I would guess that the plant you bought in spring 2011 was a 2 year old plant, meant to flower the next spring, the seeds you might get now will not germinate until spring 2014 and the plants will be tiny for 2014. I prefer to let the seedlings stay in the ground as keeping them alive in small pots might be difficult over the first summer if the weather is hot. You can move them though, if some turn out to be in too large clumps or in a wrong position, wait until the seedlings have started to get true leaves and then dig deep down for your first one so you see how far the roots go. You will be surprised how long root system these tiny seedlings have. I donÕt think it is odd your plant is large this year, it easily doubles in size the first few years, then it will grow a bit larger and wider every year until it becomes about a foot wide and tall. Last year you probably didnÕt have any flowers and the few leaves you had might have been much smaller Ð and could even have been accidentally cut off or munched by something so you didnÕt get to see them. I have many hellebores in different colours, some single and some double, but only one plant is flowering in the summer, the same plant every year. Not sure why that is and I have not yet managed to get it to produce any seeds for me, the flowers have just dried up and died in the summer heat here in London before any seed pods have formed. But I have some hope for seeds this year, the flowers are still alive, weÕll see. That doesnÕt mean the next generation will have the same summer flowering properties though, hellebores normally flowers in March/April here in England, not in August! Hellebores are tough plants that can cope with lots of different conditions and soils once mature and established, although they prefer a woodland area in dapple sun. They donÕt normally need any fertilizer but you can use a mulch in the spring if the soil is poor. I love hellebores, and have written about them many times on my blog, you can find more information about them next spring when we get to the correct flowering time for them 🙂 Good luck with yours!

Good morning all, Thanks so much for the responses and the information. It’s odd that this plant is so large because I don’t recall it at all in my garden last year. It would have been planted in the late spring of 2011 – we had recently moved into this house and these were purchased from a mail order company – along with various other plants. The shipment arrived on the day of a late snow storm and it was a few weeks before anything could be planted. By the time the plants were put in, most were looking pretty sad and I doubted that much would grow. In any event, it couldn’t have been much more than a sprig when planted in 2011, so given that it takes 3-4 years to flower I guess that makes it even more special! Another interesting note is that the soil here is terrible – mostly clay and rock though we were able to add a few inches of rich, woodland soil on top for the flower bed. In any event, the plant is beautiful and I hope that more will sprout up from the seeds. Would you suggest that I attempt to plant the seeds in pots or is the rate of success better in the garden? And Helene, do your plants continue to bloom in the summer? Thank you all for your help.

Hello, I am the one in England that Stone wrote about, he wrote me a message to tell me that you also had a summer flowering hellebore, how fun, maybe there are many more, but I havenÕt found any info about it on the internet so I donÕt think it is common. From your photo I can see that the flowers already have set seed so just leave the flowers on so that the seeds can continue to develop (those fat bits in the middle of the flower). Eventually the pods will crack open and the seeds will drop to the ground and next year the seedlings will come up. It will take 3-4 years before they flower. Who knows, perhaps the new plants also will flower in the summer Ð time will tell!

Found the post about summer-bloomers… http://graphicality-uk.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/2008-hellebores-in-flower.html

It is a lenten rose, lucky you! Gorgeous plant

Your hellebores are already blooming again? Those sound worth propagating… Last year, I read about someone over in England who had summer bloomers… I encouraged her to allow the babies to grow out, and see if that quality was passed on…

Ha! I should have scoured the internet a bit more before posting here – it’s a Lenten Rose! NOW I remember planting it. . . it’s tough getting old. :/