The Beautiful Perennial You Can Add To Your Garden For Color Interest In Winter

Winter can be a dreary time of year, and while evergreens can always add dashes of green to your garden, sometimes you want a bit more color and interest. This is where hellebores come in. These stunning plants don't just boast evergreen leaves — they also have colorful flowers that bloom in winter or very early spring. It's not often that you can find flowers that bloom in February. Hellebores aren't just colorful early bloomers, though. They're also long-lasting and can stay on the plant for up to two months. 

There are many species of hellebore, though only a few are popular for gardens and landscapes. One of the most common hellebores is the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) which is hardy in zones 3 through 8 and often blooms as early as December. Hybrid hellebores, also sometimes called Lenten roses, are also a popular choice. These are hardy in zones 4 through 9 and often bloom a bit later in the winter. Neither species grows taller than a foot and a half tall. Depending on the specific cultivar, you can find hellebores with blooms that range from purples and reds to creams, greens, and even nearly black. Darker cultivars could be amazing additions to a striking goth garden. A variety of speckled and variegated flowers are also available. 

Hellebores are perfect additions to gardens that receive half shade and half sun. They thrive in fertile soil and require good drainage, though they are not overly picky about their soil's pH. They tend to be widely available as young plants in garden centers and online retailers, though they can also be grown from seeds if you're willing to wait a few years for them to mature. If you've struggled with deer or rabbits nibbling away your landscaping, hellebores can be the solution, as they are quite poisonous and therefore rarely bothered by wildlife.

Because of their relatively short height, hellebores are perfect for planting in front of evergreen shrubs like euonymus and holly which thrive in similar conditions. You can even treat them as ground cover plants, allowing them to slowly fill in empty spots in your garden and deter weeds and erosion. They do well in pots too, letting you create interesting and colorful container gardens, even during winter months.