Planting and caring for Christmas rose
Christmas rose is one of the few dashes of colour during the cold time of year. The shrub blooms in the winter and thrives in pots and beds. You can find out what you need to know about the Christmas rose here.
What does Christmas rose look like?
Christmas rose has other standard names. It is also referred to as winter rose or black hellebore, among other things. It reveals its white flowers in the winter. The Latin name for the plant is ‘Helleborus niger’.
Occasionally, other hellebore species are also called Christmas rose. This can lead to disappointment, as these other species sometimes flower at very different times. Only the true Christmas rose, the Helleborus niger, flowers over the Christmas period. The other species tend to be called Lenten roses.
Christmas rose is a wintergreen perennial. It has herbaceous growth. The plant belongs to the buttercup family. Christmas rose is a shrub and grows between 10 cm and 30 cm tall. In an ideal location, it can live to up to 25 years old.
The flowers of the Christmas rose have a diameter of around 5 cm to 10 cm. They stand individually on the end of the stem. They are usually white. Some varieties turn slightly pink as they wither.
The perianth consists of five ovate petals. Lots of yellow stamens grow in a spiral shape on the extended flower axis.
Christmas rose reveals its flowers from around December to March, depending on the location, the variety and the height to which it grows. Some breeds also flower as early as November.
The leaves of Helleborus niger are deep green. They are also divided into seven to nine sections. These are lanceolate with a serrated or full leaf margin. Two to three frost-sensitive spathaceous bracts grow underneath on the stem. In the winter, these are protected by snow, soil or foliage.
There are two sub-species of Christmas rose. They are connected to one another through crossovers. The more frequent variant is the Helleborus nigher subsp. niger. This plant has shiny, dark green leaves. The leaf sections are very wide in the front third in particular. Forward curved teeth are visible on the leaf margin.
The other sub-species is Helleborus niger subsp. macranthus. It has blue-green matt leaves. The sections of the leaves are very wide in the middle in particular. Fine teeth stand to the side on the leaf margin.
Where does Christmas rose come from?
Christmas rose occurs in nature in the eastern north and south Alps, in particular. It can also be found in the Apennines and Balkans. Here, it can be found at heights up to 1,900 m.
In Germany, Christmas rose is only found in Bavaria. It is more frequent in Austria and Switzerland. It grows in particular on bushy slopes or in light beech and mixed beech forests. However, it can also be found in oak and spruce forests. However, the Christmas rose has long been much wider spread than its natural habitat and generally feels at home anywhere there is sufficient light in the winter, does not get too warm in the summer, and never exceeds 59°F in the winter.
Variety tips
‘Praecox’ is a very well-known variety of Christmas rose. It flowers for a particularly long time and often starts as early as November. You can often enjoy the flowers into the spring. The Christmas rose ‘Praecox’ is one of the oldest plant breeds.
As the Christmas rose is very popular, there are now lots of different breeds with corresponding diversity available. The Christmas rose ‘HGC Joseph Lemper’ is an extremely popular example. This plant flowers from December. If you want to enjoy the flowers earlier, go for the variety ‘HGC Jakob’. It often flowers as early as November. The plant is evergreen and grows to about 30 cm tall. It is particularly good for planting in pots or hanging baskets.
Double-flowered Christmas roses often have very romantic flowers. The ‘Snowball’ variety bred in Japan is one such example. This Christmas rose has very compact growth. However, it is more difficult to get hold of here. The double-flowered variety ‘HGC Snow Frills’ is more readily available. ‘Potter’s Wheel’ enchants with a pink coloured flower margin. However, like ‘Snowball’, ‘Potter’s Wheel’ is hard to come by.
Toxicity of Christmas rose
The rootstock of Christmas rose contains a lot of helleborine. The plant also contains saponin and protoanemonin. Therefore, all parts of the Christmas rose are poisonous. Poisoning from the substances leads to dizziness, diarrhoea and even circulatory collapse. Therefore, you should keep the plant away from children and pets. It you are easily allergic, it’s best to wear gardening gloves if you are handling Christmas rose. These provide good protection against any seeping plant sap. It can trigger a bad skin irritation.
Due to its healing effect, the Christmas rose was mentioned as early as 300 BC in herb books. At that time, the rootstock was pulverised and used to strengthen the heart. The powder was also considered a diuretic.
Although the Christmas rose is poisonous, it is still used today as an emetic and laxative in folk medicine. Some people also use it to combat oedema and urinary retention.
The ideal location and soil
The Christmas rose is winter-hardy at our latitudes. It needs a humus and nutrient rich soil. This may neither be too dry, nor waterlogged. Christmas rose will thrive in alkaline to neutral soil with a high lime content.
Prepare a lean, sandy soil in the garden for the plant. You can enrich this in the autumn with compost, organic fertiliser or a layer of mulch. In addition to humus, it’s best to add plenty of lime gravel and work it into the soil. With this and the help of earthworms, the soil will be well aerated and receive contain of nutrients. You can use a lawn aerator to gently loosen the lawn and remove thatch and moss: It’s kinder to the lawn than a dethatcher.
