I have this year discovered the joy of hellebores. I have bought two types; I have the Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘HGC Silvermoon and Helleborus niger ‘HGC Josef Lemper. The advice is to deadhead them when the flowers have faded, and I can see the reason would be to conserve and divert the plant's energy. But is it only me that finds this difficult because of the continued beauty of the faded blooms?
The old blooms on the Josef Lemper are particularly beautiful; they have an almost surreal quality and are not unlike succulents in appearance. I still haven't removed them! On this variety I was wondering how long to delay deadheading and if I might try to just trim off just the seed pods, which are quite plump. It might look a little silly perhaps but as I say, it feels it is a pity to remove the flowers completely. I would be very interested if anyone else feels similarly and whether any of you have done this. Below is a photo I have just taken of the Helleborus niger ‘HGC Josef Lemper.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
