Christmas Rose

The Hellebores, besides being excellent border flowers, are suited for naturalizing. There are a few kinds—those with inconspicuous flowers, but handsome foliage—whose only place is the wild garden, such as the native H. foetidus, H. lividus, viridus, and H. Bocconi, which have elegant foliage when well developed in a shady place in rich soil, like that usually found in woods. The Hellebores may be classed in three groups, according to the color of the flowers—white, red, or green, which last will get little place in the garden. The white-flowered group is the most important, as it contains the beautiful old Christmas Rose.

H. niger is a well-known kind, scarcely needing description. It may be recognized at once by its pale green smooth leathery leaves, divided into seven or nine segments, 3 to 6 inches long and 1 to 2 inches broad. The flowers, which are usually borne singly on stems 6 inches long, are about 3 inches across, and vary from a waxy-white to a delicate blush tint. The variety minor is smaller in every part, and is also known as H. angustifolius. H. altifolius, though sometimes considered a variety of H. niger, is a distinct kind, and much larger than H. niger. It has leaf-stalks over 1 foot long, and blossoms 3 to 5 inches across, which are borne on branching stems, each stem bearing from two to seven flowers, which have a stronger tendency to assume a rosy hue than the ordinary kind. Another characteristic is that the leaf and flower-stems are beautifully mottled with purple and green, while in H. niger they are of a pale green. H. altifolius also flowers much earlier—in some seasons in the beginning of October. The Riverston, St Brigids. Mme. Fourcade and Bath varieties are all good.

Other white kinds are H. olympicus—a tall slender species with cup-shaped blossoms that appear in early spring and vary from pure white to greenish-white. H. guttatus is like it, but has the inside of the blossoms spotted with purple. There are several forms; in some the markings assume the form of small dots, in others of thin streaks. It is one of the parents of the many beautiful hybrids.

The finest of the red or crimson kinds is H. colchicus, which is larger than any other, and may be readily recognised by its thick, dark green leaves, with five to seven broad and coarsely-toothed divisions, the veins of which are raised on the under sides and are of a dark purple when young. The blossoms, borne on forked stems rising considerably above the foliage, are dark purple. Under good cultivation the leaves attain the length of 1 1/2 and 2 feet, forming fine specimens, and flowers are produced from the end of January to the end of March. A fine hybrid has been obtained by crossing it with H. guttatus, the result being a form with large spreading flower slighter than in H. colchicus, and profusely marked with dark carmine streaks. Another hybrid between this and H. altifolius resulted in a form with larger flowers of a lighter purple. H. atro-rubens has leaves much thinner and flowers much smaller than H. colchicus, the latter dull purple on the outside and greenish-purple within. It is a native of Hungary, and is common in gardens, but is often confused with H. abchasicus, a taller and more slender plant, the flower-stems of which are longer, and the blossoms nodding and smaller. H. abchasicus is much superior to atro-rubens, the color of the blossoms—a deep ruby-crimson—making them very attractive. Other fine varieties of the red-flowered group are Gretchen Heinemann, James Atkins, and Apotheker Bogren, all worthy of culture. Other reddish kinds, such as H. purpurascens and H. cupreus, are not worth growing.

All the kinds will thrive in ordinary garden soil, but for the choicer kinds a prepared soil is preferable. This should consist of equal parts of good fibrous loam and well-decomposed manure, half fibry peat, and half coarse sand. Thorough drainage should always be given, as stagnant moisture is very injurious. A moist and sheltered situation, where they will obtain partial shade, such as the margins of shrubberies, is best, but care should be taken to keep the roots of shrubs from exhausting the border. In the flowering season a thin mulching of moss or similar material should be placed on the soil round the plants, as this prevents the blossoms from being spattered by heavy rains, etc. Any one beginning to grow these useful plants should give the soil a good preparation. If well trenched and manured, they will not require replanting for at least seven years; but a top-dressing of well-decayed manure and a little liquid manure might be given during the growing season when the plants are making their foliage, as upon the size and substance of the leaves will depend the size of the flowers. The common white Christmas Rose is a favourite pot-plant, and if required for potting its foliage should be protected from injury; when the blooming season is over it should be protected by a frame until genial weather permits it to be plunged in the open air. Hardy subjects like the Christmas Rose frequently suffer when removed from under glass, for although hardy enough to withstand our severest winters when continually exposed, their growth, when made under more exciting circumstances, will not withstand sudden variations of temperature. For this reason it is advisable to keep them in as cool a position as possible when in flower, so that the growth of young foliage may not be excited before its natural season.

Propagation may be effected by division or by seeds, which, in favorable seasons, are plentiful; as soon as thoroughly ripened they should be sown in pans under glass, for they soon lose their vitality. As soon as the seedlings are large enough they should be pricked off thickly into a shady border, in a light rich soil; the second year they should be transplanted to their permanent place, and in the third season most of them will bloom. In division the clumps must be well established, with root-stocks large enough to cut up. The divided plants, if placed in a bed of good light soil, and undisturbed, will be good flowering plants in a couple of years, but four years are required to bring a Christmas Rose to perfection. The best time for dividing and planting is September and October, the earlier the better, though the season might be extended to February with comparative impunity. Christmas Roses should never be transplanted in big clumps intact—nothing is more fatal to success. Well-rooted divisions of three to five crowns apiece are amply large, and soon take to the new conditions.