If you have planted a Christmas rose in the proper location with the correct soil, it will often bring joy with its flowers for decades. There is no need to replant the Christmas rose. The longer it stays in the proper location, the more beautifully it will grow and thrive.
Choose a semi-shady location for the Christmas rose. It will not receive enough light under conifers or other evergreen plants. Nor should it be planted in the shade of a building. The longer Christmas rose stands in the shade, the fewer flower buds it will form.
The perfect location for Christmas rose is underneath a deciduous tree or bush. In the summer, this planting partner will protect the Helleborus niger from too much sun. In the winter, the falling foliage will shelter the Christmas rose from the cold.
In an open and sunny location, the plant will require more moisture than in shady spots. But do not water it too much. Waterlogging in the pot or bed can cause the roots to rot. In the worst case this will lead to the death of the Christmas rose. Waterlogging can be easily avoided with a drainage layer of lime gravel, for example, underneath the root ball.
Planting Christmas roses
Plant Christmas roses in a group of three to five plants. The plant looks particularly attractive like this. However, you can also plant it together with other spring bloomers. Helleborus niger works well with early spring bulb flowers, such as snowdrops or winter aconites. But it also looks great with evergreen grasses such as sedges. If you choose white-green variegated varieties it will create a particularly beautiful picture: these look perfect with the white and green Christmas rose leaves.
Alternatively, you could partner Christmas rose with early spring cyclamen. It has the same soil requirements and is therefore the perfect planting partner.
Planted in a pot, Christmas rose is a beautiful addition to the Christmas table decorations, such as an advent wreath or even homemade Christmas decorations.
Planting and caring for Christmas rose
The best time to plant Christmas roses is in October. If you want to cultivate your plant in a pot, mix some potting soil with loamy soil from the garden. Place a layer of expanding clay as a drainage layer at the very bottom of the pot. Then fill the soil mixture on top of this. For other plants, the time has come to make them ready for the winter, both in your garden and containers.
Fertilise the Christmas rose for the first time in Februray/March. It will still be flowering at this time and the new leaves will already be sprouting. Fertilise again in mid-summer. At this time the Christmas rose is forming fresh roots. These will provide the buds with nutrients later. Cow manure and pellets are ideal fertilisers. Add about a handful to the planting hole.
If the leaves fall in the autumn, leave these lying around the Christmas rose. Do not suck or blow them away with a garden vacuum or leaf blower. They provide good heat protection and are also a natural mulch layer.
Pruning Christmas roses
Remove the old foliage from the Christmas rose in November or December. It is best to prune it with garden shears. The EasyPrune from Bosch is ideal for this. It ensures clean cuts which heal well. Remember gloves when working. These will protect your hands from the poisonous plant sap.
Pruning will make the flowers prettier and give the new leaves more space. However, pruning also serves a further purpose: the old leaves often no longer look attractive by spring at the latest. They are also often infected with black spot disease.
Propagating Christmas roses
The best way to propagate Christmas roses is by sowing seeds. Do this in the spring, after the plant has finished flowering. At this time, the seeds should turn brown and open easily.
Sow the seeds directly in small pots and place these in a cold frame or a protected corner of the garden. Keep the soil constantly moist. Do not allow it to dry out. Otherwise, the seeds will become dormant. This can push back germination by a whole year and drastically reduce the success rate. Normally, 95 per cent of all seeds will germinate, but after dormancy the rate is only 30 per cent. Do not cover the seeds with soil. They germinate in the light.
The seeds will usually only germinate the following winter. However, you will need to have some patience before the first flowers appear on the young plants: it often takes up to three years for Christmas roses to flower for the first time.
Christmas roses cross-breed easily with their species. If you breed new plants from the seeds of an existing Christmas rose, the young plants will not necessarily resemble the mother plant.
Diseases and pests
Black spot disease is extremely common on Christmas roses. You can recognise an infection from the grey-brown spots on the top sides of the leaves. It can also cause large leaf areas to die off.
If you discover an infestation, cut off the diseased plant parts with garden shears. Do not put the waste in the compost, rather dispose of it in the organic waste. Otherwise, the disease could spread further. If you want to cut larger areas, the AdvancedShear shrub and grass cutter will make your job easier.
If you want to prevent an infestation, cut off all the old leaves before the Christmas rose flowers. Cut them down as far as possible. The best time for this is when the new leaves and shoots are no longer than 5 cm. Dispose of the removed leaves in the organic waste as well.
Black mildew can also infest Christmas roses. In this case, the leaves will change colour and then wilt. If the plant is badly affected, destroy it as soon as possible. In less severe cases you can simply cut off the diseased plant parts.
Aphids can also be found on Christmas roses. The pests reside on the undersides of the leaves. They also sit inside older flowers. Aphids are not a danger for Christmas roses. However, if you would still like to prevent them, cut off all the withered stems down to the soil at the end of April.
You can also keep slugs and snails from munching on the cotyledons and leaves of your Christmas rose with a slug and snail collar around your Helleborus niger.
If you want to know more about when you should do what kind of work in the garden, you can find out the best times for all the important tasks in our Gardening Calendar.