Hi Everyone..... Well, certainly some of the photos of Arizona on HMF look like mine, but there seems to be a huge variation in the bloom coloration and form on there. Whereas mine is more a deep orange and tightly-petalled, some of the photos show blooms more of the yellow coloring, and some with red to the edges. I wish I could see a bloom of Arizona in person! Because of the inconsistency of the photos I'd have to say its a strong contender, but I still am puzzled about the lack of fragrance of mine. Arizona is reported to be fragrant....mine definitely is not. Since I know detecting fragrance differs from person to person I would not base this on just my opinion alone. Dozens of people took sniffs of my rose all throughout the summer at different times and no one detected any scent whatsoever. Roses right next to it did have fragrance, so I don't think its the soil or the climate that caused the lack of scent. It just isn't fragrant at all.... I am under the impression that Jung's does get all their roses from Edmund's....they don't grow any themselves. Therefore, they couldn't help me with the identity. Thank you again to everyone for your help! I am amazed so many people jumped in to help! Celeste

First, let me say that I do not live in the same zone you do, so some of this info may not be quite right for you (bloom time, etc.) My hellebores typically start to bloom in very late January to mid February, depending on how warm the winters have been. They have been very mild the past two years. Also, we get winter rain, no snow. I have not grown the Royal Heritage strain, but I believe that these are just selected a carefuly selected seed strain. I have had mine for about four years. They are truly wonderful shade plants: evergreen (so great for structure), very handsome foliage that has never been scorched, eaten on, or diseased. Mine make neat mounds and stand about one and a half to two feet tall, but they are not in the greatest soil. Yes, it's sticky,heavy clay, but I have top dressed them with compost and mulch heavily with pine straw. I should think yours will do fine under deciduous trees. Mine were in a place where they got a fair amount of sun before I found their permanent home in almost total shade and they did just fine. It took mine a couple of years or so to bloom after I purchased them from a nursery and set them out. I have read that they do not like to be disturbed. I guess I got away with it because they hadn't been in their first spot too long. Last year (late winter, 2006), they bloomed heavily and when the seeds ripened, there were showers of seeds. (If you don't want this to happen, cut the flowers off before the seed ripen.) The flowers last a very long time, like 6 to 8 weeks. Same flowers! In late winter, they are just what the doctor ordered! The seeds lay in/on the heavily mulched ground until this past January (2007), when they sprouted and came up in the cracks of the paving nearby and in places where the mulch had thinned out a bit. I have lifted some of the seedlings and potted them up. I figure with these plants fetching such prices this is money in the bank over time. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for them to get to a suitable size for setting out. I have read that they are prodigious seeders and that you may have to do alot of pulling and thinning. But they are also big cross-pollinators, so the same author (Pamela Harper, Thirty Yeras in a Four Season Garden. Great Book!) said if you dig out the ones you don't love after they bloom for the first time and keep the ones you do, over a period of time you will develop your own selected strain. (This, of course, assumes you started with a variety of colors, etc. in the beginning.)Their old leaves start to look a little ratty in January or February and the new leaves start coming out with or shortly after they bloom. I take some clippers and remove the old leaves at that time. Also, the flowers of most of them nod, so if you have a bank, raised bed, or incline where you can look up at them, that's the ideal situation. As far as companions, I love them with ferns, Solomon's seal, Bowles Golden Grass, and, of course, hostas. I think some variegation in their companions helps them. They are very dark green and almost somber looking when they are out of bloom. Also, I planted some hardy Cyclamen at their feet and that is really gorgeous in the winter.

1. They report that the Royal Heritage tm strain will bloom up to 5 months in some climates. Listed as USDA 4-8 and needing well-drained, moisture-retentive soil, and can even thrive in clay. My nursery is on extremely heavy clay and whilst it takes a season for the plants to establish, after they have done so they do thrive. Well drained but moisture retentive soil - if anyone has this, I haven't met them! Hellebores will do OK in pretty much any soil. I've grown them in soil which is flooded regularly during flowering time and they are OK with that too. Don't believe all you read in the books or magazines. Most articles (at least in the UK) are written by literary prostitutes hired to write such articles - they are NOT experts on the genus. 2. Are these truely some of the best Helleborus x hybridus strains offered in the nursery trade today? I agree with Pam. I would probably be a little more blunt though and say an outright no. Pine Knot are at the forefront and Northwest Gardens also offer superb plants. 3. I recently purchased three different ones that are supposed to be the Royal Heritage strain. One blooms almost black, and another blooms redish but later changes to an almost dark pink. both of those two produce stems and leaves looking rather greenish with slight suggestions of yellowish coloring on the just emerging leaves. You are seeing the variability present in the H. x hybridus group. 4. The third plant purchased is supposed to still be from the Royal Heritage strain, but the coloring and texture of both that plant's leaves and stems look entirely different. supposedly, the blooms of this plant will emerge green and fade to white. But the leaves currently appear to be an almost gray to blue shade of green and the leaf stems are red. As above. 5. The drastic difference in the appearance of my 3rd plant makes me wonder if it really is part of the Royal Heritage strain. I detest the use of the word strain in relation to hybrid hellebores. Not a dig at you at all, Katrina. It doesn't make any sense. One 'strain' generally isn't distinguishable from another, so the term 'strain' is rendered useless. 6. Does such stem and folliage coloring differences truely occur in RH strains, or is it more likely my red stemmed plant is not true to its Royal Heritage tm Stain Lenten Rose nursery label? It occurs in hybrids grown all around the world. Forget the name and enjoy the plant. Pam, I've enjoyed you recent posts - you are a breath of fresh air. Are you expecting a good spring with your hellebores next year?

Thanks Steve. But until you see an 80'er with major limbs having 3'+ caliper and falling with the violence that is commensurate with it's position some 40-60' high, well, you do the math. A couple to tons of tree coming down at a high velocity, .....well, the tree guys said try multiplying the couple of tons of weight tenfold and it's a given that many of the plants that took a direct hit will just NOT make it. A complete disaster that will take years to recover (if they do) as many branches are mangled, ripped up and pulped out. I will have to replant most of the area and in this economy, there's not a lot of extra $$$'s for such. My garden was nearly mature (most of these rhodies were 10 years old) and were prospering. Now? Clearing out a 10' wide section (streetside) to allow the bucket truck to come in tomorrow (that means digging up a couple of clethra rubra, viburnum burkwoodii, a beautiful rh. yak (with a width of 3+' that probably won't make it; Rh. Ruth Motley, a dw. hemlock (they don't transplant at all) and then finally wrapping up a beautiful Rh. Tarus and hope that the truck clears it as it sits behind a redbud, that I've had to trim up; then an unknown early lep (mid April/blush lavender) that also has to be dug, burlapped and put in shade, kept wet, and hope and pray. Thanks for the condolences, but when you assess all that I've outlined as being mangled, crushed, having to be moved with a likely high mortality rate, we're talking about thousands of dollars of plants that are unaffordable (at the size and type that I had in the garden). Try finding a 4-5' Kalmia Chesapeake or Carousel. All of these plants are slow growers. Even if you could find Kalmia at that size, they're pretty unaffordable to most of us. The aforementioned Kalmia were 20 years old and dug up from Bette Cummins gardens in the early 90's. Just a complete and utter disaster.