Hi Gean? sorry for memory lapse if not) Campanulas. Well, I do start a couple from seed, especially the biennials such as the common Canterbury bells (C.Medium)and the very tall chimney breast C (C.pyramidalis) Also, one of my favourites, The peach leaved bellflower (C.persicifolia) is very easy from seed and will seed around without ever becoming a nuisance. If I wanted a specific colour, I probably would be tempted to buy one (there are some lovely doubles which will also come largely true from seed)but in general, once you have one, you will always have more. As for the smaller, ground-covering types, the most popular (but least useful with a short bloom cycle) are the carpaticas, often called blue clips, white clips etc. I do better with the vigorous and unpronounceable C.portenschlagiana (once called C.muralis) - beg a bit of root of someone who has some, it will easily take and spread brilliantly, even in cracks and stair risers. Avoid the Dalmatian campanula, C.pocharskyana as this really is a ground coverer (although it will also grow upwards for a couple of feet and hide leggy rose bases). There are many other ground coverers such as fairy thimbles (C.cochlearifolia) and a really deep purple, C.pulla. All can be sown from seed and should flower the second season as well as rooting from basal cuttings or soft-tip cuttings, even the smalles shred. With all camps, if they start to get out of hand, a sharp tug at a handful will solve that problem as they will easily pull out. Finally, I have not grown the tall C,lactiflora from seed but this really is a lovely plant and, if you buy one, it will grow to 60cm in its first season and the following year, it will double that in height and width. The usual varieties - deep blue Pritchard's variety or the milky blue Loddon Anna. Oh yes, for a wilder garden, C.trachelium (nettle leaved) and C.latiloba will also do well from seed.The seeds are small: sow them on top of a loamy mix and do not cover unless with a thin layer of vermiculite. many of them are evergreen with lovely rosettes of foliage. There are a couple of horribly invasive ones, chiefly C.rapunculoides, a beautiful but rampant weed with huge white roots, and also the asian C.takkesimana - another tap-rooted horror. C.glomerata falls over and is the only one which requires some support - all the others are remarkably stout. If I was only allowed one, it would be the peach leaved bellflower, C.persicifolia - graceful, elegant, long flowering and easy from seed (they all respond to deadheading). Hellebores: orientalis has the most variety (colours available in peach, primrose, slate, crimson, maroon, speckled and so on), the easiest (its main pest is leaf blotch fungus but if you cut the old leaves back, this is kept under control) and the loveliest flowers although some of the species come close. If you like green flowers, hellebores are winners. The corsican hellebore has fabulous filiage too while our native stinking hellebore (H.foetidus) has the most amazing sprays of green cupped flowers (and it only pongs a bit if you bury your nose in it) The only difficult ones for me are the christmas rose, Hellebore niger, which does NOT flower at Christmas and often looks a bit ratty. Like aquilegias, they will cross pollinate and seed around but you will never be sure of what you are getting. However, there are never any duds as the basic form of the plants are so wonderfully architectural ad, at the time of year when they flower, a subtle change from the spring yellows, whites and blues. Just a couple will make a sizeable clump in a year or so....but you won't be content with just 2! They don't make good cut flowers but a common trick is to just float a few flower heads in a bowl of water. You will also find some of the orientalis hybrids have upwards facing flowers (but I love their gentle nodding) If you have cash to spare, there are some exciting crosses - H.Thibetana and H.Ericsmithii to look at and those of you in hot and dry places could consider the lovely H.lividus along with the corsican hellebore. Have fun.Apols for the many typos.

Hey I will try this with my hellebores. They are blooming in my zone at this time. At what stage do you cut the flower to press. Should it be pretty well open? and then do you sorta lay the bloom face down in the paper towel to press it open. What do you do with your pressed flowers? Do you make note cards, put them in candles, etc. I want to try pressing some of my flowers again.

I agree with Joseph and Bruce. My opinion is a rather strong one and I get tired of reading in books, magazines, etc. that hellebores resent their roots being disturbed. The caulescent species (H. foetidus, H. argutifolius and H. lividus) are more difficult to deal with but not impossible. The acaulescent group, which includes the hybrids, really don't protest all that much to their roots being disturbed. Okay, so a recently divided/bare rooted hellebore may take a year off of flowering but this often has nothing to do with being divided/bare rooted and everything to do with the plant simply not being large enough to produce flowers. Like Bruce, I deal with a considerable amount of divisions every year and can count annual losses on one hand. I have collected plants from wild colonies which means that plants often get carried around in a suitcase for a week or so. I bare root them and wrap the plants in damp kitchen towel and then in bubble wrap. I have never lost a plant that I have collected from the wild. Indeed, a very well known grower of species hellebores here in the UK, sends hundreds of bare rooted divisions out every year and nearly all survive. Bruce hit the nail on the head; whether or not your bare rooted hellebores survive is entirely in the hands of the person that bare rooted it and/or the recipient. The plant cannot be blamed if it dies! I pot all of my bare rooted divisions into a very well drained mix that contains a large amount of composted bark. I'm sure that many people fail with such plants because they pot the division into a stodgy mix that holds far too much water. The mix that I use needs watering more often than a 'normal' mix but never becomes waterlogged. If a hellebore that was received bare rooted does go dormant soon after being potted up, DON'T throw the pot away. I have received bare rooted species plants in May/June which have gone dormant only three or four weeks later and not emerged until the following February, having suffered no ill effects as a result of their prolonged dormancy. If only we could put the myth that hellebores resent disturbance to bed once and for all. Tim

Considering how few texts dedicated to hellebores that are currently in print, that is one of the better ones. I also recommend Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide; Burrell and Tyler, Timber Press: Portland, Oregon, 2006. A good place to find links to sources and resources about hellebores is hellebores.org, an excellent and very detailed website created by a GW member, Joseph Woodard. Here is a link that might be useful: hellebores.org