Lenten Roses

Lenten Roses are starting to pop! This month, we are excited to tell you about the amazing Lenten Rose! The name orginates from the fact that these plants often bloom early, right about the Christian season of Lent.  The gorgeous blooms will elicit lots of Oooh’s and Aaah;s this month and next – and they are even tough as nails!

Origin

Helleborus x hybridus, lenten roses (also known as Christmas Roses) are a late winter/early spring flowering perennial native to Europe and Asia. With about 20 species in shades of pink, purples, white, and greens, these stunning flowers are a great perennial addition to any garden for that first bit of foliage and color to mark that spring is coming.

Hardiness

Lenten Roses are hardy from Zones 5 to 9 making them an excellent option in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia where zones range between 6a and 8b. Specifically in Johnson City, TN and the tri-cities we fall between Hardiness Zones 6b-7a.

Growth Characteristics

Mature plants typically will grow to a height of 18”-24” and to a width of 24” to 30”. When creating layers in your landscape, Lenten Roses would be a fitting contender as a second tier  between lower level ground cover and taller shrubs or plants in the background.

Planting

Lenten Roses require partial to full sun and thrive in well-drained nutrient rich soil. If you’ve ever dug a hole here in Johnson City there’s a chance you’ve run into some “Tennessee Clay”. Amending soil with organic matter such as Daddy Pete’s Compost Manure can help break up the soil, adding both drainage and nutrients to your planting area. We also carry Evergreen Pine Bark Soil Conditioner as an additional way to increase drainage since these lovelies are sensitive to water logged soil.

As long as the ground isn’t frozen, these hardy perennials are good to plant. Some tips for successful planting this time of year (January/February) are to use a root stimulator to promote root growth and quickly get the plant established, mulch with 1-2” of pine needles, and keep watered until established. Once rooted they are fairly drought tolerant but it would be a good practice to follow up with a fertilizer in March.  

Care

Want to set it and forget it? Lenten Roses are fairly low maintenance. A good practice is to prune the previous season’s dead foliage in late winter/early spring as the flowers start to emerge for the current season. Fertilize in early spring with a balanced Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium (NPK) fertilizer like Fertilome Garden’s Special 11-15-11, Espoma Organic Plant-tone 5-3-3, or Down To Earth OMRI Listed Vegetable Garden 4-4-4. In colder zones or microclimates prone to cold windy winters, mulch with pine needles in the late fall/early winter for additional protection.

Varieties

Here at Evergreen of Johnson City we carry over 15 varieties of Lenten Roses and that can currently be found on Table  on the right in the Greenhouse. (This is subject to change based on the time of year but feel free to ask our staff and they will happily get you to the right place.) Just to name a few we carry: Frostkiss Cheryl’s Shine, Frostkiss “Illumi Lime”, Helleborus Glamour Purple Flame, and Ice N’Roses Bianco.

Information sourced from Evergreen of Johnson City staff, and University of Wisconsin-Madison