Hellebore Helleborus Mollys White

Winter is when hellebores pay you back. While the rest of a shaded bed is doing nothing at all, Mollys White lifts pale nodding flowers above a clump of leathery, deeply divided evergreen leaves, and those flowers hold on the plant for weeks rather than days. It is a slow, long lived, clumping perennial rather than a shrub, and it works as groundcover under deciduous trees, on the shaded south side of a building, or in a pot where the nodding flowers can be looked into rather than down on.

Cool gardens, deciduous shade

Hellebores are at their best in Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Tasmania and the tablelands, and they can be grown in Sydney given a genuinely cool, shaded position; humid subtropical gardens are a stretch. The classic site is under deciduous trees, where the plant gets winter light while it is flowering and full shade over summer. Part shade, moderate water, and soil improved with compost that holds moisture without ever staying waterlogged. Space plants about 400mm apart for a groundcover drift. The failure mode is disturbance. Hellebores resent being dug, divided or moved, and a plant lifted from an established position will often sit for a year or more producing leaves and no flowers before it settles again; some never fully recover. Choose the spot properly and plant it once. If a clump genuinely has to be moved, do it immediately after flowering, take as much soil with the root ball as you can carry, and expect to lose a season. Wear gloves when handling it, since the sap irritates skin, and note that every part of the plant is toxic if eaten, which matters in a garden used by dogs or small children.

The other winter and early spring shade plants

The obvious partner and rival is Clivia miniata, which flowers a little later, in orange, and prefers dry root filled shade; the hellebore wants better soil moisture and cooler conditions, so in a Melbourne garden take the hellebore and in a warm Sydney or Brisbane courtyard take the clivia. For year round foliage colour in the same bed rather than one concentrated winter flower event, Heuchera Black Forest Cake is the alternative, and the two work together well, since the hellebore is dull through summer exactly when the heuchera is not. Browse the flowering range.

One cut a year, in late autumn

The single most useful job is cutting the old leaves off at the base in late autumn, before the flower buds rise. It makes the flowers visible instead of hidden under tired foliage, and it takes last season's leaf spot out of the garden, so put the cuttings in the bin rather than the compost heap. Leave spent flowers on if you want seedlings, or cut them off at the base once they go green and papery. Feed in early autumn and again after flowering with compost or a slow release complete fertiliser spread around the crown. Check the emerging buds for snails, which graze them before they open.

Choosing a size

This plant is supplied in one size, 200mm, at $36.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.