Proper care is required to ensure that your Christmas roses bloom safely in winter. Here you can find out everything about the correct watering, fertilizing and Co. of Christmas roses.
If the site conditions are right, Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) are quite easy to care for. The robust, evergreen plant can even cope with severe frosts (down to -10 °C) and long periods of drought. Nevertheless, you should take good care of your Christmas rose. Like all plants, Christmas roses need sufficient amounts of water, nutrients and light in order to develop optimally. But the effort will definitely be worth it for you. Because when a Christmas rose feels completely at home, the clumps get bigger and more willing to bloom from year to year.
In the following we will explain how best to proceed when watering, fertilizing and cutting Christmas roses. We have also summarized the most important points for caring for Christmas roses in pot culture.
Watering Christmas roses correctly
Christmas roses prefer fresh, moist soil. Sufficient watering is particularly important during the flowering period from November to February. If it is dry, you should therefore water Christmas roses with normal tap water on frost-free days. But even outside of the flowering period, the root ball should not dry out completely. Therefore, keep an eye on the ornamental perennial over the summer months so that you can water it if necessary. However, avoid waterlogging, because an environment that is too wet can promote fungal infestation, for example.
Fertilize Christmas roses correctly
Christmas roses do not have particularly high nutritional requirements. Outdoors, a year-round mulch layer of fresh compost, leaves or grass clippings is usually completely sufficient as fertilization. It decomposes over time and is converted into valuable humus by soil organisms, which is why it should be renewed regularly.
Earthworms, attracted to the organic matter, will also help cover the soilair through. In addition, the mulch layer protects the outlasting buds on the soil surface over the winter.
In pot culture you should use a fertilizer with an organic long-term effect - such as our Plantura organic flower fertilizer. This is particularly environmentally friendly and can be easily worked into the top layers of soil. By watering, the decomposition process begins via soil organisms and the nutrients contained are gradually made available to the plant. If there are not enough compost or leaves in your garden, you can of course also feed your Christmas roses in the bed with our Plantura organic flower fertilizer.
Pruning Christmas Roses
Regular pruning is not necessary for Christmas roses. In early summer (May), simply cut off the withered flower stalks so that the Christmas rose does not invest its energy in forming seed heads. The old foliage is only removed when it is completely drawn in. This allows the plant to assimilate any remaining nutrients to use in the next flowering season. Removing old foliage also helps prevent fungal diseases from multiplying and pests from hiding.
Caring for Christmas roses in pots
Christmas roses in pots have special care requirements due to the limited amount of substrate. Regular watering is necessary so that the root ball of the Christmas rose does not dry out completely. To ensure that your Christmas rose produces many flowers, you can also work some fertilizer into the substrate when planting. In addition, you can fertilize regularly (every 14 days) during the flowering period.
So that the root ball of the Christmas rose does not freeze through in the cold winter months, it is best to wrap the pot with bubble wrap or a jute sack during this time. If you place the planter on a wooden or styrofoam board, the Christmas rose is also protected from the cold from below. In the spring you can then gradually cut off the withered flowers, if you do not want to harvest seeds. You can leave the foliage until it has withered completely.
You can find all information about Christmas roses in pots - from planting and care to suitable varieties - in our special article.