What's blooming in the middle of winter?

You can buy them everywhere again at the moment: Christmas roses and snow roses. We love them! Every year they delight us with their wonderful flowers in the middle of winter, when the garden is otherwise dormant. In the past, there was hardly any choice, but nowadays you can't even make up your mind because of all the options.

They come in many different varieties, from a few centimetres to 40 cm tall, from completely white to greenish and pink to dark red. Like the spring roses, they belong to the hellebore genus(Helleborus). While Christmas roses and snow roses bloom in the winter, the Lenz roses (Helleborus orientalis) make their grand entrance in the spring.

They are not houseplants, it is too warm indoors! If you receive a plant as a gift, place it outdoors, otherwise the plant will die.

Today it is very difficult to distinguish between the different species. Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) start flowering around Christmas. Most snow rose species (also Helleborus niger, but species hybrids) bloom in winter when there is snow, sometimes for many months.

We bedding sisters have different varieties in our gardens, always planted in partial shade, preferably on chalky soil. We have quite loamy soil, but they still grow very well. They are particularly good for planting under hedges or trees. It gets quite shady under our fig tree in summer. However, as it gets its leaves late, this location is suitable for the Helleborus species.

Some flower from December to April and delight us just as much as the first insects in search of food. As they are heavy feeders, they should be given organic fertilizer twice a year. These plants delight us every year and grow very old - the vines can live up to 40 years. They reproduce by seed. Older canes can also be divided.

Have fun! Your bed sisters