New plants at Crocus including lots of hellebores this week.

Helleborus × hybridus Harvington double white – this is a lovely white flowering helebore.This is a fully hardy plant that like a heavy, neutral to alkaline soil. It flowers from February to April so planting now will give it time to get established for next year. It’s a great plant to have in the border especially as it likes partial shade – a useful plant for the shady patches in your garden. Eventual Height: is only 60cm and it will make good ground cover underneath trees or larger shrubs. When planting out you can incorporate plenty of well-rotted leaf mould into the soil – showing that it likes living underneath trees!

Helleborus × hybridus Harvington picotee is a pink vein white petalled plant. It’s even smaller than the double white with an eventual height: of only 45cm. This pink flowering plant will give you flowers from February to April.

Helleborus × hybridus ‘Harvington Shades of the Night’ is an amazingly dark flower which is dark purple to almost blue-black. A stunning plant with a small spread of only 45cm again, but fully hardy and like partial shade. If you’re looking for dark flowers then this is one to add to the border!

Helleborus × hybridus Harvington red is a much more cheerful colour flower, An even smaller height of only eventual height: 30cm

Helllebores are an irritant if consumed, so many not safe for a garden where young children might accidentally pick them, but they are stunning flowers and are valuable as shade loving ground cover for the garden where their early flowers are a welcome site towards the end of winter!