The Helleborus, carefree garden plant full of future

Christmas roses, that's what they are popularly called. They don't immediately remind us of a young and hip crowd, but nothing could be further from the truth. Studies show that these plants are most popular among 19- to 28-year-olds. At Helleborus Nursery bvba and garden center het wilgenbroek they know all about it as it turns out. 

It began years ago with a passion for Helleborus and has since grown into two companies, each with its specialty. The combination of these companies has ensured that in Belgium we have climbed to the top of the world in the field of breeding this beautiful plant. In the young plant company, new cultivars are born, which are then sold first in the associated garden center. Thus they reach all facets of the market, from saplings to wholesale for garden centers and garden contractors and finally retail. In the garden center itself, they can closely monitor which newcomers are loved by the general public and therefore worth producing in larger numbers.

Strict selection

Helleborus breeding is an extremely meticulous job. All cross-pollinations are done by hand and kept through a good documentation system. When a new potential cultivar emerges from this, the selection process only begins. It takes 8 to 10 years to develop and market a new cultivar. With the support of ILVO, new cultivation methods have thus been developed that now benefit growers throughout Belgium. After all, new plants have to meet many requirements: be disease-resistant, early and richly flowering, have strong vigorous growth, be evergreen and leafy. Thus a new generation has emerged, such as these from the VIV collection, which meet many requirements of both private individuals, garden contractors and garden centers. These cultivars are an added value for the garden and terrace all year round. An evergreen groundcover that blooms in winter and proves to be a fantastic bee plant. The times when the leaves had to be cut off to avoid diseases seem to be history with this new generation. 

Sustainability first

The Helleborus is not only a good bee plant, a trait that is highly important these days, but it is also good for our environment in other ways. Its energy-efficient cultivation technique makes it a topper for future growers who want to commit to sustainable cultivation methods. By starting to select plants that naturally bloom earlier, it is no longer necessary to start pre-breeding to obtain flowering at Christmas. In fact, there are already cultivars such as Victoria from the vivhelleborus collection that naturally bloom before Nov. 1. The company therefore insists that none of their plants are forced but everything is naturally raised. This sets them apart from many others and provides top quality plants and planting stock that therefore have no fall back when planted out in the open ground. 

Seeing makes you buy

This new generation with long blooms only brings benefits, especially to garden centers. When Willow Grove started their Helleborus Days in February years ago, they started a trend that many have followed since. You can get inspiration in their winter garden and see how beautifully they combine with other winter bloomers such as Hamamelis, Sarcococca, Cyclamen and snowdrops. You can get inspiration for a year-round garden that adds value, which is contagious to the general public. Because of this, they make sure that there are also plenty of sales of plants in the traditionally calm months of January and February. On top of that, they don't only have a nice offer in the winter. They grow a lot of perennials and bedding plants and also specialize in growing beautiful summer flowering Salvias . So they have a nice offer of continuous-flowering plants all year round also for professionals.