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Christmas roses breathe life into dreary winter gardens. Here you can find out what you should pay particular attention to when buying Christmas roses.
Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) open their flowers when many other plants are in hibernation, because black hellebore originally comes from Southeast Asia, from where it spread spread westward at the peak of the last Ice Age (about 20,000 years ago). In its natural environment, it now prefers to grow in Europe in bushy and sparse forests. The robust plant can sometimes even be found at altitudes of up to 1,900 meters. Since there are hardly any specimens growing wild in many places, Christmas roses are particularly protected under the Federal Species Protection Ordinance. So if you want a Christmas rose for your garden, you should use cultivars from the garden center or from a nursery.
Buy Christmas roses
Christmas roses are long-lived and can even reach an age of up to 30 years. But only a he althy, strong Christmas rose will please you with many blossoms. In the following we will explain what you need to consider when buying new Christmas roses. We also introduce you to some recommended sources of supply.
Buying Christmas roses: You should pay attention to this
Besides Helleborus niger there are about 20 other Helleborus-species, all of which are often erroneously summarized under the name "Christmas Rose". . For example, the Oriental Hellebore (Helleborus orientalis), which is also called Lenten Rose or Spring Christmas Rose, is very well known. While Christmas roses open their flowers as early as November, spring roses only bloom from January to March. It is best to plant Christmas roses in the garden in autumn (September to November) when the soil is still warm from the summer sun. Only at this time are they usually also available in nurseries. The colorful spring roses are more likely to be available in spring due to the later flowering.
In addition to choosing the right variety, you should make sure that the Christmas rose you choose is he althy and strong. Despite their robustness, Christmas roses can also be affected by fungal infestation. If there are black spots on the leaves of the plant, it is probably the so-called black spot disease, which is caused by fungi of the genus Phoma or Microsphaeropsis . If the shoots of the Christmas rose snap off on the ground for no apparent reason and show brown to black rotten spots at the base, this is an infestation with what is known as rhizome or stem rot. Pests - such as aphids - like to eat Christmas roses. Once the diseases or vermin have been brought into the garden, they are difficult to get rid of. Therefore, when buying, make sure that you only select he althy plants.
Summary Tips for Buying Christmas Roses:
- Labeling (variety, location, size) and care instructions available
- No damage to the shoots
- No stained or pitted leaves
- No pests
- Good rooting
- No smell of rot
Buy Christmas roses: Recommended sources of supply
Christmas roses are offered in many online shops, but the photos don't always live up to their promises when it comes to the color of the flowers. In order to avoid nasty surprises, you should consider going directly to a well-stocked perennial nursery or a garden center during the flowering period to choose a suitable plant.
If you are looking for inspiration, you might find it here:
Nielsen Nursery:
Nielsen Nursery was founded in 1925 and has been owned by the Nielsen family ever since. If you want, you can visit the location in Soltau (Lower Saxony) during opening hours or by appointment. In addition, you can choose from an assortment of around 50 different Helleborus species and varieties in the online shop. In addition to classic Christmas roses, one or the other exotic speci alty can also be found. There is also a colorful selection of spring rose varieties.
Volmary - Grow for Gold:
The international family business has its headquarters in Münster (Westphalia). A small selection of varieties from the Helleborus Gold Collection can be found in the online shop. Strict test criteria and perennialTests at various locations guarantee that these varieties are particularly robust, floriferous, long-lived and he althy. If you want, you can also reserve a certain variety from a sales partner in the vicinity and then pick it up personally.
Praskac - Das Pflanzenland:
The Praskac family is running their tree nursery in Tulln (Lower Austria) in the fifth generation. The online shop has a small but fine range of snow roses - that's what Christmas roses are called in Austria. In addition, some colorful varieties of Helleborus orientalis are available for purchase. But a trip is not only worthwhile to the virtual shop. The garden center with 15,000 m² of exhibition space is open all year round and is always worth a visit.
You can find all information about planting, caring for and propagating Christmas roses in our comprehensive overview article.