Excellent company
Excellent company – combine ornamental foliage plants with hellebores
As the name suggests, ornamental foliage plants are characterized by their exceptionally beautiful foliage. Even without flowers, they highlight places and create harmonious backdrops against which Christmas Roses, Snow Roses and Lenten Roses can marvellously unfold their graceful flowers. All too often, we tend to forget that it's the leaves that determine the overall appearance of the garden, balcony or terrace throughout a plant's entire growth period. Combined with the right partners, ornamental foliage plants don't just provide structure, but can also add colour throughout the year.
Due to their habits and similar robustness, many foliage plants make ideal companions for our winter flowerers – Christmas Roses, Snow Roses and Lenten Roses. They are usually easy to please and require very little plant care. Creating a play of colours from spring to autumn, many ornamental foliage plants beautifully reflect the change of the seasons, with the winter flowers of Christmas Roses, Snow Roses and Lenten Roses marking and highlighting their beginning and end.
Hellebores and ornamental foliage plants allow for countless attractive combinations for the garden, terrace and balcony. Hardy alum root, shrubby veronica, Siberian bugloss and heart-shaped bergenia are just a few of the numerous perennials in the company of which our hellebores are comfortable.
Striking partners: hellebores and ornamental foliage plants
Christmas Rose and shrubby veronica (Hebe x andersonii)
Evergreen shrubby veronica comes in a variety of leaf colours and sizes, but all of them stay on the compact side and do not overgrow the Christmas Rose. Because of this, they are ideally suited for plant container and window box plantings with Christmas Roses.
Christmas Rose and Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla)
Siberian bugloss brightens up darker areas of the garden with the silvery-grey pattern of its heart-shaped leaves. This feature makes the shade-tolerant plant ideal for underplanting trees or shrubs, places that are also perfect for Christmas Roses.
Snow Rose and heart-leaf bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia)
Just like the Snow Rose, heart-leaf bergenia stages its beautiful leaves all year long, is easy to care for and extremely hardy. Bergenias flower in a range of colours from pink to red in spring, but also include some pure white varieties. Together with the plethora of colours from the Snow Roses in the Helleborus Gold Collection®, there is no limit to the joy of combining.
Ice N‘ Roses® Snow Roses and alum root (Heuchera micrantha)
Small-leaved alum root with its reddish brown, heart-shaped leaves and white and pink flowers is a particularly lovely alum root species and an ideal match for the purple-flowering Ice N‘ Roses® Snow Rose varieties.
Lenten Rose and evergreen barrenwort (Epimedium)
Evergreen barrenwort is quite vigorous itself but easy to keep in check by a competitive neighbour such as the Lenten Rose. Just like the Lenten Roses from the Helleborus Gold Collection®, barrenwort tolerates hot summers and drought if planted in a shady place. Its delicate appearance and beautiful leave pattern add colour and vitality to darker garden spots.
Lenten Rose and snow rush (Luzula nivea)
Just like the Lenten Rose, snow rush prefers a place in partial shade or shade. During the Lenten Rose's flowering season, Luzula nivea will take a backseat. In June, however, it enters the stage crowned with several clusters of tiny white flowers that last to the end of August.