Northern Shade Gardening

Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ (‘Ivory Prince’ hellebore) has a super combination of traits, with attractive flowers, great looking leaves, attractive red stems, a long flowering time, evergreen leaves, and surprising hardiness. Although hellebores are not always considered hardy on the prairies, I’ve found ‘Ivory Prince to be very hardy, down to -40º C (-40º F).

One of my favourite parts of this hellebore are the giant rose pink buds that appear so early in the spring. The ice and snow will be melting at the edge of the leaves, and then the fat buds will start to rise up. Even before they open, they are very appealing, and add instant colour to the left over fall leaves.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' showing true flower

The flowers themselves are the small clusters in the middle, while what look like petals are the large decorative bracts around them. It’s the bracts that stay on the plants for so long. In my northern garden, they often stay on right until fall, fading to yellow and looking very much like real flowers.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' with cream pink and green flowers

What’s especially good about the flowers on this particular hellebore, is that they face upwards and outwards, so they can be admired easily. The petals are a combination of cream, green and pink, set off against the dark green leaves.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' with little Chionodoxa

My plants have been slowly expanding in this tough spot, and now make a good sized clump. The photo above shows about three of the group. Not many perennials are happy  growing 60 cm (a few feet) away from a willow trunk, but the hellebores don’t complain. They get an hour or two of direct early light morning light, with the the sun low in the sky. After that they get a bit of dappled light that filters through the willow leaves.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' flower closeup

All of my ‘Ivory Prince’ have survived three zone 3 winters with no problems. We do get good snow coverage, which helps to insulate them. I also leave the fall leaves over the plants for additional protection, removing the fallen willow leaves in spring. It’s possible that they wouldn’t do as well on the wind swept open prairie, but they are very hardy in an enclosed garden.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' with spring bulbs behind

To the south of this group are some spring bulbs. You can see the Puschkinia (striped squills) and Chionodoxa (glory of the snow) in the background.  This clump of hellebores have expanded, so the little Chionodoxa mingle right at the edges now. The red stems are visible in the shot above, making a good contrast with the green leaves.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' just opening

This is a flashback to when the ‘Ivory Prince’ flowers were first opening, with lots of buds still showing pink on the outside, and a little Chionodoxa flower in the bottom left. The leaves are about 20 cm (8 in) tall and the flowers are around 25 cm (10 in) in height. The plants are up to 60 cm (24 in) wide.

Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’ is a particularly charming hellebore, with all of its parts being highly decorative. From the moment the snow melts to show the evergreen leaves, it takes centre stage, continuing to look good through the summer and fall. There are more pictures and information about this hellebore in this post from last year.

We’ve had a number of frosts down to -7º C (20º F). Far too chilly for most plants, but the perennial that keeps flowering is Campanula rotundifolia (harebells). The pretty blue bells are suspended from thin flower stalks, looking ethereal and graceful. Although they appear too delicate for the weather, they are actually extremely hardy flowers. The snow was thick and heavy before it melted, and I’m surprised they didn’t get flattened like other plants in the garden.

Campanula rotundifolia harebells in snow

You can see in the photo above that after the recent snow, I’ve grown slack with my deadheading. However the Campanula rotundifolia continue to bloom, and actually have a fair number of flowers. Perhaps I will be tromping out in my boots this winter, and brushing the snow aside in order to keep deadheading the spent flowers. ;) They are doing their best, and I don’t want to let them down. These hardy perennials have been in bloom since June, with those pretty petals that flare gracefully at the bottom. This link shows how the harebells look in summer.

An honourable mention goes to Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ for faking it by keeping the flowers bracts for so long. ‘Ivory Prince’ tried to convince me that you don’t need petals, stamens or a pistil to be considered a flower. I threw in bonus points for it having started flowering last April, but it still came in second place. Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmation bellflower) is another runner up for hardiest flower, but it doesn’t have as many blooms as in previous years.

Campanula rotundifolia flowering in late fall

There are many foliage plants that still have great looking leaves, but very few perennials want to keep flowering at the end of the season once they’ve been snowed on, and when the temperatures drop so low. I have a lot of respect for Campanula rotundifolia, and its willingness to continue flowering for so long. Now excuse me while I do some deadheading, if my fingers don’t go numb. What is the hardiest flower in your garden?

Campanula rotundifolia harebells closeup

Helleborus and Brunnera in fall leaves

As the fall temperatures bring down the perennials in the garden one by one, I’m enjoying the plants that are evergreen, or at least keep their leaves until the deeper frosts. Here is a garden border that still looks good at the end of October. The Helleborus will keep its foliage until spring, but the Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian bugloss) will lose its leaves when we have colder weather. We had our first frosts back in mid-September, so the stoic Brunnera have provided long interest in the garden. I took the above photo this weekend, just before the snow hit.

In the picture above, the Brunnera macrophylla ‘Looking Glass’ plants are at the front of the photo in a light-toned silver colour. In the middle are the wonderful leaves of Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’, which just keep going year round.  Then at the back of the picture are the etched leaves of Brunnera macrophlla ‘Jack Frost’. The ferns on the right of the shot have mostly died back now.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' with flowers in October

The Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ foliage is still in pristine condition, preserving its dark green with a slightly marbled effect. On the upper left of the picture, you can see some have even retained the yellow flower bracts since April. If you can count them as a flower, then these are definitely my longest blooming perennials. :) I wonder if they will still be on when the new flowers emerge next April? Because we have good snow coverage in winter, the Helleborus leaves are still in good shape in spring, with just a few that need tidying up.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' leaf detail in October

‘Jack Frost’ is a most photogenic plant. Above is a closeup of  a ‘Jack Frost’ leaf, showing the fabulous patterns created by the green veins running through the light silver leaf. The stained glass effect created by the green and silver is fascinating on an individual leaf, and very showy on a group of plants. These Brunnera have conserved their leaves through a number of frosts down to -4º C (25º F).

Brunnera macrophylla 'Looking Glass' in October

‘Looking Glass’ has a more overall silver colour, with much narrower green lines through the leaf, and a green rim. The silver grey colour reflects a lot of light, so it stands out in the shadowy areas. As your eyes follow along a shady garden bed, they stop to rest on the brightness of  ‘Looking Glass’.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' and Brunnera macrophylla 'Looking Glass' in fall

Here is a nice contrast between the dark green hellebore leaves and the light-toned Brunnera leaves. This is another Helleborus that still has kept some of the yellow flower bracts from six months ago. All of these perennials are planted at the base of a willow tree, and thrive in this location.

As many perennials retreat underground to survive the winter, those that keep their leaves through the first frosts are invaluable in the late fall garden. Tonight the temperatures are supposed to drop to -10º C (14º F) so even the tolerant perennials like Brunnera will most likely die back finally. However, the Helleborus will still be green when the weather warms up next weekend, and the snow melts. I’m still enjoying gardening, and I’m not ready to retreat inside and look out the windows at conifers and decorative sticks yet, so I really esteem the Helleborus, Asarum, Heuchera, Tiarella and other semi-evergreen perennials that beautify the shade garden still.