Reading Time: 4 minutes 🍃
If you’re looking for a plant to add to your garden that can add gorgeous blooms all year round, then hellebores are a great addition to your garden. These flowers are also nicknamed Christmas roses because they bloom in the winter, flower during cold weather, and have gorgeous foliage all year round. They’re also very easy to maintain.
Hellebores’ low-maintenance reputation extends to compost and growing conditions. These plants do not need ericaceous compost and, in fact, prefer slightly alkaline soil. In most cases, they prefer regular garden or spent mushroom compost, although there are a few situations in which hellebores thrive in ericaceous compost.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about growing hellebores.
What Are Hellebores?
Hellebores, also called Christmas Roses and Lenten Roses, due to their propensity to grow in cold weather, are perennial flowers. They come in many colors, including red, white, and various shades of pink. People love them because they provide a spot of color during times of the year when gardens are often dull.
Another reason why gardeners love hellebores is that they are fairly easy to care for. They are not fussy about the pH of the soil and can grow pretty much anywhere, directly in the soil, in garden beds, and even in containers. They can withstand most weather conditions, even cold weather, and still signal spring with their early blooms.
What Is Ericaceous Compost?
Ericaceous compost is compost made of organic matter such as pine needles, mulched Christmas trees, deciduous leaves, and even coffee grounds. The main characteristic of ericaceous compost is that it is slightly acidic.
Mixing it into regular soil lowers the pH of this soil and makes growing conditions ideal for ericaceous plants such as rhododendrons and camellias.
Ericaceous compost has other benefits that make it a favorite among gardeners. Because it is so rich in organic matter, it is also rich in nutrients that help plants thrive without needing additional fertilizing.
It has just enough sand so that the soil it mixes with can retain moisture while still draining water easily. The ability to drain water is beneficial because standing water can damage plants.
Do Hellebores Need Ericaceous Compost?
Ericaceous compost has many benefits, but mostly for plants that need it. Hellebores don’t actually need this type of compost because they are so versatile.
Hellebores thrive in soils that are both slightly acidic and slightly alkaline. In fact, they do best in soils that are slightly alkaline and contain some lime because that is the soil that is most similar to the conditions found in hellebores’ natural habitat, the mountains.
Ericaceous compost makes soil acidic, which is the opposite of what hellebores usually thrive in. Putting down ericaceous compost in your hellebore beds probably won’t damage these hardy plants, but it won’t ensure ideal growing conditions for the plant either.
It’s better to save your ericaceous compost for the plants that need it and use other compost that is better for hellebores.
Are There Any Situations When Hellebores Need Ericaceous Compost?
While ericaceous compost isn’t necessary for hellebores, it won’t actually hurt these plants because slightly acidic soil doesn’t bother them. There are certain situations when you should spread ericaceous compost down with your hellebores. Some varieties of hellebores thrive in slightly acidic conditions, so check with your nursery when you buy your plants.
Which compost you use will also depend on the other plants in the bed. Hellebores thrive when they have bed partners or other plants in their garden beds. This makes for a visually stunning display, especially if you plant all early bloomers for a spot of brightness at the beginning of spring.
The other reason why hellebores like bed partners is that they need shade during the hotter months. Taller plants such as trees and shrubs make good bed partners for these shade-loving plants.
If you plant your hellebores with ericaceous plants such as rhododendrons as bed partners, then you will have to use ericaceous compost to make the soil acidic enough for the other plant to thrive. While your hellebores may not bloom as bright as they would in limey soil, they can also grow well in ericaceous soil.
Which Compost Is Best for Hellebores?
Although hellebores can grow in ericaceous compost, they grow better in other types of compost. Hellebores need compost that has lots of organic matter (which ericaceous compost actually has).
However, these plants prefer neutral or slightly alkaline soils, so a neutral compost that doesn’t make the pH of the beds fluctuate is the best choice.
One of the best composts for hellebores is spent mushroom compost. Spent mushroom compost is compost left over after mushroom beds are harvested. Due to the near-miraculous properties of fungi, spent mushroom compost is very rich in nutrients and organic matter.
It is sterile, so you don’t have to worry about introducing harmful bacteria into beds, and it has some lime in it, which makes the soil just alkaline enough for hellebores.
However, spent mushroom compost is sometimes hard to get unless you live near a mushroom farm. In that case, you can opt for other neutral alternatives. Manure is a decent option for hellebore beds, although that can also be hard to get if you don’t live near a farm (and you will have to deal with some unpleasant smells in your garden).
Any organic manure or fertilizer can help hellebores thrive. Whether you use leaf mold, bonemeal, calcified seaweed, or regular garden compost, these plants will grow well. The most important thing to do is to loosen the soil after you plant your hellebores so that the roots have enough space to grow.
Final Thoughts
Hellebores are hardy little plants that only require a little effort to yield gorgeous blooms, even in the winter. They thrive in soils of all pH, especially slightly alkaline soil, so they do not need acidic ericaceous compost to grow.
However, if other plants in their plant bed require ericaceous soil, they will grow in this compost.
Sources
- https://gardening.which.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/360000421529-How-to-grow-hellebores
- https://www.gardenfocused.co.uk/shrub/hellebore.php
- https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/hellebore/growing-guide
- https://www.gardeningetc.com/advice/how-to-grow-hellebores
