Plant Overview
The Christmas Rose bears large, round, white flat-faced flowers above low-growing mounds of leathery, deep green foliage. Flowers from mid-winter to late spring. Blooms fade to light pink as they age.
Grow at the front of a shaded border. Happy under trees.
Makes an excellent cut flower – float the blooms in a bowl of water to display them.
Attractive to bees.
Height and Spread: 60cm x 45cm
Toxic if eaten and can cause skin irritation if handled. Was supposedly used by the Greeks as a chemical weapon!
Known in British literature since the 16th century, although possibly introduced to Britain by the Romans from central Europe.
Common name(s): Christmas Rose; Black Hellebore.
Photo Wildfeuer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons