Helleborus niger is a winter floral marvel that adds charm and elegance to the garden
What are Christmas roses? Well, they’re not really roses and they don’t usually flower at Christmas! Christmas roses – or Helleborus niger – are hardy perennial plants, with showy five petalled, white winter flowers up to 7cm across with golden stamens in the centre. They look a little like the flowers of a hedgerow rose but on a larger scale. In some varieties the flowers are tinted pink while others feature additional petals, creating a double or semi-double flower.
A BIT ABOUT THESE SEASONAL BEAUTIES
Unlike most hellebores, whose flowers tend to hang down and face the ground at least partially, the flowers of the Christmas rose usually face sideways, showing themselves off far more effectively.
The dark, leathery evergreen leaves and the upright stems carrying those clean white flowers emerge separately from the crown of the plant, the flowers usually opening from January until April. Often, the leaves grow a little taller than the flowers, hiding them from view, but that’s an easy problem to solve – simply snip them off as the flower buds emerge.
Christmas roses grow wild in the Alps of Europe, where the flower buds often emerge through the snow at the first signs of spring. Snow rose is probably a more suitable common name, but I don’t think people are going to change now! As you might guess from their origins, Christmas roses will take our very coldest winters, although they can be a little fussy about where they grow.
There are some famous old names, for example ‘Potter’s Wheel’ and ‘White Magic’, but they’ve mostly deteriorated. Stick with more recent introductions, which are more prolific, more reliable and easier to grow – and worth every penny of their slightly higher price. Go on, splash out!
WHY ARE THEY CALLED CHRISTMAS ROSES?
These winter-flowering perennials usually start to flower outside after Christmas. Victorian gardeners used to coax plants into earlier blooming by covering individual plants with elegant, bell-shaped glass cloches. Modern plastic versions are generally less attractive but do a similar job.
But perhaps the main reason they’re known as Christmas roses is that, in mainland Europe, they were once forced into early flowering in greenhouses, then exported to Britain for the holiday season. Now, plant breeders have developed varieties that flower naturally not only at Christmas but even as early as November – without the need for a cloche.
CHRISTMAS ROSES IN THE GREENHOUSE
Once you have a Christmas rose established in a pot, moving it into an unheated greenhouse in October or November will hel
