Norcross this time of year, one can see the nodding heads of hellebores in many of the older gardens.  Hellebores are more commonly referred to as Lenten rose. 

Lenten rose flowers appear in late winter or early spring (usually during Lent, as the name suggests), at a time when there are few flowers in the garden.  Lenten roses are drought tolerant and have few, if any, insect or disease pests.  Deer avoid eating them, which is a real advantage as the deer population has grown in Norcross over the past several years. 

Plants can form clumps that are 12 to 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide.  The long-lasting blooms range from white to maroon and may be attractively speckled or veined.  Nurseries are selecting for specific colors and forms and propagating them so gardeners can have a wider selection of varieties.  There are even Lenten roses with double flowers available now.  Lenten roses can be found in nurseries across Georgia.  Piccadilly Farm of Bishop, Ga., even has a Hellebore Days celebration every spring to highlight this useful perennial.

The best place to buy hellebores is during the Norcross Garden Club’s plant sale, which will occur this year on April 28.  The club sells helleborres as passalong plants that are dug from members' gardens.  They offer them at very affordable prices. 

Lenten roses perform their best in the shade of deciduous trees.  They like well-drained soil, and benefit from mixing compost or some organic material into the planting hole.  The broad evergreen foliage of the Lenten rose works well in combination with hosta, daffodil, crocus, toad lily, rhodea, epimedium, scilla, Christmas fern, autumn fern, leucojum, grassy acorus and heuchera.

This is the perfect time to look for areas in your garden that could use the evergreen structure that Lenten rose provides. 

Julie Foster is co-owner of Gardens By Design LLC which specializes in landscape design and consultation.  Visit their website at www.gardens-bydesign.com for information regarding their services.

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