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Monday 19 December 2016

Christmas Rose and Christmas Box, Hellebores and Sarcococca

Perfect Flowers For Christmas

Christmas Rose and Christmas Box respectively flower at Christmas. Helleborus niger and sarcococca are two worthy plants for your winter garden.
Helleborus niger Has beautiful white flowers on evergreen low lying leaves and provides not only a glowing white rose like flower but some of the best early sustenance for our bumble bees. Hybrid crosses have been highlyy successful and so many variants now exist providing longer flowering periods, larger plants and a fabulous variety of colour. More on Hellebores >>
 
Sarcococca always a definite addition to all gardens. It may just be a simple unassuming small leaved glossy green evergreen. but it is reliable, hardy and most of all the fragrance is outstanding, flowering from December to March. This is the plant to lift your winter blues.
Smaller than S. confusa (1.5m) and more widely used is S. ruscifolia var chinensis Which flowers all up the stem . Ideal for edging is the compact S. humilis, perfect for low hedges . These have a similar growing habit to box plants and are often planted to similar effect for edging very sucesssfully. Elegant pointed leaves and slighly pink flower and purple stems can be found on the S. hookeriana var. digyna 'Purple Stem'