Hellebore hybridizing

Marty DeHart visits with a passionate plants person who hybridizes and cultivates hellebores. It’s mid-March, and these ‘jewels of winter’ are showing off their colors in beautiful blooms. We learn the successes of hybridization: the new characteristics, bloom size, colors, and habit are evident in the several cultivars we examine.

Gardener Extras

To propagate hellebores yourself, the easiest way is to divide them. Evergreen hellebores should be divided in late fall, before new leaves emerge. Hellebores that lose their leaves in summer should be divided just after they finish blooming.

Gardener Notes

To contact Joe Woodard, visit helleboreplants.com and use the form at the bottom of the page.

Marty DeHart

Marty's lifelong passion for plants has led her to a long and varied career in horticulture: she's been a professional grower of gloxinias and African violets as well as perennials, a native plant propagator, a landscaper and landscape designer. She deeply enjoys learning constantly and sharing what she learns about plants, particularly information and techniques that can produce thriving plants and green-thumbed gardeners.