10 AGM plants to grow with hellebores

10 plants that look good with hellebores

Words: Graham Rice

In the last 20 years, the popularity of hellebores has rocketed. But with their varying types of growth covering a season which can run from December into April, it’s important to choose good companions. Of course, against the right background mature clumps can look superb in splendid isolation. But in today’s gardens where every inch must be used to the full, choosing the right plants to grow with them can only enhance the display.

This choice of AGM-winning plants covers shrubs, perennials and bulbs and provides a range of partners from early winter into spring.

Anemone x lipsiensis ‘Pallida’
This delightful hybrid between the wood anemone, Anemone nemorosa, and the buttercup anemone, A. ranunculoides, features pale creamy yellow flowers over prettily divided foliage which often unfurls in bronze tones before maturing to green.

Steadily creeping at the root, but never over dominating, it will nestle closely to the crown of the hellebore, make a pretty colour combination but never be smothering. Especially good with red or plumy forms of H. x hybridus.

Anemone nemorosa ‘Virescens’
An anemone looking very different, this is a form whose petals have almost entirely been transformed into leaves and the result is a delicate lacy pattern that repays close inspection.

Spotted forms of H. x hybridus also repay similar close attention, turn the flowers upward and their delicate patterning is revealed. Bring the two together at the front of a partially shaded border or raised bed and stopping to take a close look provides double enjoyment.

Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’
The brilliant red winter stems of Cornus alba 'Sibirica' (commonly known as dogwood) gleam in the winter sunlight and, planted among them, the divided foliage and bold flower heads of our native stinking hellebore, H. foetidus, are ideal. Add drifts of snowdrops to complete the picture.

For the longest stems in the brightest colour, cut the dogwood back hard in spring and this will also allow the hellebores some good light before new dogwood growth casts necessary summer shade.

Crocus tommasinianus
Crocus tommasinianus is especially good with silvered forms of H. x sternii, but also with many forms of H. x hybridus.

This crocus has two major advantages over the larger flowered Dutch varieties. The colouring of this easy-to-grow species is softer and so looks far more at home in a mixed planting with other early flowers recommended here. It also self sows, often enthusiastically, and places itself close to the crowns of hellebores where we’d hesitate to dig to plant corms.

Cyclamen coum
Another small 'bulb' that will self sow and nestle close around H. x sternii and H. x hybridus, all forms of Cyclamen coum are attractive and thrive in partial or dappled shade. The magenta, pink, white or bicoloured flowers are at their best at hellebore time, and the foliage - often delightfully patterned in silver - carries its colour into summer.

Plant with crocuses and snowdrops  as well to make a delightful tapestry of colour around and among hellebores.

Daphne pontica
Dwarf evergreen shrubs make good partners for hellebores, and both the native Daphne laureola and the more colourful D. pontica are good choices. They provide shelter, a striking change of style, and an attractive presence in summer and autumn as well as at hellebore season. In addition, D. pontica has a sweet fragrance.

Unlike most daphnes, and most hellebores, D. pontica is happy with little or no sun as long as the soil does not dry out.

Galanthus ‘Magnet’
Snowdrops are natural companions for hellebores. Easy to grow and happy in the same conditions, their colour ensures they harmonise with them all. The question is: which snowdrop?

The bold, elegant and upright Galanthus ‘Magnet’, with its large flowers bobbing on long stalks, builds into fat clumps. Or, more economically, choose the dainty wild Galanthus nivalis, also an AGM plant, whose flowers are small and on short stems but which increases well by self sowing.

Leucojum vernum
Less often considered as a partner for hellebores than the more familiar and closely related snowdrops, the Leucojum vernum carries its green-tipped white bells, often in pairs, on noticeably upright green stems.

True, it increases less rapidly than most snowdrops and also prefers conditions that are a little more moist. But the individual flowers are more striking and are held on stems a little taller than those of most snowdrops so they reach closer to the hellebore flowers.

Pulmonaria saccharata Argentea Group
Many pulmonarias make good companions for hellebores, in particular those with blue or pink flowers, but considering overall quality, prolific flowering and good summer foliage brings us to this old favourite Pulmonaria saccharata.

Especially effective with red, plumy and white forms of H. x hybridus, this blue-flowered form allows hellebores to be the centre of attention at first then joins the display part way through and continues as the hellebore fades. Then its brightly silvered foliage performs all summer.

Scilla mischtschenkoana
Its name may be a tongue-twister but this is an invaluable mid-winter to early spring bulb. It palest ice-blue flowers feature a bright azure streak through each petal and begin to open as soon as the shoots first peep through the soil, often in early January.

They rarely seem to self sow, but build steadily into fat clumps crowded with flowers and make ideal companions for yellow or pink forms of H. x hybridus.