Start of the season – prepare for winter blooms now

It's that time of the year again: plant your winter flower beds now!

From mid September onwards, the first hellebore perennials will be available at last for the upcoming season. Offered as non-flowering plants, the varieties from the Helleborus Gold Collection^® will flower in the coming winter even in ice and snow.

And here we go, because autumn is a good time to plant hellebores.

If you want to enjoy winter flowers in flower beds or on your balcony or terrace, start now. Hellebores are one of the few hardy perennials that produce flowers outdoors in winter, even in snow and frost. Their main flowering time is from November to April. If you plant them now, you will be enjoying their flowers during the Christmas season.

Once planted, the varieties from the Helleborus Gold Collection^® are extremely easy to care for and please. For this reason, the first decision is the most important one to make: the choice of location! The reason is that hellebores prefer to remain in the same place all their lives. They like well-draining, humus-rich and limy soils and do not tolerate waterlogging. This is, in fact, quite convenient, because these conditions can often be found near woody plants, which happily provide the welcome shade for Christmas and Lenten Roses. Snow Roses also tolerate sunnier spots. If you want to transplant your hellebores, spring is a good time to do so. It is important to transplant or divide hellebores during their growth phase to enable the plant to continue growing after being replanted. This growth phase takes place in the spring.

Once the flowers of the potted Christmas Roses that decorated your home have faded, the plants can be moved into the garden. Christmas Roses, even when potted, prefer cool temperatures – as can be found in a cool entrance area or conservatory. Avoid exposing them to warm room temperatures for too long, especially if you want to move the potted plants into the garden later. Also, make sure to give them time to adjust to the cold before replanting them in the garden. Simply place them in a sheltered entrance area or a frost-free shed. Also, don't forget to water them every now and then!

Giving Christmas Roses in a pot – a seasonal classic

A Christmas Rose pot placed in the living room or at the entrance door adds a little hope and brightness at this dark time of year. The Christmas Rose is a traditional Christmas-season gift that is especially meaningful. In our example, we underline the Christmas gift character of this lovely present with wrapping paper. Just wrap around the planter or cachpot. For a natural look, we have chosen a band made from very robust jute fabric that matches the natural-coloured wrapping paper. This or any similar fabric is also perfect for completely covering the pot in wrapping. In our example, we use a matching bast string to tie the fabric to the pot for an understated look. You could use gift ribbon instead, Christmas-red velvet or any other eye-catching material to accentuate the colour.

Christmas Roses for seasonal gift wrapping designs

Christmas Roses are also beautiful for adding that delicate touch of elegance to your gift wrapping design. Their clear mix of fresh green and pure white colours matches perfectly both with plain, single-colour gift wraps and multi-coloured Christmas wrapping papers. Especially if you have a strong Christmas Rose plant from the Helleborus Gold Collection® in your garden, you can simply cut off the odd flower from time to time to add to a gift. Just fetch a flower from your garden and stick it underneath the gift ribbon to add a truly personal decoration to your gift. Wishing you all the joys of giving and chatting at the door or over the garden fence!