Christmas-rose

Helleborus niger is an evergreen plant with dark leathery pedate leaves carried on stems 9–12 in (23–30 cm) tall. The large flat flowers, borne on short stems from midwinter to early spring, are generally white, but occasionally with a pink tinge. The tips of the petals may be flushed pink or green, and there is a prominent central boss of yellow.

The natural distribution stretches from the eastern northern Alps (including the Julian Alps, Triglav) and southern Alps, west to Vorarlberg. In addition, Helleborus niger is common in the Apennines and northern Dinaric Alps of Slovenia and Croatia. It has been observed up to an elevation of 1900 meters. In the Berchtesgaden Alps, it grow up to an elevation of 1560 meters. In Germany, Helleborus niger is only native to Bavaria and in the Allgäu Alps Helleborus niger is not indigenous.

Helleborus niger is commonly called the Christmas rose, due to an old legend that it sprouted in the snow from the tears of a young girl who had no gift to give the Christ child in Bethlehem. One legend states that the flower blooms at the abbey in England founded by St. Thomas. It is said to bloom near the new calendar date of 6 January. This date had been Christmas Day under the old Julian calendar. So when Christmas Day under the new calendar came around and the flower did not bloom, it was such a frightful omen that England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar at that time in 1588; adoption had to wait until 1751. In the Middle Ages, people strewed the flowers on the floors of their homes to drive out evil influences. They blessed their animals with it and used it to ward off the power of witches. These same people believed, however, that witches employed the herb in their spells and that sorcerers tossed the powdered herb into the air around them to make themselves invisible. In the early days of medicine, two kinds of hellebore were recognized: black hellebore, which included various species of Helleborus, and white hellebore (now known as Veratrum album or "false hellebore", which belongs to a different plant family, the Melanthiaceae). Black hellebore was used by the ancients to treat insanity, melancholy, gout and epilepsy. …

The plant is a traditional cottage garden favourite because it flowers in the depths of winter. Large-flowered cultivars are available, as are pink-flowered and double-flowered selections. It has been awarded an Award of Garden Merit (AGM) H4 (hardy throughout the British Isles) by the Royal Horticultural Society, as has one of its hybrids (see below). It can be difficult to grow well; acidic soil is unsuitable, as are poor, dry conditions and full sun. Moist, humus-rich, alkaline soil in dappled shade is preferable. Leaf-mould can be dug in to improve heavy clay or light sandy soils; lime can be added to 'sweeten' acid soils.

Cultivars. Since the 1950s, 'Potter's Wheel' has been one of the most famous names associated with H. niger. It originated with a self-sown seedling given by Major G. H. Tristram of Dallington, Sussex, to Hilda Davenport-Jones who had a nursery at nearby Washfield, Kent. The seedling proved to be exceptionally large-flowered, but it was too slow-growing to be 'bulked up' quickly, so she propagated it as a rigorously-selected uniform seed strain rather than as a vegetatively propagated cultivar.

'Potter's Wheel' 'Marion' (double-flowered; there are also other unnamed double selections) 'Praecox' (early flowering)

Hybrids. Nurserymen have tried for many years to cross H. niger with oriental hellebores (Lenten roses) H. …